On Sun, 16 Nov 1997, Austin Brower wrote:

> Hello all,
>      After experimenting with NetBSD/Mac68k 1.2.1 on my high school=B9s
> Mac IIsi, I have decided to buy my own Mac to use NetBSD on.  Since I am
> basically a poor teenager, I looked into buying an older II series Mac.=
=20
> I came up with two choices:=20
> Mac IIcx - 8mb RAM 80mb HD and 8-bit video w/mouse for $99
> Mac IIsi - 5mb RAM 40mb HD w/mouse for $99
> (These are both from Small Dog Electronics)
>=20
>      My problem is this: what system would be the best for NetBSD?  The
> IIcx is slower, processor-wise, than the IIsi, but the IIsi only has 5mb
> RAM and a small HD.  Which would be the most bang for the buck?=20

The IIcx is the better choice.  Two free NuBus slots (one is taken up by
the video card) an FPU, and 8 SIMM slots (two banks of 4).  RAM based
video in the IIsi also means that less memory will be available for NetBSD
- i.e. not even 5MB, whereas all 8MB in the IIcx is RAM.  The IIcx can
also be expanded to 128MB of RAM, where as the IIsi only has 4 SIMM slots
for a max of 65MB.  The IIcx has simple and elegant internals, the IIsi is
more cluttered.  The 20Mhz 030 in the IIsi (vs. the 16Mhz in the IIcx)
doesn't make that big a difference in the overall stats.  Go with the
IIcx.

--
Nathan Raymond