7300 questions answered

[David C. Albrecht]

ok.  There seem to be a number of questions about the 7300 as of late.
I'll try to answer as many of them as I can but as some of them are
only fuzzy rememberances don't take them as the absolute gospel.
Corrections welcomed.

a) Is $495 for the 7300 1/2mb 10mb system a good deal.
     Frankly, yes.  Maybe not as good as you hoped, but it is a good deal.
     You will have to replace the disk with at least a 20M half-height if
     you want to run a Unix box instead of a large paper weight.  Many
     IBM PC compatible ST-506 half-heights will do.  512k of memory is
     pretty pitiful you probably want to invest in at least a 512k expansion
     card (which they also sell for around $200).  Software is necessary
     before you will have a decent box (see below).
b) What is Unix 2.0?
     Unix for the 7300/3b1 series followed a rather interesting numerology.
     The first release (that I knew of) was 2.0.  It was followed by 3.0,
     3.5, then 3.51.  2.0 was supposedly put on the hard disk to test out
     the machine when it was manufactured.  It is junk.  3.0 is a solid
     release but lacks many nice features of 3.5 (like the screen dimmer
     which someone was desirous of).  3.51 adds some more nicetys.  If you
     get one of the boxes you will absolutely need to get the 3.51 SYSV
     advertised (around $200?) you are wasting your money otherwise.
     The 3.5 release of SYSV for UNIX PC is close to SYS V rel 2.0 in the
     more well known numerology for SYSV.
c) Is that it?
     No.  For something that approaches a REAL unix you absolutely require
     the unix utilities which includes the compilers and development tools,
     the text processors, and the enhanced editors (vi).  Just the SYSV
     is barely useful.  The price advertised by the place ($495) for the
     Unix Utilities is no bargain (I believe it is straight list).  You
     might be able to do better.  The version numbers of the unix utilities
     match those of the SYSV so you want 3.51 of that also.
d) Memory expansion?
     I'm somewhat hazier here, some of this information may be inaccurate.
     The UNIX pc has 3 expansion slots in which you may place up to 2MB
     of RAM.  As the RAM on the expansion cards is 150ns and the processor
     is 10Mhz I suspect it is not zero wait state.  The motherboard can
     hold up to 2MB of RAM also for a max configuration of 4MB.  The RAM
     on the motherboard is zero wait state I have been informed.  As I
     remember it, both the 512k expansion cards and the 512k motherboard
     may be expanded to 2MB but it is trivial on neither.  On both it
     involves unsoldering the 64Kb chips currently in place, soldering in
     256kb chips and rewiring some jumpers.  I know it is true of the
     512K expansion cards, my memory is fuzzy on the motherboard, however.
e) Can I get a better deal?
     well let's see.
     495  7300,1/2mb,10MB
     400  replacement 20MB half height
     200  1/2mb of expansion mem.
     -----
     1195  hardware
      200? SYSV 3.51
      495  Unix utilities (should be 3.51 and like I said this price is no
			  prize)
     1890  complete unix system. 

     This certainly isn't too shoddy.

     well I got a 3b1 with 2MB of memory on the motherboard and a 67MB hard
     disk around 6-8mos ago for $1500.  I didn't get the software as I was
     just replacing an existing 7300 which I boxed up for spare parts.
     I would say that was a better deal but those deals seem to have dried
     up so this may be the best available now.

David Albrecht