Sun Microsystems Inc, Mountain View, California is now saying that problems with the bargain basement version of the SparcStation 5, the $4,000 version with the 15 colour screen, have been fixed, and that the unit, announced for delivery back in March, will now finally ship next quarter. Sparc players had been annoyed with Sun, saying it was stalling the market, because it had not been able to get the monitor for the low-end model to work. Sun says that the monitor did not interface properly with the frame buffer, and explains that monitor emissions were feeding back into the system. The firm said it had not expected the problem because it used the same buffer as in the SparcClassic. Buyers in a hurry had to start with a box several thousand dollars more expensive instead. The overall impact, they complained, was the stifling sale of of low-end Sparc boxes across the board. Hard to believe without figures, but Sun is adamant the Sparcstation 5 remains its hottest box and that despite the hiccups has exceeded its first quarter shipment forecasts. It would not say what those were. Sun’s end-of-year figures are due to be announced around the end of the month.
