chamoun@lownlab.UUCP (Nassib Chamoun) (11/13/86)
The Compaq 386 looks very good on paper. Has anyone had any hands-on
experience with it? I'm interested in using it for an engineering application
involving A/D conversion and a lot of mathematical processing (Fourier
transformations, etc.). Specific questions:
1. Have you had any problems with peripheral devices such as A/D boards
keeping up with the 16 MHz cpu?
2. How about application programs such as Lotus running at 16 MHz. Does it
freak out?
3. Any comments regarding the keyboard or other physical aspects of the
machine?
Any information will be greatly appreciated.
--
NAME: Nassib G. Chamoun USPS: Lown Cardiovascular Laboratory
USENET: ...!harvard!lownlab!chamoun Harvard School of Public Health
PHONE: +1 617 732 1307 665 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115-9915cramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (11/15/86)
> The Compaq 386 looks very good on paper. Has anyone had any hands-on > experience with it? I'm interested in using it for an engineering application > involving A/D conversion and a lot of mathematical processing (Fourier > transformations, etc.). Specific questions: > > 1. Have you had any problems with peripheral devices such as A/D boards > keeping up with the 16 MHz cpu? > Haven't tried A/D boards with it yet. > 2. How about application programs such as Lotus running at 16 MHz. Does it > freak out? > Works perfectly. Works fast beyond belief. Our General Manager brought one of his spreadsheets over to load it into the Compaq 386. It took 2 minutes to load on his XT. It took 5.75 seconds on the 386. We have been running a very large (400K) application written in C on XT and AT. It worked perfectly on the 386, with one slight difference in the EGA 43-line mode. (May not be the Compaq's problem -- we are still studying other possible causes.) > 3. Any comments regarding the keyboard or other physical aspects of the > machine? > Get the Deskpro 286 keyboard for it. (It's a "negative cost" option, I believe.) The 386 keyboard is very hard to use with control characters because the Ctrl key is in an awkward place. > Any information will be greatly appreciated. > > NAME: Nassib G. Chamoun USPS: Lown Cardiovascular Laboratory Clayton E. Cramer
madd@bucsb.bu.edu.UUCP (Jim Frost) (11/16/86)
In article <189@lownlab.UUCP> chamoun@lownlab.UUCP (Nassib Chamoun) writes: >The Compaq 386 looks very good on paper. Has anyone had any hands-on >experience with it? >[deleted text] > >1. Have you had any problems with peripheral devices such as A/D boards >keeping up with the 16 MHz cpu? While I have no personal experience with the 386, there is an article in the November 1986 _Byte_ on it. They say that the 386 slows down to 8mhz when it plays with cards and periferals. This way it is compatible with just about everything. >2. How about application programs such as Lotus running at 16 MHz. Does it >freak out? It's not supposed to, but even if it does, Compaq gives an extended version of MODE that allows you to change the processor speed to slow it down for programs that need it. > >3. Any comments regarding the keyboard or other physical aspects of the >machine? > There are two versions of the keyboard. One is IBM-like and one is the Compaq layout. I'd recommend the Compaq layout because the IBM layout is far from fantastic. >Any information will be greatly appreciated. Hope this helps. Much better information in the magazine. Don't flame me if something's inaccurate, this is all from memory. -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% - Jim Frost * The Madd Hacker - UUCP: ..!harvard!bu-cs!bucsb!madd | ARPANET: madd@bucsb.bu.edu CSNET: madd%bucsb@bu-cs | BITNET: cscc71c@bostonu -----------------------------------+-----------+------------------------ "Use the key, unlock the door | o/ <- Rudolf the See what Fate might have in store." -- Rush | _O_ waving penguin