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Date: Thu, 21 Aug 1997 12:47:01 -0500 (CDT)
Reply-To: Anthony.Kimball@East.Sun.COM
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From: Tony Kimball <alk@pobox.com>
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To: conrads@neosoft.com
Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: What computer to buy ?
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Quoth Conrad Sabatier on Thu, 21 August:
: 
: On 21-Aug-97 Tony Kimball wrote:
: >
: >Pentium II is just about the opposite of futureproof -- it is planned
: >obsolescence:  Slot 1 has a very short lifetime plan.
: 
: Could you possibly elaborate on this a bit?  A friend of mine is
: considering purchasing a Pentium II (266 MHz) system, and I'd like to know
: if I should warn him off of it.

It's just that the P2 form factor is unique to the P2.  As I
understand it,  there will be Slot 2 modules within a year.
I don't know that any other manufacturer will be producing
Slot 1 modules.  So, if you get a P2, you have to discard your
motherboard when you upgrade.  Since the P2 is selling at such
a large premium, this may not be terribly large proportion of
the cost, actually.  My personal habit is to buy the most 
*cost-effective* hardware.  Thus I strongly prefer Socket 7
processors which have a future upgrade path, commodity
motherboards, etc.