erby@alchemy.tcnet.ithaca.ny.us (Michael Erb) (03/27/91)
I took the plunge and ordered the Mobius One page display with 030 and math coprocessor. The monitor arrived today and for those of you who can't wait to read this whole message, the monitor is excellent. The documentation describing the installation process was very clear and easy to follow. The process took an hour and some of that time was spent cleaning dust out of the case, floppy drive and boards. There was only one confusing issue that had to do with the proper orientation of the internal video cable into the 10-pin connector on the side of the 030 card. A call to Mobius tech support quickly solved the confusion and the installation continued without any other problems. The speed increase is substantial, expecially in regards to number crunching. The monitors tilt/swivel base operates smoothly...I have a small reservation about how securely the base attaches to the monitor but it seems OK. The display itself is extremely sharp. Using test pattern generator, a small amount of linear distortion can be noticed, but it is certainly not a problem and is to be expected I think with any large screen display. To put it another way, I have seen standard 7" screens with just as much distortion. I have not spent much time with the monitor but my first impressions are about as positive as they could be. I certainly can't imagine how the display could be any better and so far have not noticed any conflicts with any software using the 030 board. If you are in the market for a large screen display, I certainly suggest you check out the Mobius product. Their tech support seems excellent, their 30-day money back guarantee is reassuring and the monitor performs very well in this early stage of the game. I am in no way affiliated with or a representative of Mobius Technologies Inc. Mike Erb
stiber@cs.ucla.edu (Michael D Stiber) (03/27/91)
Yes, I had heard about the Mobius display, but I noticed one thing
that seems very strange: instead of using a 68030, they are using a
68EC030, which is supposed to be a 68030 without a MMU. The MMU is a
$250 option. Why is this? My guess is marketing --- I can't imagine
that the different chip saves alot of hardware money. Is there some
other reason? With the MMU and 68882, the Mobius may not be as good a
deal as just buying a SE->SE/30 upgrade from Apple, and a $500 FPD
(considering such things as warrantees, multiple boards increasing the
chances of troubles, etc). Comments, anyone?
--
Michael Stiber
stiber@cs.ucla.edu
...{ucbvax,ihpn4}!ucla-cs!stiber
UCLA Computer Science Dept., 3436 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024stevel@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Steve Ligett) (03/27/91)
In article <STIBER.91Mar26172709@humpback.cs.ucla.edu> stiber@cs.ucla.edu (Michael D Stiber) writes: >Yes, I had heard about the Mobius display, but I noticed one thing >that seems very strange: instead of using a 68030, they are using a >68EC030, which is supposed to be a 68030 without a MMU. The MMU is a >$250 option. Why is this? My guess is marketing --- I can't imagine >that the different chip saves alot of hardware money. The mc68030 (25 Mhz) costs over $200, and the mc68ec030 (25 Mhz) costs less than $70. I think that both of these prices were for 100 pieces or so. My recollection is that I could get a single 030 for about $250, and one ec030 for $70. (um, yes, about the same as the 100 piece price.) The ec030 comes in an inexpensive plastic pin grid array package. That explains a good deal of the price difference. Apple is using plastic packaged 030's (in SE/30's at least), but I haven't been able to get them, myself. The 40 Mhz ec040 is out, or nearly so. I didn't get a price for it, but it might be something to look into. -- steve.ligett@dartmouth.edu or ...!dartvax!steve.ligett
hunter@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Hunter Scales) (03/28/91)
stiber@cs.ucla.edu (Michael D Stiber) writes: >Yes, I had heard about the Mobius display, but I noticed one thing >that seems very strange: instead of using a 68030, they are using a >68EC030, which is supposed to be a 68030 without a MMU. The MMU is a >$250 option. Why is this? My guess is marketing --- I can't imagine >that the different chip saves alot of hardware money. Is there some >other reason? With the MMU and 68882, the Mobius may not be as good a >deal as just buying a SE->SE/30 upgrade from Apple, and a $500 FPD >(considering such things as warrantees, multiple boards increasing the >chances of troubles, etc). Comments, anyone? >-- > Michael Stiber > stiber@cs.ucla.edu > ...{ucbvax,ihpn4}!ucla-cs!stiber > UCLA Computer Science Dept., 3436 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024 I just got a Mobius 2-page display with 25 Mhz '030 accelerator and I am very happy with it. The display is,to my eyes, as crisp as the Apple 2-page and that is high praise. The acceleration is marvelous --- I went from SE speed (8 Mhz 68k) to over IIci speed in one hour. I think the 030 upgrade over the EC030 is worth the $250 because they include the Connectix Virtual INIT -- I now have 4 Mbytes of real and 16 Mbytes of Physical memory. I didn't spring for the 882 upgrade because you can get 25 MHz 882's for much less and the installation is trivial. The only complaint that I have is that the accelerator messes up the sound generation on my SE. When I play a sound, it sounds very scratchy, as if a low frequency source of EMI was near the amp/speaker (it isn't that, though). I called Mobius and they said that it only occurs on *some* SE's and has something to do with the Sound Manager. I'm not sure I believe this, the guy I talked with was not a tech. It seemed to me that they would want the ROM numbers or serial number or something from me to add to their data-base on this problem but they didn't.. just said that it was Apple's fault and they were notoriusly slow about fixing such things. Anybody know anything about this? I would like to believe that my formerly clean sound will return some day soon.... -- Motorola Semiconductor Inc. Hunter Scales Austin, Texas hunter@cerberus.sps.mot.com #include <disclaimer.h>
valsta@cc.helsinki.fi (03/28/91)
In article <STIBER.91Mar26172709@humpback.cs.ucla.edu>, stiber@cs.ucla.edu (Michael D Stiber) writes: > Yes, I had heard about the Mobius display, but I noticed one thing > that seems very strange: instead of using a 68030, they are using a > 68EC030, which is supposed to be a 68030 without a MMU. The MMU is a > $250 option. Why is this? My guess is marketing --- I can't imagine > that the different chip saves alot of hardware money. Is there some > other reason? With the MMU and 68882, the Mobius may not be as good a > deal as just buying a SE->SE/30 upgrade from Apple, and a $500 FPD > (considering such things as warrantees, multiple boards increasing the > chances of troubles, etc). Comments, anyone? > -- > Michael Stiber > stiber@cs.ucla.edu > ...{ucbvax,ihpn4}!ucla-cs!stiber > UCLA Computer Science Dept., 3436 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024 This leads to the question on whether the accelerated Mac is compatible with system 7.0 and virtual memory. How about A/UX? And upgrade to color? However, the Mobius thing seems to be good at what it does. Lauri Valsta valsta@cc.helsinki.fi valsta@finuh.bitnet
jgs@merit.edu (John Scudder) (03/29/91)
Would someone be so kind as to post a brief description of the Mobius products? What are the basic specs of the accelerator card? (Standard processor, optional processors, how much memory can I put on it, etc.) Does someone have a price list handy? Thanks, --John -- ** John Scudder ** Merit/NSFNET ** jgs@merit.edu ** no amusing quote ** ** Disclaimer: I speak for myself, not Merit. **
stevel@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Steve Ligett) (03/29/91)
In article <1991Mar27.143339.15458@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> stevel@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Steve Ligett) writes: > >The 40 Mhz ec040 is out, or nearly so. ----- I meant to say the 40 Mhz ec030. The ec040 is expected out this year, but the 40 Mhz ec030 is appearing now on your distributor's computer screen. -- steve.ligett@dartmouth.edu or ...!dartvax!steve.ligett
Andre Sean Brown <ASB110@psuvm.psu.edu> (03/29/91)
This might be a simple question for some of you, but is the Mobius board and monitor combo for the SE? If that was the case, why don't they make it a color board and support 32-bit QuickDraw via software?