chien@ymer.uucp (Liu Chien) (12/24/90)
1. Could I use Next to make digital backup of old cassette tape on the optical disk? If so, how good the sound will be? (relative to the original tape, of course) 2. I've tried to use the Nextstation displayed at MIT computer store and was surprised to find that the I/O is so slow compared to PC or Mac. (1) When resizing the window, the border lines simply couldn't follow the movement of the mouse, or the symbol of the mouse on the screen. The lines delayed so much and jumped in so big steps (instead of moving smoothly) that I just couldn't stand it at all. Why is it so slow????!!!! (2) When loading and executing a binary file (application), there came a small revolving circle on the screen showing the computer was working and I had to wait. The problem is: I seemed to have to wait FOREVER for the program to start. The startup step of almost every program took so much time that I just couldn't imagine that was a Nextstation with a hard disk instead of an Apple II with a floppy. Again, why is it so SLOW????!!!! I had put very high expectation on the Next computer (just think about: unix system, real multitasking, audio processing ....) until I operated it myself at MIT. I would be very glad and appreciated if any kind person tell me WHY IT IS SO SLOW. Thank you and merry X'mas.
eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) (12/25/90)
In article <5147@husc6.harvard.edu> chien@ymer.UUCP () writes: >2. I've tried to use the Nextstation displayed at MIT computer store >I had put very high expectation on the Next computer (just think >about: unix system, real multitasking, audio processing ....) until I >operated it myself at MIT. I would be very glad and appreciated if >any kind person tell me WHY IT IS SO SLOW. I can only think of one OBVIOUS reason: They're demoing an 8MB machine. All the MIPS in the world won't make one bit of difference on a RAM-starved computer. Welcome to the REALITY of VIRTUAL memory. (or as D|I|G|I|T|A|L says, "nothing helps virtual like physical.") If you think the NeXT is slow, look at a PC or Mac under comparable conditions. Since the NeXTstations only have 8 SIMM sockets, you have to put 4MB SIMMs in them (or shut down NextStep) to get any sort of performance... -=EPS=-
adonis1@nwnexus.WA.COM (Adonis Corporation ) (12/27/90)
> >2. I've tried to use the Nextstation displayed at MIT computer store >and was surprised to find that the I/O is so slow compared to PC or >Mac. I heard that early NextStations were reined back by 33% in the speed with which they could access memory. Could the MIT machine be one of them? -Doug Kent Independent Next Developer
rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony) (12/30/90)
In article <5147@husc6.harvard.edu> chien@ymer.UUCP () writes: > >1. Could I use Next to make digital backup of old cassette tape on the optical >disk? If so, how good the sound will be? (relative to the original tape, of >course) If you choose a D/A converter like digital ears or digital microphone then the sound quality will be as good as on the original, if you use only the built in 8-bit converter, then you will loose quality. In both cases be aware that you will need huge quantities of disk space. >2. I've tried to use the Nextstation displayed at MIT computer store >and was surprised to find that the I/O is so slow compared to PC or >Mac. >[...] > The problem is: I seemed to have to wait FOREVER for > the program to start. The startup step of almost every > program took so much time that I just couldn't imagine > that was a Nextstation with a hard disk instead of an > Apple II with a floppy. Again, why is it so > SLOW????!!!! >I had put very high expectation on the Next computer (just think >about: unix system, real multitasking, audio processing ....) until I >operated it myself at MIT. I would be very glad and appreciated if >any kind person tell me WHY IT IS SO SLOW. Considering that you used a new i.e. a 040 NextStation, I think that something was messed up with your machine. Even the old 030 cube was not THAT slow. The most probable thing is that some daemon went crazy, e.g. getty or NFS or something the like (ps -aux usually helps finding the guilty process quickly). A healthy NextStation is not slow at all, be assured of that. Ronald ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." G.B. Shaw | rca@cs.brown.edu or antony@browncog.bitnet