danderer@sun.acs.udel.edu (Dave Anderer) (10/26/89)
I'm having a hard time making a decision on what to do with my AT. Given the number of options and the fact that I've probably missed some ideas, I'll throw it open to comment. I've got an original 6 Mhz. AT, 20 Mb. disk (a 4026, as I recall), 512K on the motherboard, serial/parallel card, text display adapter (MDA) and monochrome display. I purchased this machine in 1985 as part of a program at work - total cost to me was $2000. Not bad at the time, especially considering my employer financed it for me over 3 years at 0%. To that configuration I've added a Tecmar multi-function card (serial, parallel, 128K of 64K (150 ns.) memory, 2 Mb of 256K (150 ns.) extended memory), a VGA adapter and monitor, a game adapter, and a DeskJet+. I've also swapped the crystal to change the system speed to 8 Mhz. At the moment the MDA, monochrome monitor, and serial/parallel adapter are sitting in a closet. It's a good machine for what I do - word processing (WP5.0), spreadsheet (123 2.01), and code development on a couple projects (MSC 5.1, MASM 5.1). I've also played around some with OS/2 1.0. But here's the rub - I need to do some development for PM and possibly Windows. I can *barely* load OS/2 1.1 and some minimal dev tools on the disk - no room for much more (including WP and 123). OS/2 1.1 will run - barely, sometimes - in my total of 2.6 Mb of RAM. I'm also very cheap. The simple answer is probably to add a memory board, another couple megs of RAM, and another hard disk of 40 Mb or so. I'd guess I'm looking at $1,000 here, roughly. (There is a bay for another HD, right?) If I did this I'd probably also replace the 360K floppy with a 1.44 Mb. 3.5" one. But having said that, am I now throwing good money after bad? Should I look at something more drastic like also swapping the motherboard with a '386 clocked at around 20 Mhz? The speed isn't that important to me, but for software to come (including OS/2 2.0) the '386 is the way to go. 'Course, if I do that, do I throw out all of my 150 ns. RAM? And do I lose my ability to run IBM-labled OS/2? (Extended Edition might become a factor for me, too.) But I pick up EMS capability I don't have today. So maybe the idea is to buy a new, complete '386 system and keep the AT for DOS-only stuff with the MDA and monochrome monitor. Of course, I'd want to be able to use my existing VGA and other cards in the new machine as needed, so that rules out an MCA machine. OS/2 is also a factor. Quality is a factor, as is price. Now, how wide a range of machines will IBM OS/2 run on? True-blue only, or..? Does Microsoft do OS/2 distributions, or only to VARs who modify it for their hardware platforms? Does MS-OS/2 lag the release of IBM-OS/2 by a significant period, or..? Thoughts, as well as pointers to specific products, appreciated. -- Dave Anderer Academic Computing and Instructional Technology/Research and Development University of Delaware