jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) (03/05/87)
I have made up my mind that I want to get a Macintosh computer to use in my electronic music system. I will have loaded into it both Opcode's MIDIMAC Sequencer 2.5, and Electronic Arts' Deluxe Music Construction Set (DMCS). I also will want to give it a patch librarian to store new patches. With this in mind, I am deciding on whether to buy a Mac Plus, or the newer, double-floppy drive, Mac SE. For my type of applications, will the Plus be about as good for less money, or will it be more of an inconvenience having only one drive, or having to buy a second disk drive? (I should mention that I have limited space, and hanging off additional peripherals only presents more logistacal problems.) Also, will I be buying something obsolete that will not be amenable to (music) software upgrades in the future? Would it be wiser for me to just bite the bullet and get the SE? I welcome your insights and opinions. Jim Collymore
normt@ihlpa.ATT.COM (N. R Tiedemann) (03/06/87)
In article <404@atux01.UUCP>, jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) writes: > > I have made up my mind that I want to get a Macintosh computer to use in > my electronic music system. I will have loaded into it both Opcode's > MIDIMAC Sequencer 2.5, and Electronic Arts' Deluxe Music Construction Set > With this in mind, I am deciding on whether to buy a Mac Plus, or the newer, > double-floppy drive, Mac SE. > Jim Collymore The color capabilities and expansion slot are the only real advantages that I can see of the SE over the Mac+. If neither of these are wanted. The extra expense for the SE is large. I would definatly suggest a second drive. It is "necessary" if you don't want to disk swap all day. The double floppy is (in my opinion) also not a good justification for the additional cost of the SE. Norm Tiedemann ihnp4!ihlpa!normt My opinions change every day, so no one has a chance to agree or disagree.
krs@amdahl.UUCP (Kris Stephens) (03/07/87)
In article <404@atux01.UUCP> jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) writes: > >I have made up my mind that I want to get a Macintosh computer to use in >my electronic music system. I will have loaded into it both Opcode's >MIDIMAC Sequencer 2.5, and Electronic Arts' Deluxe Music Construction Set >(DMCS). I also will want to give it a patch librarian to store new patches. > >With this in mind, I am deciding on whether to buy a Mac Plus, or the newer, >double-floppy drive, Mac SE. Jim... I'm quite happy with the combination of a MacPlus, Performer, Professional Composer, and an internal HyperDrive. The internal HD obviates the requirement for a second floppy drive (for me, anyhow) - in fact, I've loaned my external drive to a friend. I haven't considered the SE, because I'm already in with a Plus, but I'd thought I'd post that I *am* happy with what I've got. ...Kris -- Kristopher Stephens, | (408-746-6047) | {whatever}!amdahl!krs Amdahl Corporation | | -or- krs@amdahl.amdahl.com [The opinions expressed above are mine, solely, and do not ] [necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corp. ]
gib@unirot.UUCP (03/08/87)
In article <5821@amdahl.UUCP> you write: >In article <404@atux01.UUCP> jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) writes: >> >>I have made up my mind that I want to get a Macintosh computer to use in >>my electronic music system. I will have loaded into it both Opcode's >>MIDIMAC Sequencer 2.5, and Electronic Arts' Deluxe Music Construction Set >>(DMCS). I also will want to give it a patch librarian to store new patches. >> > I'm quite happy with the combination of a MacPlus, Performer, >Professional Composer, and an internal HyperDrive. The internal >HD obviates the requirement for a second floppy drive (for me, >anyhow) - in fact, I've loaned my external drive to a friend. >I haven't considered the SE, because I'm already in with a Plus, >but I'd thought I'd post that I *am* happy with what I've got. > Right now I really wish that I had gone with an external 800K floppy or any kind of hard drive OTHER than a Hyper Drive: My company bought a Hyper Drive from a local store Christmas '85, and it has caused me an incredible amount of grief. It was one of the drives that would suddenly die after receiving every kind of tune-up conceivable. The local dealers could not deal with it after having it in and out of the shop for so long and eventually sent it off to General Computer [computer and all] while I used a loaner the local dealer provided. Then the loaner's Hyper Drive died, which rendered the Mac it was housed in totally unusable - the exact same thing that happened to my HD. [the Hyper Drive apparently takes over the main power supply, so when the Hyper Drive goes out, so does the computer] The boss of my company was agered muchly, and demanded to have the original Macintosh back, sans [without] the Hyper. As of now, our company has still not heard anything from GC indicating that they have fixed the Hyper or are willing to give the company a new one, or even an SCSI 20 megger. [the HD was a 20] ... I strongly recomend that anyone contemplating the purchase of a Macintosh setup with any storage beyond the standard to NOT decide on going with General Computer's line of products as the customer support has caused a great deal of information and man hours to go down the drain, as well as any hopes of getting the company I work for computerized in ANY fashion. ciao for now, gib BTW: my company stands behind it's actions but not my writings. -- ..!rutgers!unirot!gib "I don't want money. I just want to be wonderful." - Marilyn Monroe
jww@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU (Joel West) (03/08/87)
The best HyperDrive joke I heard was from one developer 6 months
ago, when he couldn't figure out why his program would run on
a HyperDrive-equipped machine. The joke:
Q. What's a Mac 425? (I'm sorry if I forget the exact number)
A. A Mac 512 with a HyperDrive. The GCC patches tie up the
difference permanently.
--
Joel West
{ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww (ihnp4!gould9!joel once I fix news)
jww@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu if you mustngg@bridge2.bridge (Norman Goodger) (03/10/87)
I used to own a Hyperdrive, but there system software and their lousy
upgrade plans made it so I dumped mine over a year ago. They want $$ for
every little thing, support is lousy, and their system software screws up
on almost every change that comes along. It took them almost a year after
HFS was introduced to be compatable with HFS. I hear now that Hypers are
having problems with system 4.0, strike 3 for GCC....
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norman Goodger @Bridge Communications !bridge2!ngg
(415) 969 4400 Ex:445 Sysop-MACINFO BBS @415-795-8862
------------------------------------------------------------------------------rfl@oddjob.UUCP (03/11/87)
In article <278@bridge2.bridge>, ngg@bridge2.bridge (Norman Goodger) writes: > > I used to own a Hyperdrive, but there system software and their lousy > upgrade plans made it so I dumped mine over a year ago. They want $$ for > every little thing, support is lousy, and their system software screws up > on almost every change that comes along. It took them almost a year after > HFS was introduced to be compatable with HFS. I hear now that Hypers are > having problems with system 4.0, strike 3 for GCC.... > I disagree totally with you. I've been using a Hyperdrive 20 for over a year and a half. I've been through 2 software upgrades and have had excellent response from their service people when I had questions. Once, due to my own development mistake, I was unable to mount a drawer. GC sent me via Federal Express, at NO CHARGE, a copy of HyperTools to recover files from the unmountable volume. As far as hardware quality, I have used the hyperdrive while flying on a NASA aircraft with no noticeable problems. I also use it at 14,000 feet and have no overheating problems.