[please include me on any replies, as I'm not (yet) subscribe to port-pmax]

>I'm considering picking up a used 5000/240 for use with NetBSD. What
>sort of speed should I expect from this model? What, roughly, are
>they worth nowadays?

The CPU is a 40MHz r3000+FPU.  For a DECstation, it's fast, about as
fast as r3000-base MIPS chips go. I can do a 'make world' in about 24
hours, but that's also limited by using a very slow disk.

Compard to a modern x86, it's probably slow. I'd guess integer CPU is
somewhere around high-end 486 speed. (the CPU has more registers than
an x86 and it's an easier target for a compiler.)  I don't know how it
compares to, say, a 60MHz Pentium (remember those?).  The memory
system is over-engineered, it's comparable to the TurobChannel Alphas.

If you say what you're most familiar with, maybe someone who uses
NetBSD on both can give a good comparison.

I think the going rate for a 5000/240 (no disk) from a used/surplus
equipment reseller is about $500-$600.