mayer@rochester.UUCP (09/07/84)
From: Jim Mayer <mayer> Does anyone have any experience with the NEC APC III or the SORD M68? Both systems are new, have impressive specs, and arn't available in the Rochester area yet. If you haven't heard of these, you might be interested. The NEC is built around a 8MHZ 8086 processor, and lists for just under $2000 in its single floppy/128K minimal configuration. For UNIX (TM, etc.) fans, a factory supported SYSTEM 3 derivative system with a hard disk, 384K and a memory management board will set you back somewhat less than $6000 list (my memory says $5400). For $200 more you can add 640x400 color (monitor extra) graphics controlled by a NEC 7220 chip. The only obvious problems are availability and (possibly) software. The SORD lists for "under $5000" and sports a 10 MHZ 68000 and a Z80. It has 640x400 graphics, can support up to 4MB of (expensive, probably 256K chip) memory, and has an optional 8088 card if you need MSDOS compatibility. I haven't seen any mention of memory management hardware, so UNIX is probably out. I am currently trying to get a price list out of SORD marketing. -- Jim Mayer (arpa) mayer@Rochester (uucp) rochester!mayer