From: Christopher Croughton <crough45 AT amc DOT de>
Message-Id: <97Sep18.183030gmt+0100.11649@internet01.amc.de>
Subject: Re: ClosedDOS???
To: ralsina AT unl DOT edu DOT ar (Roberto Alsina)
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 17:35:12 +0100
Cc: ark AT mpak DOT convey DOT ru, crough45 AT amc DOT de, opendos AT delorie DOT com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.91.970917160200.7887S-100000@ultra7.unl.edu.ar> from "Roberto Alsina" at Sep 17, 97 08:03:34 pm
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Roberto Alsina wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, -= ArkanoiD =- wrote:
> 
> > Floppy tape! Pfff...

It works.  I can run it during the day when I'm not there, no problem.

> > MicroVAXen,sure. I don't have enough place at home to keep big ones ;)
> > VAXen are always good. Forever. DEC still does manufacture them.

I wasn't keen on the MicroVAXen, they weren't really competitive with
other processors even when they came out.  The same with the LSI-11
range, although my main objection to those was the lack of a proper
user interface - the 18 address/data switches, lights on each bus 
line, etc.  I mean, how are you expected to load the bootstrap into
core without switches and lights?

But I did like lots of things about the VAX (and although it's unpopular
to say so, I liked a lot of things about VMS as well), and if someone 
happened to be jumking a MicroVAX or three I wouldn't object to giving
them house room.  I wouldn't say no to a PDP-11 either...

> > > > There still are *small* tape streamers ;)
> > > 
> > > Which fit quite well on the cheap (free) floppy interface,
> > 
> > It is _slow_! I have one.. I will replace it with SCSI asap. It is even
> > slower than QIC-02. Actually it is n _times_ slower!
> 
> Not to mention that the floppy tapes are way more expensive per megabyte.
> I can get 4GB DAT tapes for about $20, the same capacity on floppy tapes 
> would cost quite a bit.

And the DAT streamer is a lot more expensive than the floppy-tape one.

Plus my point - I already have the peripherals I need, I don't need to 
spend a lot of money replacing them.  My system isn't commercial, I don't
need absolutely the biggest and latest everything.  OK, I'd like more disk
space, but on EIDE I can go up to over 20 gig if I want to, and if I need 
more than that I may as well upgrade the whole system anyway.

Chris C