[comp.sys.mac.system] Another Mac II si question

jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) (11/30/90)

As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.

I would like to hear from some Mac II users who have required more than
5MB or who forsee the need.

What type of Mac applications require more than 5Meg (A/UX, XWindows, etc.)?

Any information to help my purchase decision would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance,

jim basara
uunet!ssdc!jbasara

rfischer@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Raymond C. Fischer) (12/01/90)

In article <603@ssdc?> jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) writes:
>As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
>a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
>then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.

Apple has an 8MB upgrade available which will get you 4 2MB SIMM's.
Probably before very much more time passes, other manufacturers will
have 2MB SIMMs available as well.
And some of the latest prices for 4MB SIMM's shows them at about $220,
or about $900 for a 16MB upgrade.  Since memory prices continue to
drop, I'd say that the IIsi is not really limited as far as memory
configuration options.

Ray Fischer
rfischer@cs.stanford.edu

ccocswr@prism.gatech.EDU (Winston Rast (Micro- coop)) (12/01/90)

In article <603@ssdc?> jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) writes:
>
>As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
>a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
>then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.

The MacIIsi _can_ be upgraded to 17Megs RAM directly.  However, only 16 will be
seen by the finder due to current system software (wait for system 7.0).


-- 
-|  Winston M. Rast        \\     Ever seen a low-cost color Mac?|     -
-|  GA Tech Computer Tech   \\      Neither have I.  Well, maybe.|k|..   -
-|  ccocswr@prism.gatech.edu \              MAC RULES!!!         |  -

torrie@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Evan James Torrie) (12/01/90)

jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) writes:


>As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
>a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
>then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.

  Actually, the 17MB upgrade uses 4 x 4MB SIMMs, which are now available from
third parties for under $200 each (making it $800 total).

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evan Torrie.  Stanford University, Class of 199?       torrie@cs.stanford.edu   
"Dear Fascist Bully Boy,   Give me some money, or else.  Neil.  P.S. May
the seed of your loins be fruitful in the womb of your woman..."

dwal@ellis.uchicago.edu (David Walton) (12/01/90)

In article <17900@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccocswr@prism.gatech.EDU (Winston Rast  (Micro- coop)) writes:

>The MacIIsi _can_ be upgraded to 17Megs RAM directly.  However, only
>16 will be seen by the finder due to current system software (wait
>for system 7.0).

Actually, only 8 Megabytes of RAM will be usable.  The OS under System
6.0.x and before uses 24-bit memory addressing, which means that 16
total megabytes of memory can be addressed.  Of that space, 8
Megabytes is reserved for ROM, so you can only address 8 megabytes for
RAM--System, Finder, applications.  With third-party products (like
Maxima from Connectix), you can use up to 14 Megabytes of RAM, but
the System itself doesn't have that capability.

As you pointed out, though, once you get System 7.0, you'll be able to
use all 17 Megabytes.

>-|  Winston M. Rast        \\     Ever seen a low-cost color Mac?|     -


--
David Walton            Internet: dwal@midway.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago   {  Any opinions found herein are mine, not  }
Computing Organizations {  those of my employers (or anybody else). }

Garance_Drosehn@mts.rpi.edu (Garance Drosehn) (12/01/90)

In article <603@ssdc?> jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) writes:
> As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
> a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
> then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.
> 
Hmm, that doesn't sound quite right.  Picking up a MacWeek indicates that 
the current price for one 4-Meg SIMM is around $200-$250.  You'll need 4 
of those.  That sounds like under $1K to me, am I missing something about 
the IIsi?  And that's the price *right now*.  If you don't need the memory 
right now, the price is very likely to be cheaper by the time you do need 
it.

There's also one company that claims it will soon have 2Meg SIMMs for the 
IIci and the IIsi, which you could use to give you 9 Meg (4 simms at 2Meg, 
plus the megabyte on the board itself).  They don't quote a price, but I 
imagine it'd be less than the 4Meg simms!

> I would like to hear from some Mac II users who have required more than
> 5MB or who forsee the need.
> 
> What type of Mac applications require more than 5Meg (A/UX, 
> XWindows, etc.)?

I have an SE with an accelerator board and 4Meg at home.  I have a Mac 
IIci with 4 Meg at work.  I do occasionally wish I had more memory on both 
machines.  At home it's mainly for database stuff (4th Dimension) and when 
I'm programming.  At work it's because I could use a million connections 
to everywhere (this hypercard stack for the netnews reader, a couple NCSA 
Telnet connections, maybe some TN3270 connections), plus the project I'm 
really using the Mac for (developing something with MacWorkStation).  It 
isn't so much that any one application takes up a lot of memory, as that 
I want to run a lot of different things at the same time.

I don't run A/UX.  If you are considering A/UX, checkout the most recent 
MacUser.  From what I remember from skimming the article, you'd probably 
want more than 5 Meg to run it.  I wasn't paying that much attention to 
the memory requirements though, so get some more info if you want the Mac 
for A/UX.

Garance_Drosehn@mts.rpi.edu
ITS Systems Programmer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Troy, NY.  USA

boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) (12/02/90)

jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) writes:
>As I stated in an earlier article, I am currently considering purchasing
>a Mac II si.  I was told today that the si is expandable to only 5MB and
>then must be upgraded to 17Meg.  A $2K upgrade.

First, you may go to 9MB using four 2MB SIMMs.  Second, 16MB RAM using
four 4MB SIMMs do not cost $2,000.  $1,500 at worst, and usually considerably
less.

>I would like to hear from some Mac II users who have required more than
>5MB or who forsee the need.
>What type of Mac applications require more than 5Meg (A/UX, XWindows, etc.)?

Besides the advanced stuff (A/UX, X11, SmallTalk), graphics software.  That's
the single biggest RAM gobbler running on the Mac today.  I find it difficult
to do even 8x4" grey-scale in the 3.5MB I have left after running 6.0.7,
MultiFinder 6.1b9, QuickMail, TOPS, Timbuktu, about a dozen other INITs
(mostly business and little pleasure), and 8-bit video.  Other RAM hogs are
databases, especially the 4D or FoxBase relational kind.