lagache@violet.berkeley.edu (Edouard Lagache) (09/03/87)
The following is a condensed version of a letter I wrote to the SenTInel
regarding some of the upgrade alternatives to the Business Pro Swap. I
am posting it for the sake of fairness. In addition to the information
below one should report the trade in program of TIPC Network of Sioux
City Iowa. With the same TIPC trade in, TIPC Network will supply a IBM
XT clone for $750, and an AT clone for $1500.
From all this information it should be clear that TIPC users have a lot
of choices!
Edouard Lagache
lagache@violet.berkeley.edu
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In light of TI recent offer to trade in TIPCs for
Business Pros, it might be a good time to consider some of
the alternatives:
For the MS-DOS environment, purchasing three pieces of
hardware will upgrade a TIPC into a fairly good substitute
for a Business Pro. Those items are a Western Automation
Seeker-3 board, a Romberg & Romberg/Second Source "Grafix"
emulator, and a TEXINS-286 accelerator board. The cost for
that hardware combination is about $1500 and which represents
a savings of more than 1/2 over the cost of a Business Pro
upgrade.
For the UNIX environment, there exists a UNIX Co-
processor board developed by OPUS Systems of Cupertino. The
board sells for about $2000 and includes AT&T UNIX System 5
Version 3 operating system. The board uses a 32 bit National
Semiconductor 32032 running at 10 MHz, and includes a
floating point co-processor and 4Mb of RAM. This package
provides a very powerful UNIX environment for 2/3 the price
of the Business Pro upgrade.
Finally, one could simply purchase a PC AT clone as a
second computer. Brand name AT clones can be had for around
$2000 dollars, and bargain basement machines for half that
price. Having two computers offers many advantages over a
single machine, while still spending much less than the
upgrade cost.
It seems to me that the only users that have a real
incentive to upgrade to the Business Pro are those with a
need for network hub or those who have major investment in TI
Artificial Intelligence software. Since that represents only
a very small fraction of the TIPC user base, it would seem
that the TI Pro will still have a significant user base for
some time to come.
Note: this letter is a summary of material contained in the
June and July issues of the TImes Newsletter of the Santa
Clara Valley TIPC users group.