stro@ur-univax.UUCP (06/27/85)
Here are the results of the recent Disk Performance poll. There were only
about ten responses from the net, however I have supplemented the results
with data I have recieved from collegues.
The most common comment was that Verbatim's DataLifes were very bad. I know
they make very good 5 1/4" floppies, but for some reason, their 3 1/2" just
aren't up to par. Another disk noted for lack of quality was memorex
(I guess ella just doesn't sound to good on 3 1/2"). Apple, Sony, and TDK were
all highly rated by almost all respondents. The following is a chart indicating
attributes of various brands. The number is a scale from 1-10 (1 is worst)
indicating the relative quantitative difference between brands.
NAME DATA RETENTION PHYSICAL INTEGRITY QUIET OPERATION TOTAL
---- -------------- ------------------ --------------- -----
Apple 9 9 10 28
BASF 7 8 8 23
H-P * 9 10 10 29
Maxell 10 10 9 29
Memorex 6 8 9 23
Opus * 8 9 9 26
Sony 9 10 10 29
TDK * 10 10 10 30
Verbatim 7 8 6 21
* indicates that these brands were not widely tested, compared with the non '*'
ones. The * disks were tested in quantities like 10-50, while the others were
in the hundreds. Therefore, the * figures are relatively less accurate.
Another factor to take into account is the warrenty offered by the manufacturer.
some brands offer lifetime warrenties, while others only 1 year.
little things, like the number and quality of labels are important to you,
maxell's labels have been noted for their lack of stick-um, but maxell and
sony and H-P do supply a large number of labels with each box.
The following are excerpts from the comments I recieved:
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I've been using mostly the 'mac disks' with no problem. However, one disk
out out of the five I bought from "Nashua" failed utterly.
--johnc
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I have had some bad experiences with the BASF disks: my office
bought a couple of cases of fifty, and many of the disks (>30%
or so) made noises in the disk drive as if the disk were warped
and rubbing against the disk casing (shudder). Several failed
to initialize. It may be just one bad batch, but I have had
very few problems with the Apple disks. This is not merely
personal experience either: I have worked as a user services
consultant at Dartmouth (where there are some 3,000 Macs on
campus) and though we saw failures of the Apple disks as well,
the BASF disks seem to be giving more trouble.
Carl Spitzer
Macintosh Courseware Development, Dartmouth College
(UUCP) ...{decvax|cornell|linus|ihnp4}!dartvax!crs
(CSNET) crs@Dartmouth
(ARPA) crs%Dartmouth@csnet-relay.ARPA
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We use mostly Mac disks, and have had very little trouble with them.
Of perhaps 40 disks, used regularly for several months, at most one or two
crashed (the Mac couldn't read it). None was physically damaged.
Earlier we used some HP and Memorex disks. None of the HP disks have crashed.
The Memorex disks, however, have a very high possibility of crashing
(when being driven, the disk emits a sound somewhat like sharpening knives).
DON'T USE MEMOREX!
Arndt Jonasson
ZYX Research, Stockholm
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Quantitatively, I have used Apple disks the most, followed by
Sony, then Verbatim and Memorex. What I have found is that
Sony's disks are the *BEST*. They seem to have an excellent lifespan. I
haven't had any problems with them. I've had very few problems with Apple
disks. However, I can get Sony disks cheaper and they come with a LARGE
quantity of labels (about 70 per 10 disks - multicolored). I have gotten
Sony disks from Mac Connection for $31.00 plus shipping (for 10).
I never bought any Memorex disks, but I've have some experience with
them. Earlier in the year, Northwestern started buying Memorex because Apple
was too slow in delivering and the demand was VERY high. Apparently, this was
at a time when Memorex had sent out bad shipments. Disks had a morality rate
of 50 to 80 percent! They recalled all the unsold disks and offered exchanges
for bad disks whenever anyone called there support hotline. After this, I am
very skeptical of Memorex.
Mike Lampson
Software Services
Digital Equipment Corp.
1155 W. Dundee Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
(312) 394-6018
UUCP: {allegra,Shasta,decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-crvax!lampson
ARPA: LAMPSON%CRVAX1.DEC@decwrl.ARPA
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My Mac System Disk came up with some errors after a couple of weeks and
could not be reformatted in any drive.
Another disk (Sony) came up with errors that would go away on formatting
and reappear (same track) later - when I wanted to read my file again, of
course!
Kevin Twidle ...!ukc!icdoc!kevin or kevin@icdoc.ac.uk
Dept of Computing
Imperial College "It's not the cough that carries you off
180 Queen's Gate It's the coffin they carry you off in"
London SW7 2BZ
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Verbatim YUCK!!!!! - Unless Verbatim has reworked their disk factory,
DON'T TOUCH - Very unreliable - Loses Data
Once in a while the Mac doesn't recognize that these disks
are initialized.
Error Rate: 1-2 real problems/box of 10 (?!#@!)
Tested about 50 (Returned the other 50)
Some of my dealer friends won't touch these disks anymore.
Guess why they're so cheap!
((Such a shame too, I use their 5 1/4" disks all the time.))
Mitchell Tsai
Harvard University
ARPA-NET: tsai@harvard.arpa
BITNET: TSAI@HARVUNXH.BITNET
UUCP: {seismo,harpo,ihnp4,linus,allegra,ut-sally}!harvard!tsai
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There seems to be a right way and a wrong way to put labels on a Maxell
diskette. The natural way (stick the label on the front, then wrap it
around to the back) doesn't seem to be the right way. The point is
that the first side you put the label on is the more secure, so it's
better to give the smaller side an hand in sticking.
After having a few disks start to peel, I put my labels on starting on
the back, making two sharp creases on the edge, and then smoothing it
onto the front.
-Paul S. R. Chisholm The above opinions are my own,
{pegasus,vax135}!lzwi!psc not necessarily those of any
{mtgzz,ihnp4}!lznv!psc telecommunications company.
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Generic Disclaimer: I have no affiliation whatsoever with any company mentioned
in this article.
- Steve Robiner
University of Rochester
"Is there in truth, no beauty?" -W.Shakespeare