[SunRescue] SS10/SS5 comparison questions

[Tim Ikeda]

Hello all,

I've been thinking about getting a Sparcstation for home use (and to
learn Solaris on my off time) and have narrowed the choices to the
SS10 (40-50Mhz range) and the SS5 (85-110MHz range). Either system
would ultimately have about the same memory (64-128 MB) and hard
disk capacity (2-8 GB).

I noticed that the SS5 systems seem to carry a 30-50% premium in price
over the SS10s. I've read the specs on these models but I don't
see a lot of differences between the two. I've worked a tiny bit
with the SS5s at work which were hooked to NMRs but never an SS10.
What does the SS5 have that is significantly 'better'? Video? Sound?
Younger age? Cheaper DIMMs?

I wouldn't mind playing MP3s occassionally and better graphics is
always a plus, but my real goal is to experiment with Solaris, play
with UNIX system/programming tools and run a home server. Multiple
processors would be neat but I don't know if I'd ever utilize them.

Any suggestions & advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim Ikeda
tikeda at sprintmail.com