Sun 386i opinions - A summary

[William W. Carlson]

I'd like to strongly disagree with the opinion expressed by
hundt at wind.bellcore.com about the Sun 386i system. 

1.  The first statement, that the screen resolution is not up to par, is
    flat out wrong. It is identical (1152x900) to all other "normal"
    (not "Hi-Res monochrome" (1600x1280)) systems.

2.  I haven't had any problems with the termcap provided, and think
    the problem here may be that the 386i came with SUNOS 4.0. This
    version includes terminfo stuff and may have yet to be installed
    on the the author's " "real" ones ".  In any case I think this is
    an issue of SUNOS4.0 not the 386i.

3.  I like the keyboard just fine.  I think it is right in line with
    the high quality I am used to on other Sun systems, just slightly
    different in layout.  All the "major" keys (control, tab, escape,
    return, and backspace) are in the "right" places.

4.  In my opinion, the 386i can't be beat on a price/performance basis.
    Just looking at drystones, which of course should be taken with a
    grain of sodium chloride, the 386i/250 significantly outperforms
    any other sun except the 4 series.  With a cost of about $24k
    (undiscounted, after the latest price increases) for a 386i/250
    with 8 meg memory, 300 meg disk, 1/4" inch tape, and 19" mono
    monitor, it compares quite favorably with the rest of their
    line (look at the price of a similarly equipped 3/260 for
    example).  For my work, which mainly involves integer
    calculations, drystones are not too bad a benchmark and from my
    personal experience the 386i is really a performer.

Overall, I would say that the system is far from a "toy". Of course your
mileage may vary. 

	Bill Carlson