X-terminal vs. Linux Box

stephen farrell (kristi.shoemaker@usa.net)
Fri, 01 Aug 1997 12:27:34

I recently started a new job and my boss wanted to get me a HP
X-terminal so that I could work off the HP server. However when
I found out that he planned to spend $3,500 on an X-terminal I
convinced him to get me a linux box instead, arguing that it
would do everything an X-terminal would and more. I ended up
with a nice P166 with 64 MB RAM and a Matrox Millenium w/ 4 MB.
However when I try to run stuff off the HP server my display
crawls! I did an Xstones benchmark running on the HP server and
displaying to the HP (Envizex) X-terminals or my Linux box.
Turns out the X-terminal was more that twice as fast!

I've heard that X-terminal hardware has been optimized for
displaying X quickly but I had no idea it would make that much
of a difference. Is this the reason I see such a difference in
performance or is there something else I'm not considering?

-Kristi