evans@mhuxt.UUCP (Sukie Crandall) (05/22/87)
Several people have asked for more information on the Prodigy Prime upgrade I have in a Mac+. The unit has now been running for over 2 weeks and seems very strong. Construction seems up to Levco standards -- very high. At this point there is no manual and the only support software consists of a DA taht allows you to turn on/off the 68881, 68020 cache, 68551 (if present) and the MacWrite 68020 bomb fix (leaving the bomb fix on seems to slow the system by 5 - 10%). Software compatibility is outstanding - much better than when we went to HFS last year. I can't run MacLightning 2.0 (a spelling checker) or ExperLisp 2.1 and some very old (first year of the Mac 128) games. The machine does run a wider varitey of sw than the SE or the Mac II. (You should see MS Flight Simulator on the P' -- the animation is much smoother with frames being generated about 4 or 5x as fast). To Expertelligence's credit a fix to ExperLisp is due out soon for 68020 machines (you can buy a 68020 EL separately at this point). If you have a Mac+ and want to turn it into a monster, I highly recommend this upgrade path. Levco has a solid reputation - something some of the other upgrade companies haven't earned. You will also get very good telephone support from them. If you are buying a new Mac and want 68020 performance I would recommend getting a Mac+ and the P' if you want a small box and don't need color/big monitors. If you want the expansion I'd bypass the SE altogether and go for the Mac II -- the price of a SE + P' puts you into the Mac II ballpark anyway. As for myself I plan to stay happy with my Levco'ed + for some time while putting my pennies away for a Mac IIe, II+, or whatever a yeara or two down the road. The little Levco board gives you roughly the same performance as the II, so I'll wait for a faster II at a lower cost. Steve Crandall mhuxt!evans