daniel@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (big_belly@midsection.jiggles) (03/20/91)
A couple of weeks ago someone posted information about an accelerator from a company called Brainstorm which is supposed to give a Mac+ the performance of a Mac II for about $249. Our news connection has been intermittent since then and I may have missed some discussion about this. Does anyone have this product and if so, how well does it work? Dad always said that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Well this sounds pretty good and I'm skeptical. Other accelerators cost much more. What is this one missing? Also, I've never heard of Brainstorm before. Anyone know how to get in touch with them? Your assistance is appreciated. Dan Quoidbach Ocean Drilling Program Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Palisades, NY 10964
dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Danny Breidenbach) (03/20/91)
I hate "Me too" posts as much as the next guy, but ... In article <3510@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> daniel@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (big_belly@midsection.jiggles) writes: >A couple of weeks ago someone posted information about an accelerator >from a company called Brainstorm which is supposed to give a Mac+ the performance of a Mac II for about $249. Our news connection has been intermittent since then and I may have missed some discussion about this. >Does anyone have this product and if so, how well does it work? Dad >always said that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Well >this sounds pretty good and I'm skeptical. Other accelerators cost much more. What is this one missing? Also, I've never heard of Brainstorm before. Anyone know how to get in touch with them? Your assistance is appreciated. Yes ideed. I find myself thinking it is a fairy tale! Along this line: how does one install an accelerator or get an accelerator installed? And what kind of performace do you really get? Does it really make the Plus act like a monster machine? Without frying the innards? I find myself thinking along the lines of the abovementioned Dad. I guess I am extra skeptical because this kind of set up is the answer to all of my prayers. Power and economy--to the extreme. --Danny dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
rob@cbnewsk.att.com (rob) (03/21/91)
From article <3510@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu>, by daniel@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (big_belly@midsection.jiggles): > A couple of weeks ago someone posted information about an accelerator > from a company called Brainstorm which is supposed to give a Mac+ the performance of a Mac II for about $249. Our news connection has been intermittent since then and I may have missed some discussion about this. > Does anyone have this product and if so, how well does it work?... When the product was first announced in MacWeek I called the company asking for a product spec sheet, etc. and was told the info would be sent out immediately. I am still waiting for it to arrrive (4 weeks later)...>-( .....rob -- .....rob coben, currently contracted to AT&T Bell Labs, rcoben@attmail.com rob's rule #1: If you want it bad, you're going to get it bad! rob's rule #2: Just because you own a hammer, it doesn't make you a carpenter.
jchamber@ecst.csuchico.edu (John William Chamberlain) (03/21/91)
In both of your responces you mention the Brainstorm accelerator. I called the company two weeks ago and they were waiting for some literature to come back from the printers then they were going to send me a copy. The accelerator in question is not a farce, but a 16Mhz 68000 not an '30 :-(, but there should be a future upgrade to a '030. The company that produces it I think is called Mac Doctor Electronics, and a friend of mine stumbled upon it when he was in the Silicon Valley. He went and talked to the engineers who had designed several of their other products and he came to the conclusion that they were really a good company. The MDE also sells other macintosh spare parts, I think they even carry flyback transformers for mac plus monitors. So hold on for a while and see what they end up producing, i think that it will be worth the wait. I have no ties of any form to this company, so don't think that this is an advertisement. I will forward anything more that I find out to this board. John
hankin@sauron.osf.org (Scott Hankin) (03/21/91)
daniel@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (big_belly@midsection.jiggles) writes: >A couple of weeks ago someone posted information about an accelerator from >a company called Brainstorm which is supposed to give a Mac+ the >performance of a Mac II for about $249. Our news connection has been >intermittent since then and I may have missed some discussion about this. >Does anyone have this product and if so, how well does it work? Dad always >said that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Well this >sounds pretty good and I'm skeptical. Other accelerators cost much more. >What is this one missing? Also, I've never heard of Brainstorm before. >Anyone know how to get in touch with them? Your assistance is appreciated. I was the original poster. I'd like to say I have more information, but I don't. Yes, it's been a month. I decided to call and find out what's going on. I talked with a friendly rep from Brainstorm. In a word, they've been swamped with requests, and no one has received info yet. They just started shipping last week, and have been unable to handle the requests for info yet. Soon, she said. The MacWeek article and three others created a demand they had not anticipated. I also asked for names of local dealers. She said a list would be included with the info packet. I got the impression that part of the high demand came from dealers who also wanted info. If I had limited numbers of info packages, I'd give preference to folks who wanted to sell large numbers of my products over those who wanted to buy one. Besides, that way I could connect dealers with buyers when the next batch of brochures came in. How well does it work? Beats me - I know of no one who has one yet. I'll be curious to read a review. Too good to be true? Perhaps, but consider: the product only has two chips. one of which is a 16MHz 68000. This is not exactly a high demand, low supply, low yield chip - I don't know what it goes for, but my guess is that it's pretty low. The other chip is a custom ASIC, which also shouldn't cost that much. I actually expect the profit margin is fairly high on this product. What is this one missing? The biggie is that it's still only a 68000. No virtual memory, just a faster version of what you've got. The press release said that there would be upgrades to 68030's but I suspect they may cost more than $249. Is it really that much cheaper? Dove, for example, advertises a 68030 accelerator for $495. It includes the accelerator, an auxilliary power supply, fan and "snap-on" installation kit. I suspect that just the differences in cost between a 68000 and a 68030 would cover a lot of the selling price difference. Of course, people have said the Dove accelerator doesn't significantly speed up your Mac+, probably because they are still dealing with an 8MHz bus. Who is Brainstorm? They've been around in the Mac market for quite a while, but I only knew them to sell memory upgrades for fairly high prices in a competitive market. I never understood who bought from them, but I do know that lots of folks don't shop around much when they buy things. I'm not sure what the rest of their product line is, but the company is several years old, and still around. Many companies in the Mac market cannot make the same claim. Perhaps other companies will attempt to go the same route as Brainstorm in the future - speeding up the bus and SCSI adds a lot to performance. I'm still curious. I hope the delay in info won't be too much longer, but I can wait. I hope this helps some. - Scott --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Hankin (hankin@osf.org) | Cole's Law: Open Software Foundation | Thinly sliced cabbage.
hankin@sauron.osf.org (Scott Hankin) (03/21/91)
dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Danny Breidenbach) writes: >Yes ideed. I find myself thinking it is a fairy tale! >Along this line: how does one install an accelerator or get an accelerator >installed? >And what kind of performace do you really get? Does it really make the Plus >act like a monster machine? Without frying the innards? >I find myself thinking along the lines of the abovementioned Dad. >I guess I am extra skeptical because this kind of set up is the answer to >all of my prayers. Power and economy--to the extreme. >--Danny dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu Installation is said to be by dealers only. You get it installed by bringing your Mac+ to the dealer, and giving him money. Presumably, the $249 includes the installation. I suspect that even the claimed 2.5-3x speed up will not make the Plus a "monster machine". Mac IIfx owners will sleep quite soundly. Still, I know I'd appreciate it. I have some concern about the "frying the innards" issue. The power supply/cooling system on a Mac+ are supposed to be near the edge as far as serving the existing boards. Perhaps an aftermarket fan would be a good idea for those who take the plunge. Hardware types, jump right in here. However, if the number calls Brainstorm has received is any indicator, this will be a very popular product. - Scott --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Hankin (hankin@osf.org) | Cole's Law: Open Software Foundation | Thinly sliced cabbage.
basiji@milton.u.washington.edu (David Basiji) (03/21/91)
With regards to the fan issue: A 2" biscuit fan mounts quite nicely inside the upper right rear corner of the Mac+ chassis, along the top panel. (Looking at the machine from the front). Simply pop-rivet the fan in place with the orientation to force air OUT of the adjacent vent and you have a very inexpensive way to reduce the thermal load on the power supply. 12VDC can be found on the right-most yellow wire in the power bus coming from the video board to the mother board. I used a long pair of wires and a molex connector to allow easy removal of the case and hookup of the fan. To reduce noise, you could cut out the section of adjacent vent in the forced- air path. In any case, you should block off the rest of the vent on that side of the case's top panel to reduce shunt flow. David Basiji basiji@u.washington.edu
news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET) (03/21/91)
This article was probably generated by a buggy news reader.
news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET) (03/21/91)
John Message-ID: <1991Mar21.024324.20141@ecst.csuchico.edu> Date: 21 Mar 91 02:43:24 GMT Article-I.D.: ecst.1991Mar21.024324.20141 References: <3510@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> <8311@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <hankin.669508977@sauron> Organization: California State University, Chico Lines: 1 This article was probably generated by a buggy news reader.
6500rgls@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Randall S Geels) (03/21/91)
Re: Virtual memory on a Mac Plus I read somewhere recently (MacWeek) I think that when system 7 ships it will only be able to do virtual memory if the Mac has the correct hardware *AND* the proper ROMs. This means it cannot work on a Mac+, SE, etc. Thus, I don't know that a 68030 on a Mac+ buys you much more than a faster 68000. --Randy Geels
Rick_McCormack@mindlink.UUCP (Rick McCormack) (03/21/91)
I have talked to the Brainstorm, Inc. people, and they are sending me literature. I am hopeful, because their approach is different from that of most accelerators. I'll post when I get the literature and also if I have found any users locally. Stay tuned for more. -- _________________________________________________________ | IMAGISTICS Business Theatre Technology | Rick McCormack | | Interactive Effective Compelling | Vancouver, BC | |________________________________________|________________| | UseNet: Rick_McCormack@mindlink.uucp | A O-L: Rique | |_________________________________________________________| .
amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) (03/21/91)
In article <hankin.669506457@sauron> hankin@sauron.osf.org (Scott Hankin) >daniel@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (big_belly@midsection.jiggles) writes: >>a company called Brainstorm which is supposed to give a Mac+ the >>performance of a Mac II for about $249. Our news connection has been > I was the original poster. I'd like to say I have more information, but > I don't. Yes, it's been a month. I decided to call and find out what's > release said that there would be upgrades to 68030's but I suspect they > may cost more than $249. Is it really that much cheaper? Dove, for > example, advertises a 68030 accelerator for $495. It includes the > accelerator, an auxilliary power supply, fan and "snap-on" installation > kit. I suspect that just the differences in cost between a 68000 and a > 68030 would cover a lot of the selling price difference. Of course, > people have said the Dove accelerator doesn't significantly speed up > your Mac+, probably because they are still dealing with an 8MHz bus. I have several railgun 030 accelerators for the plus and se. Personally, I haven;t bought the 16Mhz unit, and have the 25 Mhz ones. The railgun blows the dove away for features in operation. More specifically, I find that the performance of it is very close to that of the SE30 or IIc type products. In some areas the accelerators outperform these systems because it allows you to copy the slow system rom into very fast system ram. Then screen updates from scrolls and such happen faster than for a IIfx. In my opinion, anyone that scoffs at a accelerator because of the 8Mhz bus is a dimmwitted fool who doesn't know what they are babbling about any way shape or form. If the accelerator is reliable and cost effective it is a very good option. In that respect, most of my complaints about the older slow mac's today is speed. The 16Mhz 68000, cheap accelerator may be great because it's cheap and provides enough performance to keep you from waiting those annoying short periods of time in your applications.... al -- Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE
miller@rcf.rsmas.miami.edu (03/21/91)
In article <hankin.669506457@sauron>, hankin@sauron.osf.org (Scott Hankin) writes: > [...] > Too good to be true? Perhaps, but consider: the product only has two > chips. one of which is a 16MHz 68000. This is not exactly a high > demand, low supply, low yield chip - I don't know what it goes for, but > my guess is that it's pretty low. The other chip is a custom ASIC, > which also shouldn't cost that much. I actually expect the profit > margin is fairly high on this product. What is an ASIC and what is it good for? [...] > Of course, > people have said the Dove accelerator doesn't significantly speed up > your Mac+, probably because they are still dealing with an 8MHz bus. Does the Brainstorm upgrade have this same limitation? I am interested in upgrading my Mac Plus, have (at least) one lingering doubt though... I use my Plus primarily for word processing (Macwrite II) and terminal emulation (Versaterm Pro) so I don't really do CPU-intensive number crunching. The reason I want more speed is for scanning (i.e., reading as it flies by on the screen - not scanning as in using a scanning device for input) large text files which reside on our mainframe via my terminal emulator. Even at a nomimal 19.2k baud rate, the plus is a lot slower than a "real" terminal connected to the same mainframe port. So, I basically want Versaterm to go faster. The question here is will the faster cpu do that for me or will I still have some kind of i/o bottleneck due to slow bus speed or some such? Or put another way, are emulators like Versaterm cpu limited or i/o limited? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jerry L. Miller /\ Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science #\ o O \/ /\ University of Miami #/ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ / 4600 Rickenbacker Cwsy. / / o O \/ Miami, FL 33149 USA Phone: (305) 361-4762 INTERNET: miller@rcf.rsmas.miami.edu
news@ecst.csuchico.edu (USENET) (03/28/91)
John Message-ID: <1991Mar21.024324.20141@ecst.csuchico.edu> Date: 21 Mar 91 02:43:24 GMT References: <3510@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu> <8311@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <hankin.669508977@sauron> Organization: California State University, Chico Lines: 1 This article was probably generated by a buggy news reader.