11 Mar
2000
11 Mar
'00
2:32 a.m.
Date sent: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 16:51:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Aaron Christopher Finney <af-list(a)wfi-inc.com>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Kids computers
Send reply to: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
It's just that most kids don't want to play
with a print server! ;)
:)
Seriously, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that
the current crop of
educational materials available for kids (which are, IMO, vastly superior
to their predecessors) *do* require a pentium. I think the requirements
for the last Reader Rabbit CD I bought was a P75 with 16 megs of ram.
So where is the deal ? A 486DX2/66 is already the same class than
a low end Pentium. Private rule of thump:
486/66 (2x33) ~= P40 (Well, ok, there was never a P40 :)
486/100 (3x33) ~= P50
486/100 (2x50) ~= P60
486/133 (4x33) ~= P75
486/160 (4x40) ~= P90
in some situations a late 486 system will even perform better
when comparing real world applications - for example will a
486/120 on a well designed VLB board with an aprobiate VLB VGA
outperform most P100 designs (of the same time) with PCI cards
(when comparing hardware of the same age - of course will a PCI
GeForce boost both systems).
and for the '*do* require a Pentium' part, I doubt thet this
software is checking for a Pentium ID - so if you use a decent
486, you'll get what you payed for (see equivalence chart above).
Also often the amount of memory and your graphics card will have
more influence - 32MB on a 486/133 will outperform any 16 MB P133
(using Windows).
Gruss
H.
--
VCF Europa am 29./30. April 2000 in Muenchen
http://www.vintage.org/vcfe
http://www.homecomputer.de/vcfe