CompuServe Messages

After so many replies, let me give another 2 cents… The cost difference isn't too great. A comparable PC (CPU+Memory) isn't that far off. The cost of the software, however, is typically 10x due to the reduced market share. The support contract is a bargain if you consider your time being worth anything. If you have a bad _anything_, you have immediate replacement. How much does it cost you to wait a week for a PC to be repaired? The decision has to be made based on other not so obvious "costs". Do you, or does anyone in your company knows "a lot" about Unix? Have you ever seen some of these "high end" programs working? They are, by definition, all very buggy and intricate. If you like DOS, you shouldn't have much problems. If you are like those who hate DOS and like Windows, you will throw your SGI out of the Window in the first 30 minutes for just trying to install a software license. As I see it, the kind of problems you complain about the current state of PC hardware/software are just like those you will find under Unix, if not worse. These are high-end, "niche" type products with limited audience and thus limited "demand" for an easier product. Of course I am comparing these to broad market share products such as spreadsheet and word processors. Spend some time with someone running these things to have a feeling for it. Try leasing some equipment and getting "evaluation" licenses for the software you will be using (Kevin can set you up with all these and more). The biggest cost of all is the time it will take you to realise you've made a bad decision (either SGI, PC, or whatever). As far as NLE on PC's, take a look at FAST Video Machine with the NLE options. On the SGI, a combination of Wavefront Composer and Accom WSD should do you miracles for about 1.5 times the cost but no image loss. But then again, that's the easy part… try using either…