delbarre@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (kelvin.a.delbarre) (11/28/89)
In an earlier article, I asked about the differences between CMOS and non-CMOS chips, and whether the observed difference in prices quoted by Chip Merchant and Technology Works was justified by their claims to be selling non-CMOS and CMOS SIMMs respectively. (By the way, Chip Merchant sells what they have on hand, which varies from day to day, and presumably so does Tech Works, so this distinction may not hold if in fact it ever did.) I received three email replies. To summarize: CMOS chips tend to be fast. In general, they have low power consumption and thus produce less heat. This is more of an issue for a Mac Plus than (say) a Mac II. CMOS is also especially sensitive to static discharges, so if you're installing them yourself, use static protection to avoid frying them. Respondents questioned whether the phone 'droid at Chip Merchant knew that the chips she was selling were non-CMOS, or just *didn't* know that they *were* CMOS (i.e. it wasn't down there on the product list) so said they weren't. I consider that a distinct possibility, especially since one person had just purchased 4 Meg of C.M. SIMMs and they were definitely CMOS! (Samsung 80ns fast-page 1Mbit x 8). Many thanks to Bill Taroli (WWTAROLI@RODAN.acs.syr.edu), Alex Lau (franny.berkeley.edu!c8s-an) and Mark Wilkins (wilkins@jarthur.claremont.edu) for their helpful comments. I'll go with C.M. and save about $19/Meg. Kelvin Delbarre attunix!kd