gjp@sei.cmu.edu (George Pandelios) (08/16/89)
Greetings Netlanders!
My AT clone has a 1.2MB diskette drive which I use for backups (using
the proprietary format in PCTOOLS 5.1). My question is:
Does anyone out there have any *hard data* for the reliability of
5.25" 1.2 MB High Density floppies? Is one brand(s) better than another?
I buy generic diskettes for normal use, but I want the best I can get
for backups. Please, no anecdotal data. If you've seen a table with
this data prepared by some independent party, I'd really appreciate
seeing it or receiving a summary.
Such a comparison was prepared for 3.5" diskettes. I have included the
bibliographic info and abstract below:
DATE 880919
TITLE Study reveals problems with disk quality. (3.5-inch floppies)
SOURCE Computer & Software News v6 n38 p16(1) 1988 Sept 19
SUBJECT Floppy Disk
Quality Control
Testing
Failure
Study
Certification
3.5" Disk
Memory Control Technology Corp.--product specifications
SICCODES 3572
ABSTRACT Only four of 25 brands of 3.5-inch flexible diskettes passed the
full range of the standard battery of ANSI quality assurance
tests in a recent study. Memcon (Memory Control Technology Corp),
a maker of disk certification and duplication equipment, found
that 12 of the 25 brands tested had at least one floppy disk
failure during its testing procedure. The four brands that passed
were C. Itoh, IBM, Sony and TDK. The report noted that the
overall performance of 3.5-inch disks was very poor. The report
will be distributed to industry analysts, diskette manufacturers
and large volume disk buyers.
Many thanks,
George
P.S. I have no connection with any of the companies/products/vendors
mentioned above. I am not endorsing any of these products/companies/
vendors.
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George J. Pandelios ArpaNet: gjp@sei.cmu.edu
Software Engineering Institute usenet: sei!gjp
4500 Fifth Avenue Voice: (412) 268-7186
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=gjp1@mtuxo.att.com (XMRK4-G.PATEMAN) (08/26/89)
In article <3664@i.sei.cmu.edu> gjp@sei.cmu.edu (George Pandelios) writes: >Does anyone out there have any *hard data* for the reliability of >5.25" 1.2 MB High Density floppies? Is one brand(s) better than another? I did some certification tests on various brands of high- and low-density media a year or two ago. The results were used to specify which brands were OK for AT&T software distribution. Maxell came out on top in the ANSI tests performed on our Mountain certifier. Kao and BASF were also good quality, if memory serves me right. Some brands that did not fare as well were 3M, Brown and Dysan. Still, these disks generally performed without errors on a PC. Keep in mind, however that manufacturers do change their formulations frequently and that, if these tests were performed today, the results would probably differ significantly. The tests were also performed using ideal (aligned, calibrated, cleaned) drives. Your mileage may vary. ================ George J Pateman CAHTP Media Lab AT&T / Bell Labs 200 Laurel Ave Middletown, NJ 07748