prender@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (05/31/91)
Hi. Our research group needs to do real-time (or as close as possible) display (grayscale-ish images) and 2D FFTs of 100+ x 100+ arrays of numbers, along with standard 2- or 3D rotations of the generated images (basically all just very fast (compared to DOS on 386s) numbercrunching and graphics), and I've drawn the short straw on 'finding a suitable system' for the job. So far, OS/2 2.0 (32 bit), SUN (and similar) workstations, and the NeXT Machine have all come up for consideration. I have myriad DOS (and related area) experience, but nothing of consequence on the others, and so I'm looking for some practical opinions of people actually USING NeXTs (or actually, ANY of the above systems) in a laboratory enviroment. The price of NeXTs vs SUNs and other workstations, along with the lack of the infamous DOS 'features' (an 8-bit OS, 640k barrier; all that FUN stuff... :-) is VERY tempting to us, but I have NO experience AT ALL with even SEEING a NeXT run, and so hope to get some real nitty-gritty on the subject. Anything provided would be greatly appreciated. As usual, EMAIL is sure to be read but postings to this group should be noticed as well :-) ... Thanks. S Prendergast OSU Physics prender@ohstpy.mps.ohio.state.edu prender@ohstpy.BITNET
kenny@niagara (Kenny Leung) (06/03/91)
In article <10211.284573a0@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> prender@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu writes: > Hi. Our research group needs to do real-time (or as close as possible) display > (grayscale-ish images) and 2D FFTs of 100+ x 100+ arrays of numbers, along with > standard 2- or 3D rotations of the generated images (basically all just very > fast (compared to DOS on 386s) numbercrunching and graphics), and I've drawn > the short straw on 'finding a suitable system' for the job. So far, OS/2 2.0 > (32 bit), SUN (and similar) workstations, and the NeXT Machine have all come > up for consideration. I have myriad DOS (and related area) experience, but > nothing of consequence on the others, and so I'm looking for some practical > opinions of people actually USING NeXTs (or actually, ANY of the above systems) > in a laboratory enviroment. > > The price of NeXTs vs SUNs and other workstations, along with the lack of the > infamous DOS 'features' (an 8-bit OS, 640k barrier; all that FUN stuff... :-) > is VERY tempting to us, but I have NO experience AT ALL with even SEEING a > NeXT run, and so hope to get some real nitty-gritty on the subject. Anything > provided would be greatly appreciated. As usual, EMAIL is sure to be read > but postings to this group should be noticed as well :-) ... > > Thanks. > > S Prendergast > OSU Physics > prender@ohstpy.mps.ohio.state.edu prender@ohstpy.BITNET The NeXT has 4 gray scales on screen plus built in PostScript dithering. the 68040 is capble of doing 15 mips and about 2.5 mflops, plus there is a 56001 DSP (10 mips) to handle array processing. Plus, the NeXT is absolutely the best development platform there is.
melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) (06/03/91)
In article <1991Jun3.024924.24036@cs.UAlberta.CA> kenny@niagara (Kenny Leung) writes:
The NeXT has 4 gray scales on screen plus built in PostScript dithering.
the 68040 is capble of doing 15 mips and about 2.5 mflops, plus there is a
56001 DSP (10 mips) to handle array processing. Plus, the NeXT is absolutely
the best development platform there is.
You should probably add that Mathematica is free on the NeXTs. I
think that it costs a small fortune on the Suns.
-Mikestreib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Allan Streib) (06/03/91)
In article <g47H#djl@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: > >You should probably add that Mathematica is free on the NeXTs. I >think that it costs a small fortune on the Suns. > >-Mike I don't think this is true any longer. I ordered a NexTStation with extended release OS in February, as an educational buyer. I didn't get Mathematica. -Allan
tgingric@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Tyler S Gingrich) (06/03/91)
In article <1991Jun3.061504.18607@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> streib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Allan Streib) writes: >In article <g47H#djl@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: >> >>You should probably add that Mathematica is free on the NeXTs. I >>think that it costs a small fortune on the Suns. >> >>-Mike > >I don't think this is true any longer. I ordered a NexTStation with >extended release OS in February, as an educational buyer. I didn't get >Mathematica. > >-Allan > This IS still true. Educational buyers will receive Mathematica 2.0 on diskettes WHEN IT IS DONE!! You can find the 1.2 interim release floating around and educational buyers are allowed to load it up. Check with your local computer store -- they received a copy of the 1.2 diskettes (around the first week of February). -Tyler
gn@orbus (06/04/91)
> The NeXT has 4 gray scales on screen plus built in PostScript dithering. > the 68040 is capble of doing 15 mips and about 2.5 mflops, plus there is a > 56001 DSP (10 mips) to handle array processing. Plus, the NeXT is absolutely > the best development platform there is. Interesting, for some reason the NYT last week (friday?) had an article on the front page of the business section on the pursuit of the teraflop, included in this article was a graph of relative mflops. It stated the NeXT had 1.5 mflops. I forget the source of the graph, has anyone verified the 2.5 figure? -=- Greg Noel Path: uunet!umn-cs!rathe!orbus!gn "Nothing Works, and Nobody Cares." -W Allen
kenny@niagara (Kenny Leung) (06/04/91)
In article <1991Jun3.061504.18607@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> streib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Allan Streib) writes: > In article <g47H#djl@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: > > > >You should probably add that Mathematica is free on the NeXTs. I > >think that it costs a small fortune on the Suns. > > > >-Mike > > I don't think this is true any longer. I ordered a NexTStation with > extended release OS in February, as an educational buyer. I didn't get > Mathematica. > > -Allan > The reason that you didn't get Mathematica is that they are waiting for Mathematica 2.0 to ship.
kls30@duts.ccc.amdahl.com (Kent L Shephard) (06/06/91)
In article <1991Jun3.061504.18607@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> streib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Allan Streib) writes: >In article <g47H#djl@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: >> >>You should probably add that Mathematica is free on the NeXTs. I >>think that it costs a small fortune on the Suns. >> >>-Mike > >I don't think this is true any longer. I ordered a NexTStation with >extended release OS in February, as an educational buyer. I didn't get >Mathematica. You should receive the new version when it starts shipping. They did not include the old version with new machines because it is not completely functional. > >-Allan Kent -- /* -The opinions expressed are my own, not my employers. */ /* For I can only express my own opinions. */ /* */ /* Kent L. Shephard : email - kls30@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com */