[Info-vax] Price/Value of Used VAX 4000/700

[Paul Sture]

In article <$U6KMW0sJfl1 at eisner.encompasserve.org>,
 koehler at eisner.nospam.encompasserve.org (Bob Koehler) wrote:

> In article <howard-0CBD14.02171021102011 at news.giganews.com>, Howard S Shubs 
> <howard at shubs.net> writes:
> > In article <5M8vezmCoT7q at eisner.encompasserve.org>,
> >  koehler at eisner.nospam.encompasserve.org (Bob Koehler) wrote:
> > 
> >>    If all he has is a DSSI bus, he'd better grab all the DSSI disks
> >>    he can.  Adding a SCSI, if the system doesn't already have one, might
> >>    not quite be free.
> > 
> > No DSSI disks have been made in something like 15 years.  They're all on 
> > the edge of failure at best.  Do not spend money on them.
> 
>    I've got lots of aged disks in my hobbyist cluster, running long
>    after thier expected lifetime.  I also have tape drives and do
>    backups.
> 
>    But, IIRC, the OP was looking at a freebie, not an expenditure.  If
>    he has to choose between buying DSSI and buying SCSI plus a SCSI
>    controller, then yes, the latter is probably a better investment.
> 
>    But a choice between free DSSI and expenses might not make sense
>    for day one for a hobbyist.

Agreed. The trick in doing a low cost hobbyist project is to do it in 
stages.  If the disks turn out to be dying slowly and one by one, the OP 
can take his time shopping around for SCSI capability and not be rushed 
into paying top prices.

-- 
Paul Sture