Subject: Re: Sun Ultra 5 UltraSPARC systems for $1,995
To: None <port-sparc@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Greg Earle <earle@isolar.DynDNS.ORG>
List: port-sparc
Date: 10/06/1999 13:49:56
Um.  The 360 MHz UltraSPARC IIi Ultra 5's were already $1,795.

The $1,995 systems are the 333 MHz UltraSPARC IIi-based Ultra 5+'s.
(They're the ones with 2 MB of Level-2 cache, vs. 256 Kb in the 360 MHz boxes.)

They now come with PGX24 graphics, so I'm not sure why joeo@cracktown.com says
"256 color display", nor why Greywolf says "Default framebuffer appears to be
the equivalent of a 1280x1024 cgsix."

I never thought I'd say this - as a person who's worked almost exclusively on
Suns for the past 16 years, plus 5 years working for Sun ... and wishing for
an "affordable" Sun during most of that time - but to me this is a big yawn.

From a NetBSD perspective, buying solid hardware with good bang for the buck
and with good OS support seems key.  If I want bang for the buck, I'd go with
a PC.  If I want good hardware, I get a Blue&White G3 Mac with more bang
for the buck (or a G4/400 at $1499, if NetBSD/MacPPC supported it) than a
SPARCstation or Ultra.  The fact is, PCs and Macs caught up to Sun desktops
and passed them already.  Sad but true.

	- Greg