sridhar@syteka.ARPA (Sridhar Acharya) (08/11/89)
A few weeks back I had posted a request for summary of X-terminal info, but I did receive any response on that. Also some readers of xpert asked me if I could forward to them the information I received. Since there are some others who require similar information, I would appreciate if some kind soul would post it on the net or inform the source from where the information could be got. Thanks a bunch -sridhar ******************************************************************** Sridhar Acharya Software Engineer. Hughes Lan Systems. UUCP ..sun!sytek!sridhar Internet: sridhar@sytek.hls.hac.com ********************************************************************
klee@gilroy.pa.dec.com (Ken Lee) (08/12/89)
Some X terminals that I have seen are: Visual Technologies (2 models) Network Computing Devices (2 models) Graph-On Acer-Counterpoint Tektronix (2 models, but 1 is really an NCD) Jupiter Systems National Cash Register MIPS (made by NCD) Some of these were prototypes or pre-production machines not yet for sale. Human Design Systems, Digital Equipment, and others have announced X terminals, but I have not seen anything yet. Ken Lee DEC Western Software Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif. Internet: klee@decwrl.dec.com uucp: uunet!decwrl!klee
jon@altos86.Altos.COM (Jonathan Ma) (08/14/89)
In article <8908101730.AA00540@syteka.hls.com> sridhar@syteka.ARPA (Sridhar Acharya) writes: >A few weeks back I had posted a request for summary of X-terminal info, >[...] I will be doing an evaluation of X-terminals (or Network Display Stations) as soon as I can get NCD and HDS in house. I should have some results by early September. Do you have any specific tests that you want to run? Please send to me ASAP. I will start this evaluation when NCD16 arrives. -- -Jon- Jonathan Ma, Altos Computer Systems UUCP: {sun,pyramid,amdahl}!altos86!jon Disclaimer: Those views are mine alone, not my employers'.
jiii@visdc.UUCP (John E Van Deusen III) (08/15/89)
The July 1989 issue of UNIX WORLD, pg 75, reviewed the NCD16 and the Acer Counterpoint Model 100. The author, Rik Farrow, seemed quite biased against X. This erupted into a fairly interesting bitch fight in the "letters" section of the September 1989 issue. In my opinion, one of the most important things to keep in mind is cost. The new Tektronics XN11 color machine is over $7,000! This seems out of line considering that most of the "work" of providing pixel by pixel instructions for drawing images is done by the client software, which does not execute on the X terminal. The second thing that I would consider is memory expansion. X terminals can handle the overhead of restoring the display that lies under a window only if they have enough memory. The Acer Counterpoint, for example, has an 8086 and is limited to only 640 K. The final consideration is performance. Since the X server function is well-defined, I would expect someday to see a reasonably-priced machine, utilizing a TMS34010, or equivalent, graphics processor plus some custom ASICs, that achieves really good performance. I would think that for the $2,500 you must currently spend for a monochrome NCD16, you should be able to get at least 1,024x768 pixels x 16 colors. Otherwise, it seems that a person would be better off to set up an SVGA display on a 386 PC. It costs about $1,500 to add this display capability to a PC, so X terminals must provide additional performance in the form of writing speed, pixels, and/or colors. Otherwise, they are pointless. This is because X terminals don't eliminate the requirement for some sort of local computer. To do so would mean running X client as well as the database client software on the database server. Since the X client is executing on a machine that is also required in order to run the database client software, the only logical reason to split off the X server to a separate machine is for increased performance. -- John E Van Deusen III, PO Box 9283, Boise, ID 83707, (208) 343-1865 uunet!visdc!jiii
bob@primerd.prime.com (08/17/89)
I just purchased 50 of the Visual 19" X terminals for my company. After months of evaluation, they became the clear choice. (There were dozens of evaluation criteria, including performance, price, software compatibility, screen size, legibility, availability, etc.) So far, we are completely satisfied. We have them configured with 2 meg, which is expandable. Bob Pellegrino Prime Computer, Inc.
jim@bahamut.fsc.com (James O'Connor) (08/30/89)
In article <34700017@primerd>, bob@primerd.prime.com writes: > After months of evaluation, they became the clear choice. (There were > dozens of evaluation criteria, including performance, price, software > compatibility, screen size, legibility, availability, etc.) I finally got a close look at one of these at Uniforum, and the thing I liked most (considering that I'm going to give these beasts to VERY novice users) is the method they use to "login" to a host machine. Their startup sequence looks just like a terminal login prompt. Works just like it, too. It's this feature that is going to make X terminals a viable alternative for getting high powered graphics in to the hands of our "normal" users. ------------- James B. O'Connor Work: jim@tiamat.fsc.com Filtration Sciences -- Play: jim@bahamut.fsc.com A division of Ahlstrom UUCP: uunet!tiamat!jim