warren@psu-cs.UUCP (Warren Harrison) (11/23/88)
I have an opportunity to buy a DOMAIN 300 workstation and was wondering
if anyone in this newsgroup could tell me if it can run DN3000 software
and vice-versa (ie, can executables from the DN300 be run on a DN 3000)?
If not, is software for the DN300 still being marketed?
Thanks.
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Warren Harrison CSNET: warren@pdx.edu
Department of Computer Science UUCP: {ucbvax,decvax}!tektronix!psu-cs!warren
Portland State University Internet: warren%pdx.edu@relay.cs.net
Portland, OR 97207-0751krowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz) (11/28/88)
The DN300 is a desk top machine based on the 68010 chip, while the DN3000 is based on the 68020 and the 68881 floating point processor. The DN300 (as opposed to the 320 or 330) has no floating point hardware (the 320 has a PEB board and the 330 has the same chip set as the 3000) and is 2 to 3 times slower than the DN3000. It can run all of the system software, and can run FTN, C, and PAS programs which have been compiled with the -CPU ANY option (which is the default). It can not execute programs compiled with the -CPU 3000 option, as it does not have any floating point hardware. Unless you are getting the machine *very* cheaply (like less than $500) I would recommend that you do not buy the machine. The difference in hardware maintenance costs will justify the purchase of a DN3000 (at the university discount rate of $3500) in less than two years. If your university, like MIT, charges overhead on maintenance contracts but not on capital equipment purchases, then you can make up the difference in purchase price in a little over a year (our overhead rate is over 60%). A DN300 is more than $170/month to maintain, and a DN3000 is less than $70/month. -- David Krowitz krowitz@richter.mit.edu (18.83.0.109) krowitz%richter@eddie.mit.edu krowitz%richter@athena.mit.edu krowitz%richter.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet (in order of decreasing preference)