From: dleon@seas.smu.edu (David Leon)
Subject: Re: Lots 'o Questions
Organization: School of Engineering and applied science; S.M.U.; Dallas, Tx
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 22:16:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug27.070612.15004@unixg.ubc.ca> besler@geop.ubc.ca (Steve Besler) writes:
>
>
>	I am considering buying a NeXTStation Turbo through one of
>those nifty Educational deals.  I am trying to decide between a stacked
>INTEL 486DX50 based system with an EISA bus versus a NeXT.  The problem
>is that I can probably only afford a NeXT slab.  What kind of expandabilty
>and Upgradeability do these offer?  Here are the specific questions.
>

NeXTStep 486 is not out yet.  You will probably have to wait until late this 
year for it, if you wish to go the PeeCee route.  Personally, I like the
cube ('cuz I gots one <g>).

>[Please note that I am refering to a NeXTstation system here, as I probably
> cannot afford a cube]
>
>	1) Any chance of an upgrade from a mono system to a colour one?
>	   How much does it cost?
>

There is no way to upgrade a mono slab to a color slab.  You can ugrade
a mono cube to a dimension cube, however it's *quite* expensive and the
future of the cube is in doubt.

>	2) What about CPU upgrades?  Do they exist ? I heard a rumour about
>	   an upgrade to 88000 Risc chips... what about that?
>

No official words on the NeXT RISC Workstation (NRW), just rumours...

>	3) Can I "trade up" my whole system for a better one later?
>
Check out comp.sys.next.marketplace, you'll see people selling old systems
and buying new ones all the time.  There is no "real" trade in program.
You can usually find mono slabs for >$3,000 US (used, non-turbo).

>OK now for some more...
>
>	4) Can I hook up some sort of "multiport" serial device to a slab to 
>	   allow me to hook up some terminals, or modems?  I mean more
>	   than the 2 RS432 that comes standard.  I am interested in 
>	   setting up a public-access unix system or something.
>

You can use a SCSI based product called SLAT by UUNET (I think).  CocoNut
was supposed to come out with a neat GUI-based BBS for NeXT called CocoNet.
I'm not sure what became of all this.

>	5) Do many games exist for the NeXT?
>
There are a few.  Check the FTP site at sonata.cc.purdue.edu.  There are
a handful of commercial games as well.  I think SimCity is supposed to be
the first BIG game for NeXT.  

>	6) Can I hook my next to ISDN? How? at what cost?
>	     (I don't mean where to get ISDN services, I mean physical
>	      connection between a NeXTstation and an ISDN line)
>
Hayes is coming out with an ISDN extender which uses the NeXT's built in 
DSP chip to emulate an ISDN modem.  It costs ~$350 US.  It should be out
when 3.0 ships (RSN)0.

>	7) Can I use SLIP on my NeXT?
>
Yes, you can use the Public Domain version (available on sonata) or the
commercial version called Teleconnect from Marble Associates.
	A
	D
	D
	A
	A
	A
	8) Can I get a newsfeed to my Next through uucp and a modem?
>	   
Yes, you can use one of the commercial services such as PSI, Portal or
one of your local Unix Access BBS.  If you are associated with the 
university, you may be able to coerce some nice person there to give you 
a feed.

>	9) Will NeXTMail work over uucp or SLIP ?
>
Yes, you can use NeXTmail over a SLIP.  

>	Any info to answer above is apreciated.  No religious war
>type responses about my mention of "another" hardware platform please.
>I will eagerly accept email responses of the non-NeXTMail variety.
>I will also scan the group for posts, but email is nicer.  I hope
>that this is the right group for this, since I don't know, but I won't
>crosspost it.
>
>	Steven Besler

David L. Leon
dleon@seas.smu.edu