HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Dave Filpus <filpus@bnr.ca>
Subject: Re: Pros & Cons of switching to SCSI for a PC.
Organization: BNR
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 13:38:33 GMT

From: Mahesh Bagade, c23mkb@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com
In article <1992Dec15.134452.4165@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com> Mahesh Bagade,
c23mkb@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com writes:
>Hi Netters!
>
>I am planning to purchase a pc and hence I am involved in some research
>as to what I should be looking for.
>
>Can gurus on the net give me an idea of what SCSI is and it's pros &
Cons?
>All I know is that, it is an interface which will provide multiple
expansion
>slots.
SCSI is a parallel interface designed by an ANSI committee, starting with
Shugart's SASI interface, back in 1984.  It was designed to facilitate
interoperability of devices by multiple vendors.  It allows up to eight
devices on a single cable, including the host computer.  It allows data
exchange rates up to 5 Megabytes/second between devices.  It has a
command structure that requires a certain amount of intelligence in the
device.

>
>Are there any standards?
Plain vanilla SCSI is ANSI standard X3.131-1986.  There are newer
flavors, SCSI-2 is in the publishing process.  SCSI-3 is in the
committee, ANSC X3T9.2. 

>It is widely supported?
It is very widely supported.  There are whole classes of devices for
which SCSI is the only supported interface.  There are many SCSI disks. 
The problem is that the controller is not built into PC's (as it is in
Mac's and PS/2's), so there is an extra controller cost. 

>Are there any compatibility problems?
The idea of SCSI was to eliminate compatibility issues.   SCSI-1 allowed
too many vendor options.  SCSI-2 is better.  There are problems with
cabling and termination which plague the interface to this day.  Both Mac
and PS/2 use nonstandard cables and termination.  However, with a little
intelligent engineering by the vendors and good support, you will find
that SCSI devices will be compatible with each other.   

>Will I face any problems in future?
As in any technology, your SCSI devices will be outmoded, but your SCSI
controller should not be.  It should be posssible to just buy a larger or
faster device compatible with your SCSI controller.    There will be
devices built that will require SCSI-2 or SCSI-3, so you may want to
upgrade your controller in the future.

>
>Thanks for all the responses in advance....
>
>Mahesh
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wds@worldbank.org (William D. Sheppard)
Subject: Re: Help on VideoBlaster
Reply-To: wds@worldbank.org
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 18:11:36 GMT


Hi,

I have a video blaster which I purchased about 2 weeks ago.  To
answer your question YES the video blaster can go fullscreen
under dos or windows (minus the window frame in windows).

The basic configuration is the a pass through cable from your
vga feature connector. The VGA card connector also connects
to the Video Blaster which has a second VGA connector that goes
to the monitor.

General quality of NTSC is good. Ability to grab NTSC signals
directly to JPEG makes a TV screen dump about 40 kbytes.

Note that it grabs in almost True Color (2Million instead of 16 Million)
but this is not a limiting factor in my opinion.

One thing that is a ROYAL pain in the ass about this card is
that you cant have more than 15 Meg of memory. Why? Because they
map 1 Meg of the 1st 16 to the video blaster frame buffer. This
can really be a problem. For example I used to have 8 4Meg
Simms in my PC for a total of 32 Meg. Now that I have the
video blaster I can't get more than a total of eight Meg
in my machine.

This limitation is due to a Chips and Technology Chip that
only reconizes the first 16 Meg of memory. Yes I know that
ISA is only spec'd at 16 Meg but most new motherboards
have enough address lines to go to at least 32 Meg.

IMHO if you are considering buying a Video Blaster WAIT
a few months. While this board has some very impressive
features it still has a few rought edges like the Memory
limitation. Also contrary to popular belief their is NOT
an NTSC output from this board (3 NTSC inputs only).

Bill
From: wolfi@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Wolfgang Schwanke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Help on VideoBlaster
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:39:41 GMT
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany

macross@wam.umd.edu (Steve Ji-Chang Hong) writes:


>Hi,
>	Can anyone who has a VideoBlaster tell me if it can run in full size 
>screen?

I bought one yesterday *pride* :), it can run full screen provided the
software supports that. There are basically 2 viewing programmes included,
both run under Windows. One is WinVideo, that does not allow full screen mode
(you can of course maximise the window, but you'll still see the menu bar).

Then there's iPhoto Plus by U-Lead, a nice little enhancer prog. for still
images. iPhoto Plus comes with a small extension (called VideoView or something
similar) for grabbing images (instead of scanner drivers). It's similar to
WinVideo's functions, but it has a full screen option. You can run VideoView
alone as well.

So if the software package you get in the USA is identical, you can.

> Also, how is it as a converter for NTSC to VGA (if let the monitor
>acting as a TV, how good is it)?

I run it in PAL not NTSC obviously ... You need to run a 640x480 VGA driver,
no higher resolutions supported.

It doesn't look bad, the best thing is that you have a 72 Hz non interlaced
picture on a high resolution VGA monitor, so much better than your 60 Hz resp.
50 Hz interlaced. No visible flicker at all.

On the other hand you have digitisation artefacts, which makes fast motions
look "steppy". Looks similar to NTSC -> PAL converted videos. If you decrease
the window size, you'll have artefacts concerning the resolution which
makes small details vanish.

Also the colours don't look quite right, but I've probably not yet found
the optimal settings.

>	Thanks.
>-Steve

Wolfgang

--
* Wolfgang Schwanke * Technische Universitaet Berlin * Germany * wolfi on irc *
* email: wolfi@cs.tu-berlin.de       *      wolfaefg@w250zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de *

   Everybody needs a little love sometime; stop hacking and fall in love!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: brian@audiofax.com (Brian Troxell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re:  Amiga now kicks PC butt - no way.
Date: 11 Dec 92 20:48:04 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Organization: AudioFAX, Inc., Atlanta, GA

In article <42352@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> jfriesne@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Jeremy Friesner!) writes:
[blah blah blah]

I'm setting followups to the Amiga advocacy group.

-- 
|~~\ rian        2000 Powers Fy Rd. | "I believe you will find that the 
|--< _____       Suite 200          |  artichokes became invisible then 
|__/   |         Marietta, Ga 30067 |  visible and so on."	
       | roxell  (404)933-7600      |    	-John Winston, Loonie. 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: md@sco.COM (Michael Davidson)
Subject: Re: Concurrent Processors on EISA Bus?
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 17:45:21 GMT


schludermann@sscvx1.ssc.gov writes:

>If the EISA bus is a Trully multiprocessor design, Does this mean that 
>concurent processing is possible?

I'm not sure what you mean by the question .....

By "concurrent processing" do you mean "multi-processor"?

If so, please remember that the EISA bus was designed as an
i/o bus to replace the old PC-AT i/o bus (now called the "ISA" bus)
and to compete with the MCA bus. It was *not* designed as a
processor / memory interconnect bus for multi-processor machines.
While you *could* in certain circumstances put additional
processors out on the EISA bus, you would be insane to do it if
what you wanted to end up with was a tightly coupled symmetric
shared memory multi-processor machine - the bus just wasn't
designed for that.

You can, of course, attach an EISA bus to a multiprocessor
machine as the i/o bus - there are lots of examples of this,
probably the best known being the Compaq SystemPro. Whether the
system is symmetric with regard to the i/o bus (ie can all of
the processors access the i/o bus equally) is really an issue
for the multiprocessor implementation rather than the i/o bus
itself.


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: kushmer@bnlux1.bnl.gov (christopher kushmerick)
Subject: Re: NO Product support. BOYCOTT?
Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 20:24:18 GMT


In article <1992Dec14.124541.1@ualr.edu> you write:
>I am sure that most everyone that purchases a lot of pc hardware has noticed


I doubt that any compnay that is going to set up to make hardware in
a profitable fashion is going to be fly-by-night. Ie in order to compete,
you have to make a lot of something to drive the price down.

On the other hand, increased government regulations just might force
a company to stop making something if it was just barely profitable.

So, I would recommend _NOT_ introducing legislation.

-- 
Chris Kushmerick
kushmer@bnlux1.bnl.gov
-- 
Chris Kushmerick
kushmer@bnlux1.bnl.gov
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: scott@unixland.natick.ma.us (Scott Evernden)
Subject: Re: Alpha-based PC
Organization: Unixland Public Access Unix & Think_Tank BBS
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 01:45:44 GMT

In article <1992Dec13.091224.9083@netcom.com> timbol@netcom.com (Mike Timbol) writes:
>Anyone out there know anything about the proposed Alpha-based PC
>systems from DEC?  I had heard that they were going to use the EISA
>bus, but I was wondering if they could then use standard EISA
>expansion cards (the same ones used on Intel motherboards). 

This of course would include ISA cards too, I guess...
Is there *any* kind of PC board that requires *no* driver or application
software?
Good luck finding drivers...

-scott
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: stellabo@phage.cshl.org (Fred Stellabotte)
Subject: MAG Montitor by Innovision ..??
Organization: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 18:07:09 GMT

Does anyone have any experience with the MAG Multisync
Monitors by Innovision ..??

I am considering the 17" version of this monitor ..
Also .. any ideas on a  good Windows Acceraltor
card ..??

Thanks in advance ...

-Fred

_______________________________________________________________________
  >| ====  Fred J. Stellabotte                     stellabo@cshl.org  
  >| ====  Computer Systems Manager
  >| ====  CFI-IA SEL MEL Commerical Instrument         
  >| ==== ___________________________________________________________
  >| ====  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory         Voice: (516)367-8420
  >| ====  1 Bungtown Road                         Fax: (516)367-8845
  >| ====  Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724                     
_______________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: joy@quip.eecs.umich.edu (Chien-Chung Chen)
Subject: Re: Should WD Caviar 2200 be noisy?
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 16:46:07 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.144503.23055@news.uiowa.edu> bonak@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Esmail Bonakdarian) writes:
>
>Do you know how the WD2200 compares to the Seagate ST3283A, esp with
>re to noise? I was all set to get the Seagate when the guy at HDI 
>told me about the WD2200.  I want a drive that is quiet (this is for 
>home use, and I am practically sitting on top of the drive) *and* of
>course fast and reliable!

Well, I don't know about Seagate ST3283A. But among all the HDs I've seen,
WD2200 is the most noisy. If you are concerned about the quietness, better
get something else.

>PS :  What stability problem with the Maxtor?

It's a long story. Briefly, the Maxtor HD was making faint clicking noise
when the head was placed to some positions. It's not the sound of head
moving. Instead, it's like the head was scatching the disk surface.
I didn't wait for the HD's problem to rise, but returned it immediately.
BTW, WD2200 is much faster than Maxtor 7213A. I'm happy that I made the
switch.

-- Chien-Chung Chen
From: dodd@dodd.UUCP (Mike Dodd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Dual Monitor - mono is blank - help...
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 15:44:34 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Not
X-Newsreader: Arn V1.00 beta rel2

The error was in the memory manager.  386max swapped the VGA ROM.  It was
in the 386max.pro file.  Corrected and it runs fine now.

			    -Mike

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Michael E. Dodd		Internet:  dodd!dodd@seq.uncwil.edu     |
|   219 Pershing Court		Voice:     919/799-9453                 |
|   Wilmington, N.C. 28412	(Answering Machine on between 4-10PM)   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Where the mac really wins
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 20:22:45 GMT

In article <palane.723147584@pv7412.vincent.iastate.edu> palane@iastate.edu (Paul A. Lane) writes:
>In <1992Nov30.162227.8908@u.washington.edu> rene@hardy.u.washington.edu (Rene Magritte) writes:

>>	Bullshit.   How much is a Mac Classic?  I can get a 386/25 for
>>~$100-150 for motherboard.  Capable speed.  Monitor -- mono, since
>>we're talking about a Macintosh, vga, $60.  Case/power supply $100.
>>VGA card -- which has a higher resolution than a mac -- $50.  What am
>>I at?  $360?  Add a 210 megabyte Hard disk, ~$400-$500.   Are our
>>machines comparable?  I doubt it.  

>I'd recommend quoting system prices with configuration (Standard or some
>such other company) as very few people are willing to "roll their own" PC.
>Basically, a color PC (386/33 or /40 with SVGA, 4MB, and a decent hard
>drive) runs about $1400. Given the size of software programs, which have
>grown rather bloated on the PC, anything less than 100 MB is unacceptable.

OK... compare Word 5 on the Mac with W4W 2.0. How big did you say the 
Mac version is? Remember to include _everything_: dictionaries, drawing 
tool, etc. And remember that it doesn't come with Word Art. I don't know 
anyone these days who doesn't at least wish that they had a 100 Meg HD 
on their mac.

>Photostyler is due out for the mac. The others you mention are already avail-
>able. The advantage you get with the mac that doesn't show up on PC's is
>system integration. Memory management is one clear case of this. I've spent
>time screwing around with memory managment and configuration on PCs.
>On a Mac, memory is memory.

Memory management is actually one really poor feature of System 7. Each
app gets a fixed stack, and stacks can't slide up and down, so memory 
will get fragmented if you close an app below one that is running. Apps
that won't fit in either segment won't run even if they will if it were 
one chunk.

Memory problems can be eliminated in PCs by just running Windows apps.
Just run himem and you're done. Windows doesn't have the fixed stack 
problem Macs do. 



-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU |    Frog is Frog ala Peach
Bitnet:   NTAIB@IUBACS                 !
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.intel
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 23:52:53 -0500 
From: Faisal Nameer Jawdat <fj05+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: 486SLC chip..NextStep on Cyrix
	<1992Dec15.192635.1133@mala.bc.ca>

bigras@mala.bc.ca writes:
> MS was developing DOS v2.0 .  Rumour is Bill said 'It ain't finished
> until it wont run Lotus'

The original quote was allegedly:
"Dos isn't done until Lotus won't run."

-- faisal jawdat                  | "Certainly the game is rigged.
email: fj05+@andrew.cmu.edu       | Don't let that stop you;
if mail handler barfs             | if you don't bet, you can't win." 
fj05@andrew.cmu.edu               |        -Lazarus Long
From: tdbear@dvorak.amd.com (Thomas D. Barrett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: I'm sick of off-white computers!
Date: 20 Dec 92 22:24:05 GMT
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; Austin, Texas

In article <3588@voodoo.UUCP> das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz) writes:
>I can see it now - get your computer in
>genuine oak or walnut.

Don't laugh too hard... while at Zenith we were seriously thinking
about executive models with genuine wood bezels.  I think that they
also were considering neon colors for the student models, but am not
sure if that ever went through.  Anyway... any carpentors out there
could make a small fortune selling replacement bezels for popular
machines which are used by large corporations in your area :)

-- 
| Tom Barrett (TDBear), Sr. Engineer | tom.barrett@amd.com
| AMD PCD / Austin, TX  78741        | v:512-462-6856 / f:512-462-5155
| "No is yes, And we're all free"    | CO made a #2 no-no... PU!
| My views may not be shared by the organization of origin
From: crd6@po.CWRU.Edu (Chad R. Dougherty)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: My experiences with INSIGHT (and Hard Drives International)
Date: 14 Dec 1992 08:37:40 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: crd6@po.CWRU.Edu (Chad R. Dougherty)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc12.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, fhrich01@orion.spd.louisville.edu (Frank H. Richterkessing) says:

>Contrary to what everyone else has been saying about INSIGHT
>(formerly Hard Drives International),I have had nothing but
>GOOD (!!!!!) experiences with them. I have not bought a PC from
>them, but I have bought several hard drives nad other parts
>from them over the years and never (and I REPEAT ----- NEVER)
>have I had ANY PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER !!!!!!! I have always been
>satisfied with my purchases from them. I will also add that
>I am considerably more difficult to please than most people
>when it comes to PCs. (In general I am known as a cynic's
>cynic and a pessimist's pessimist) (spelling? - there's no
>dictionary handy.) I am also not affiliated with INSIGHT or
>any other retailer.
>
>In general, I have'nt had any trouble with any mail order supplier.
>(At least not the ones that advertise in Computer Shopper.)
>On the other hand, any time I've done business with a local
>retailer, I've always been screwed! I simply don't buy anything
>locally anymore except printer paper (and that comes from
>Office Depot).
>
>Now if you want to hear some real horror stories, ask me
>about my experiences with Compaqs and Grids!
>
>- Frank (Chip) Richterkessing
  
  I agree wholeheartedly with you.  I have dealt with a number of direct
order companies and have had nothing but satisfaction.  On one occassion, I
had an order take a pretty long time when dealing with Telemart, Inc., but
other than that, no problems.  I think also that the parts and equipment
sold through the direct channel are less likely to experience compatibility
problems because there are less proprietary-type components on them.  I
would certainly buy a "generic" clone over a Compaq or other proprietary
manufacturer any day.  I don't know if I've just been lucky with the
channel or what, but my condolences go out to those of you who have had
trouble.  


-- 

| Chad Dougherty                        | "When angry, count ten, when      |
| Case Western Reserve Univ.		|   very angry, swear."		    |
| crd6@po.cwru.edu      		|		-Mark Twain	    |
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: marcs@crpmks.uucp (Marc Snyder)
Subject: Re: Zero Insertion Force (ZIP) sockets
Organization: CIBA-GEIGY Corporation, Additives Division
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 15:31:54 GMT


On the same note, does anyone know where someone can *buy* these types of
sockets?  I have a friend that recently bought some full sized arcade
type video games, and would like to easily switch roms.  He is looking
for a place to buy these sockets.  Thanks.
-- 
Marc Snyder                     UUCP: ...philabs!crpmks!marcs
System Administrator                  
Ciba-Geigy Corporation
Hawthorne, New York          Work: 914.785.2284      Play: 914.347.6440
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wlsmith@valve.heart.rri.uwo.ca (Wayne Smith)
Subject: Re: Fast hard drives - seek isn't everything.
Organization: The John P. Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 17:09:56 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.092641.24824@doug.cae.wisc.edu> keiths@cae.wisc.edu (Keith Scidmore) writes:
>
>I asked Hard Drives Intl for their fastest IDE drive (thinking I would
>let Zeos keep the Seagate 3283A 245MB drive that came with my system 
>and upgrade immediately).  HDI sent me a $1000 FJ2624A 510MB 
>Fujitsu IDE drive.  It turned out to be slower than the Seagate on
>all the benchmarks and programs I tested even though it had about
>an 8 ms seek time to the Seagate's 11 ms.  The following explains
>how this was determined and why the Seagate was faster on both
>the benchmarks and on real programs.

There's just a *little* something wrong here...
You gave up on a 510Mb drive because a 245Mb drive was faster?
Um, that tells me that you didn't even need the extra capacity of the
510 Mb drive in the first place.  Or, I suppose that if you are serious,
you are going to get a second Seagate (245 Mb) so you will have the 500Mb
capacity of the Fujitsu.

Hey, I hear that the 1.2 and 1.5 GIG drives are pretty fast!  Why don't
you get one of those instead!?
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: caro@adobe.com (Perry A. Caro)
Subject: Display Mode For Compaq, PC-Xview?
Reply-To: caro@mv.us.adobe.com  (Perry A. Caro)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:12:01 GMT

I've got a Compaq Deskpro 4/33i, and I'm trying to figure out how to set
the display to do hi-res or "Super" VGA.

Could someone tell me the appropriate "mode" to set the built-in Compaq
display adaptor to?  My software (described below) wants an 8-bit or
16-bit number that specifies the mode.

I'd like modes for any or all of the following:

800x600, 4 bits-per-pixel (bpp) color
800x600, 8 bpp
1024x768, 4 bpp
1024x768, 8 bpp

The software I'm using is NCD's PC-Xview for DOS.  As part of the
configuration, it takes a screen argument of the format:

	-screen <width>x<height>:<mode>

For example:

	-screen 640x480:12h

The 12h is hex for the mode.

E-mail replies to the address below.  Thanks.

Perry
-- 
caro@mv.us.adobe.com  ...!{sun}!adobe!caro   Contents: my opinions, no others
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