mckay@pur-ee.UUCP (McKay) (01/14/85)
<* bug busters *> Here's a new topic worthy of a little debate: The setting: I've got a Coco with two floppies and have been running OS-9 for a few months now. I like OS-9 a lot. It's intelligently designed (for the most part) and gives me a low cost UNIX-like environment to do some home-hacking in. But... The problem: I'm finding I'd like a bit more in the mass storage area and a real serial port for my terminal (sitting next to the Coco). A little more CPU speed wouldn't hurt either. The question: Should I upgrade the Coco or start over (somewhat) with another machine? A few constraints on this: First, this must be a fairly low cost operation, but I am ready to spend about the cost of a harddisk for the coco and few other pieces of hardware; say $2000 tops. Second, I'd like to hang on to as much of my current hardware as I can. That means the printer (a serial printer nothing special), a terminal (IBM 3101, a semi-smart terminal) and the floppies (if possible, they're 35track RS look-a-likes). So far, I'm convinced upgrading is the answer, but maybe you can convince me otherwise. Is there a new (or unknown to me) machine that's cheap and runs OS-9 better (define it as you will) than the Coco? -- Dwight Douglas McKay, ECN Software Support _\/ USENET: {decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!mckay \ \ MCI Mail: paintedpony / \ /^^^^\ /______\
emjej@uokvax.UUCP (01/17/85)
/***** uokvax:net.micro.6809 / uok!mpackard / 6:08 pm Jan 16, 1985 */ This may be of interest, Hazelwood Computer Systems 314-281-1055 has a 68008 OS9/68000 machine which comes with basic and a spread- sheet. Rumors are (I would call them for verification): 4-Serial, 2-Parallel, 1-SASI, 1-FDC, 128k (upgradable to 512) RAM this all fits on a single board which mounts to a drive for 995. /* ---------- */ Rumor is supported by Hazelwood's ad in the latest Frank Hogg Labs flyer, save for the question of whether it comes with BASIC09--it doesn't look like it, judging by the ad. Still merits verification. James Jones
emjej@uokvax.UUCP (01/24/85)
While I'm dreaming... the Uniquad boards would make pretty neat nodes for a network. (Look at the descriptions of device descriptors in the OS-9/68000 manuals; you'll see a variant tag named NET!) Hard disks are cheaper than I thought (a recent ad in *Byte* shows Shugart 604s (I am Schulz-like with respect to these disks and their quality or speed, and you may insert your favorite disclaimer here, too) for $160), so, *if* they will talk SASI to the controller on the Uniquad board, you could have a pretty respectable box on its own for $2K, much less as a net node. James Jones