mst@cs1.UUCP (mst) (08/04/87)
I would like to thank all of you that responded to my postings.
For the most part the responses were from an earlier posting requesting
information on the AST Premium 286. There were some duplicate comments,
and requests for a mailed copy of this summary. What follows are
excerpts from some of the responses that I receied.
Thanks again,
Mike
AST Premium 286
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I just purchased an AST but haven't gotten it in yet. It seems like a
very nice machine, built well, very compatible.
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We have been using an AST AT for technical publishing. It seems very high
quality and I would recommend it.
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We just got one of these (AST Premium 286) in last week. I set it up
Friday and it looks great. It's real fast (6,8, or 10 mhz selectable
(software tho)). It looks like a pretty solid machine. The enhanced kb
is ok, but the escape key is on the top row with the function keys, so
that's sort of a pain.
Sharp PC/AT
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ACP in Santa Ana has a Sharp PC/AT clone for $799 without monitor. The
system (still without monitor) with a 72M disk is $1899. Can't beat the
price, I'm not sure about the quality, but Sharp makes some pretty fair
stuff usually. The system will run Microport Unix if you're interested in
that. ACP's phone number is 714-588-8813
TATUNG w/ Hercules card, 20 Meg hard disk and monochrome monitor
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I would recommend it well for the price, which I believe was around $1350
CDN. My only complaint is that most software we have for it bawks at the
Hercules card and it slows the machine down considerably when it is forced
to emulate a CGA. The hard disk is adequate. I believe it's an XT disk so
we are not getting super fast access, which I would think necessary for
large database type applications or anything else that requires much disk
I/O.
General Info
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One thing you should be aware of is that some AT motherboards put 512k
on-board, and others more (including some that apparently put another
512k ABOVE the 1M border and claim to be 1M on-board mother- boards). I
would go for 640k on-board, probably.
Also there are nice deals available on multifunction boards, that combine
things like extended memory and I/O. Further, if you buy one of these
that has an empty 40 pin DIP socket, it's probably for a second COM port
and all you need is an 8250 and 1488 (at least for some I've seen).
Of course, you should look for the new, RT-style keyboard. And make sure
you have a copy of IBM Advanced Diagnostics for AT, or some equivalent to
set up the config memory.
As for speed considerations, probably a 6/10 MHz one is your best buy
(although 12 can be had, and there are 6/8/10/12s out there). Look for
Phoenix BIOS if possible; they are touted to be the best.
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I don't know jack about what's good & bad, but price wise, I was looking
in to an AT clone from Ridge McGhee (who is now up north), with the
following:
- 10 mhz 80286
- 650K ram (or was it a meg or so??)
- NEC Multi Sync monitor (the best!)
- EGA Card
- 40 meg hard disk
- Mouse
- 350k & 1.2 meg floppy
- various serial & parallel ports, clock card, etc.
Basically a totally packed in system: somewhere around $3,000 or $3,500.
The NEC monitor and EGA made it quite a bit more ($500-$600 for the
monitor alone).
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Michael Temkin {inhp4,hplabs,psivax,ttidca}!csun!cs1!mst
"Oh, I was supposed to push that button first?!"
"Is there anybody out there?...Hello?..."
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