rtp1@quads.uchicago.edu (raymond thomas pierrehumbert) (04/03/91)
Is there any word of a possible PA-RISC upgrade for the DN10k? I'm not sure it is sensible for HP/A to support two distinct RISC architectures, and my estimates are that even PRISM-II will not be competitive with the IBM R6000 architecture or PA-RISC (assuming PA-RISC lives up to expectations-- PRISM looked good to me on paper when I bought it, but the performance on our real problems has turned out to be a real dud) A lot of us have a considerable investment in 10k hardware (the box, memory and disks); I'm at a fork in the road where I have to decide between selling the 10k and putting the money into something else (IBM, probably, if HP forces me into this route), or upgrading the 10k (and I don't think PRISM-II cuts the mustard). I think if HP offered a PA-RISC upgrade, it would be worth a lot in terms of customer satisfaction, even if it weren't a big moneymaker. At least, if it were fairly priced, it would keep an HP/A machine in my lab, whereas the way things are going now, it looks like we will phase out our 10k in the next few months, and we are NOT going to buy Snakes if this happens. By the way, was anybody else put off by the mailing that was just put out saying, "if you just bought a Sun pop one of these (...shows a Tums". ?? How about, "if you just bought a <substitute DN10k, 900t, or your favorite headache>" ? A lot of people are getting their work done on Suns, and if HP wants to woo them away, they should be spending their money on improving sales, service, and software, and not on these slick but slimey ad campaigns. .