en2j@vax1.UUCP (Thomas Purcell) (12/02/87)
This is a request for advice: I'm trying to put together a very respectable personal system for the next couple of years (till the Super-engineering workstations come down to $5k.). Its uses would include some commercial applications (that is, business type stuff) and software development. Preferred characteristics are: o Unix -- now or very soon (avail. within 1 yr.) o desktop publishing at least up to mac quality level ooo multiple operating system capability, even if this anticipates additional processor cards (methinks this is better than buying 4 different machines.?.) o speed. don't want my hair to turn grey while I'm waiting for something running on a hardware simulator, for example, to execute a single instruction o color graphics better than IBM cga, cheaper than a $50k Silicon Graphics workstation o full-page display would be pretty handy. o Big harddrive; ample memory (80 meg, 2 Meg is a nice starting point, bigger better) o Don't need (right now) state of the art CAD/CAM facilities. Can't go much over the $10k limit. Or, need to aim for near to $5k for a stripped machine if I'm to afford the bells & whistles. Multiple OS support is a goody and a biggy that I'd really like. (Seems like this would depend on architecture and vendor's economics...) Here's my reasoning: I can afford to buy ONE flexible machine, and equip it with some REALLY nice goodies: a very good display, a massive (for one user) hard drive, similarly generous RAM, a backup system, and so on.: All the goodies that make an environment more fun! But, once I've invested in all those nice things, I want to be able to work with (read/write) and write code for Unix, MS-DOS, and Mac's OS. (For starters.) I CAN'T afford to buy three or four vendor's machines and equip each one of them as nicely as the single hypothetical machine above. So, even if I have to install some extra processor boards {which had better be REAL ones that are available or will be -- hypothetical boards don't run real software }, AND suffer some slowdown, I think I'm much better off with one multifaceted machine. If YOU can recommend (or sell to me) something that will approach my Pipe-Dream as above, please let me know what it is and how much it'll cost. I welcome the suggestion of a machine which hasn't been released yet, if it fits the bill, and WILL be released within 6 mos. to a year. Or, If you'd find my reasoning faulty, I invite criticisms. Please send a copy of your response directly to me. -thomas en2j@vax1.ccs.cornell.edu en2j@crnlvax1.bitnet
en2j@vax1.UUCP (Thomas Purcell) (02/02/88)
[Actual date is Date: 2 Dec 87 08:44:38 GMT -ds (moderator)] This is a request for advice: I'm trying to put together a very respectable personal system for the next couple of years (till the Super-engineering workstations come down to $5k.). Its uses would include some commercial applications (that is, business type stuff) and software development. Preferred characteristics are: o Unix -- now or very soon (avail. within 1 yr.) o desktop publishing at least up to mac quality level ooo multiple operating system capability, even if this anticipates additional processor cards (methinks this is better than buying 4 different machines.?.) o speed. don't want my hair to turn grey while I'm waiting for something running on a hardware simulator, for example, to execute a single instruction o color graphics better than IBM cga, cheaper than a $50k Silicon Graphics workstation o full-page display would be pretty handy. o Big harddrive; ample memory (80 meg, 2 Meg is a nice starting point, bigger better) o Don't need (right now) state of the art CAD/CAM facilities. Can't go much over the $10k limit. Or, need to aim for near to $5k for a stripped machine if I'm to afford the bells & whistles. Multiple OS support is a goody and a biggy that I'd really like. (Seems like this would depend on architecture and vendor's economics...) Here's my reasoning: I can afford to buy ONE flexible machine, and equip it with some REALLY nice goodies: a very good display, a massive (for one user) hard drive, similarly generous RAM, a backup system, and so on.: All the goodies that make an environment more fun! But, once I've invested in all those nice things, I want to be able to work with (read/write) and write code for Unix, MS-DOS, and Mac's OS. (For starters.) I CAN'T afford to buy three or four vendor's machines and equip each one of them as nicely as the single hypothetical machine above. So, even if I have to install some extra processor boards {which had better be REAL ones that are available or will be -- hypothetical boards don't run real software }, AND suffer some slowdown, I think I'm much better off with one multifaceted machine. If YOU can recommend (or sell to me) something that will approach my Pipe-Dream as above, please let me know what it is and how much it'll cost. I welcome the suggestion of a machine which hasn't been released yet, if it fits the bill, and WILL be released within 6 mos. to a year. Or, If you'd find my reasoning faulty, I invite criticisms. Please send a copy of your response directly to me. -thomas en2j@vax1.ccs.cornell.edu en2j@crnlvax1.bitnet
marc@ima.isc.COM (Marc Evans) (02/08/88)
In article <573@vax1.UUCP> en2j@vax1.UUCP (Thomas Purcell) writes: >This is a request for advice: I'm trying to put together a very >respectable personal system for the next couple of years (till the >Super-engineering workstations come down to $5k.). Its uses would >include some commercial applications (that is, business type stuff) >and software development. Preferred characteristics are: ...etc... I have recently purchased a system from Quantus of Hudson, NH their MT386 system with the following specs: - 80386 at 4.77/6/8/10/16/20 MHz - 80387 socket - 2Mb Interleaved Dynamic RAM (designed for 0 wait state @ 20 MHz!!!) - Memory expandable to 8Mb on 1 board, or 16Mb on 2 boards - Full-height 80MB hard drive (Seagate 28ms) - 1.2Mb floppy half height drive - floppy/hard drive controller - Phoenix BIOS - Hercules compatable text/graphics card - Mono Monitor - Speaker - 8 expansion slots (2, 32-bit slots for memory boards) - room for up to a total of 5 half height drives - 101 key enhanced keyboard - 200 watt power supply - 3 year limited warrenty How much would you pay for this? Well, they list it for $2995!!! I can not find anybody else offering as good, besides the fact that they are located 2 towns away from where I live. Use AMEX to purchase, and you'll have a 4 year limited warrenty. As far as software - get yourself a copy of Interactive Systems 386/IX UNIX. This includes the VP/IX stuff from Phoenix which allows DOS programs to run under the UNIX system. For speed reasons, you may also want the *REAL* MS/DOS or OS2.