Sun Fire V240 - UltraSPARC IIIi 1.34 GHz

Advantages: Cheap entry level Sun SPARC from 1997
Disadvantages: Build quality is PC like, and low cache processors

...The Sun UltraSPARC 5 workstation was brought out in 1997, and was priced so you could have one on your desk for approx 1000 US Dollars. They stopped shipping to customers in May 2002. These days, it is not a fast machine, but still they are perfectly useable for many workstation and server tasks. Processor and Memory - This model has an UltraSPARC IIi processor which is, of course, 64 bit and is clocked at 360 MHz. You can have 1GB of memory in the workstation, installed as up to 4 DIMMS, which must be installed in pairs. "Normal" PC memory will not work in these workstations. The 260MHz model only has 256kB cache (same with the 270MHz processor) For better performance, you need the 2MB cache version on the 333 or 400MHz versions. Storage - There is one HDD bay in the machine, although if you remove the floppy drive, you... Read review

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Advantages: Performs Well
Disadvantages: Expensive

...I wrote this a while, back so I am now publishing it on ciao but it is still fairly up to date. I spend a long time writing this. 1 hour: After a simultaneous processor release early in 2002, both Intel and AMD are settling back into the standard pattern of trying to beat the other to the punch. Intel impressed us with the Pentium 4 Northwood, as well as jumping a full 200 MHz with the Pentium 4-2.2 GHz. AMD followed this up with their Athlon XP 2100+, which once again had the juice to slip by the fastest Intel had to offer. The last shot was fired by AMD, so naturally it should be Intel's chance to step up to the plate. And from first glance, Intel seems to be carrying a mighty big bat. With the release of the Pentium 4-2.4 GHz we're seeing yet another 200 MHz speed increase from Intel, which puts even more pressure on the Athlon XP... Read review

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Advantages: screen size, overall features
Disadvantages: price

...with this one. It has a rectangular touch pad for moving the cursor and is very responsive, occasionally the unit carries out a left mouse click without actually having one pressed which can be irritating, the secret is to keep your fingers away from the pad unless moving the cursor. The speed of processing is good for most things. It boots up fast and is very stable once up and running. I am running XP and using MS Office 2003 and have experienced no idiosyncratic crashes. It has a DVD\CD RW drive and this is slow to come up to speed but I have never had a problem with either DVDs or CDs. With its 100mb wireless network card I connect to my wireless home network and once again it is ultra reliable I boot up the card connects to my network and then I just work away happily with no problems. It has infra bred but I don't use it. It has a fire... Read review

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