egapmh@ecsvax.UUCP (Paul M. Hudy) (03/18/85)
Has anyone out there used/bought/heard-about the 10mb hard disk
being advertised by First Class Peripherals?? It is called the
Sider and sells for $695. It is supposed to be compatible with all
the standard Apple Operating System options- (ie. DOS, CPM, UCSD).
It sounds nice, but was wondering if it met all its claims, as well
as power supply requirements/problems, etc. It sounds like it
might be a nice addition to my FRANKLIN system.
Thanks in advance,
Paul Hudy <egapmh@ecsvax>tjj@ssc-vax.UUCP (T J Jardine) (03/21/85)
> Has anyone out there used/bought/heard-about the 10mb hard disk > being advertised by First Class Peripherals?? It is called the > Sider and sells for $695. It is supposed to be compatible with all > the standard Apple Operating System options- (ie. DOS, CPM, UCSD). > It sounds nice, but was wondering if it met all its claims, as well > as power supply requirements/problems, etc. It sounds like it > might be a nice addition to my FRANKLIN system. > Thanks in advance, > Paul Hudy <egapmh@ecsvax> A little over two months ago I posted my initial analysis of The Sider that I received in mid-December for my Apple IIe. I have not yet obtained copies of CP/M and ProDos, but I can verify that the partitioning of the disk provides for all four systems and that DOS and Pascal work. In fact, I initially had a problem in that 64K Pascal would boot from the hard disk, but 128K Pascal would not. The folks at First Class Peripherals arranged for a Beta test version of the software to be Federal Expressed from Xebec, I installed it and it works like a jewel! I consider that they bent over backwards to support their customer -- very refreshing with all the opportunities for Stonewalling that exist in the industry. As for performance, I have been making a point to do things that don't violate the warranty but do tend to stress the disk and have had not problems with a fairly high usage rate. I use the disk anywhere from thirty minutes to ten hours per day. The average is probably about six hours. I consider their disk to be very robust and well made. They have indicated to me that they currently have the disk and interface board for the Apple II,IIe(,IIc) and that in May/June, 1985 they will have the same capability for the IBM PC. They also indicated plans to have more than one IBM PC attached to a Sider, but I don't remember if this was to be available in June or later. I think they have a good product and have displayed a willingness to back it up with customer support. It's a far better price than the $1995 or $2995 alternatives I've been quoted!! The Sider is a product of First Class Peripherals, Bethlehem, PA. The opinions expressed here are ostensibly my own! Ted Jardine -- TJ (with Amazing Grace) The Piper Boeing Artificial Intelligence Center ...uw-beaver!ssc-vax!bcsaic!ted
jde@ecsvax.UUCP (01/28/86)
To: egapmh@ecsvax.UUCP Subject: Re: SIDER 10MB for unMac-Apples References: <869@ecsvax.UUCP> I have been using a Side 10 Meg for a while, since they came out. I love it. It is quite a deal as far as hard disks for Apple IIs are concerned; most are still very overpriced, the Sider is only a little overpriced (considering you can get a 10 meg for an IBM for $295 mail order). First Class has reported to have sold 15,000 Siders since they started shipping. Accordingly, delivery may be as late as 3 weeks, and tech support lines are very busy. First Class has announced a 20Meg drive (currently shipping), and a tape backup for the Sider (which is really needed, since the backup utilities provided are somewhat archaic, and obviously require much disk shuffling. Danny Edwards