On 3/26/03 3:30 PM, Jeff Walther posted: >>From: Fletch Brendan Good <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>If you need a third choice, I would actually suggest an LC (not an LC >>II or III), even though LowEndMac declared it a Road Apple. Though it >>is essentially a repackaging of the Mac II (it has a 68020), > >If the LC were actually a repackaged Mac II, say with the NuBus slots >removed and the SIMM slots reduced in number it would not be so bad. >However, that is not the case. The LC has a 16 bit path between the >CPU and memory, where the Mac II has a 32 bit path. This causes a >very significant reduction in performance in the LC vs. the II. >Additionally, the Mac II had a maximum RAM of 128 MB. The LC goes >up to 10 MB. What's up with that? It's not even a power of 2.
Maximum memory on a computer need not be a power of two. For instance, if a computer has 2 MB on the motherboard and accepts two 4 MB SIMMs (but nothing larger), there's no reason in the world to create ROMs that can support more than 10 MB. Yes, it was a stupid move that came back to bite Apple when they started putting 4 MB on the motherboard of later models but retained the 10 MB ceiling even though 12 MB could be installed, but a key marketing concept was that the LC would not steal sales from the IIci. By leaving out NuBus slots and limiting RAM expansion, Apple did that. On the other hand, this was the era of System 6.0.7, and the LC was the only Mac at the time capable of using more than 8 MB of memory under System 6 without a third-party hack. For those using System 6 and wanting maximum use of MultiFinder, that extra 2 MB could be helpful. >Wooo. I wouldn't go on about this so much, but this is a pet peeve >of mine about Apple. They release models that are handicapped >beyond the requirements of any cost savings. By that, I mean that >for the same money, and using pretty much the same parts, there have >been several machines that could have been much better were it not >for the marketing weenies. They still do it. Look at the "Yikes!" Power Mac G4 as a most recent example. It came out at the same time as the "Sawtooth" models, but it didn't support AGP video or the faster memory bus that the G4 processor could support. But it let Apple get more use out of the motherboard designed for the blue & white G3.... Always a shame when marketing trumps engineering. -- Dan Knight, president, Cobweb Publishing, Inc. <http://cobwebpublishing.com> <http://lowendmac.com> <http://digital-views.com> <http://digigraphica.com> <http://lowendpc.com> <http://reformed.net> "As for Unix being 'inflexible,' 'expensive,' and 'complex,' we feel those are terms much better suited to the closed and proprietary world of Windows." Sun -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
