larry@utastro.UUCP (Lawrence K. Heilman) (02/21/89)
I am ready to add a hard disk to my XTclone. All the bad comments
that I have been reading about Seagate drives here on the net make
me a little hesitant about buying one. However after looking at the
ads I see very few alternatives in my price range. A 30meg disk
should serve my needs and I can't spend much over $350 on the whole
package (disk,controller,cable,ect.).
I noticed ads for Kalok drives--30meg,40ms,$300 for Xt kit---
and was wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge of this
drive.
Any other comments on drives that meet my needs would be welcome.
Thanks
Larry Heilman (Univ of Tx )
:x
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (02/22/89)
From my personal experience as a PC technician (for ~7 years), I do NOT
recommend any hard drive that hasn't made a name for itself.
I recommend the following drives, in order of preference:
CORE (very expensive)
Maxstor (very expensive)
Micropolis (expensive)
CDC (moderate - expensive)
Microscience (moderate)
CMS (moderate - expensive)
Miniscribe (economical)
Seagate (economical)
As for the Seagate drives. There was a time when Seagate became so popular
that their quality control went way down. Because of that they lost lots of
sales to Microscience and Miniscribe. So recently, Seagate's prices went
back up slightly and quality control has also be up. The only drive that I
have heard of complaints about is the ST-251 series (both the ST-251 40ms,
and the ST-251-1 28ms drives). And the complaints are usually about the
noise that it makes when it spins up. As for Seagate's ST-225 (MFM) and
ST-238 (RLL), they both work great for the price.
As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for." CDC's, Micropolis, and
Microscience are better drives. I have had less of them go bad in the past.
The drives that these companies produce are also "auto-parking".
NOTE: Seagate half-height drives DO NOT auto-park (ST-251s say they do but
don't always park correctly!
Now was for the controller card. I ONLY recommend DTC (Data Technology Corp.)
and WDC (Western Digital Corp.). Both of these manufacturers are compatible
with each other (a drive formated with either card is read-/write-able by the
other card); no other manufacturer offers this compatibility. I personally
favor the DTC card because is has a bank of dip switches allowing you to
configure the card to meet most of the drive specs on the market. WDC, how-
ever is the industry standard. WDC offers different card, each with different
BIOS configurations. I recommend the DTC because it allows you the ability
to upgrade to another drive without having to get another controller; whereas
with WDC you may have to (ie. the XTGEN card only supports a 20 MB and will
not support a ST-251). With DTC, all you have to do is change the switches.
I believe that this post will clear up most of you questions. But if there
is any thing you don't understand fell free to drop me a message. I really
like E-mail.
[Aside: I have been working for a computer firm in New York City for almost
7 years and have since become the Technical Supervisor.
(Just in case you question my credablity.)
]
-- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.)
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xxxxxxxxxx Smile! -- Mr. HappyWOWface -- (got this from the network)
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (02/22/89)
Yes, the ST-125 parks itself. In matter of fact all of Seagate's 1xx series
parks itself.
Also, rumor has it that CMS are the ones making those 3.5" drives for Seagate.
I don't know how true it is thou.
-- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.)
xxxxxxxxxx
xxx xxx xx ------------------ Carnegie Mellon University ------------------
xxx xxx xx 4730 Centre Ave. #412 ARPAnet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu
xxxxxxxxxxxx Pittsburgh, PA 15213 BITnet: jc58@andrew.BITNET
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xx xx ----------------------------------------------------------------
xxxxxxxxxx Smile! -- Mr. HappyWOWface -- (got this from the network)
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) (02/23/89)
I always thought CDC made the best drives on the market myself. We've always been pleased with the models installed on our Prime minicomputer. But then we bought two Zenith 248/12 AT machines last year with 40 MB CDC 94205-51 half-height drives. One arrived DOA (Can you hear the ping pong ball bouncing?), and the other died yesterday after eight months of service. True, the Law of Small Samples takes effect here, but oh for two isn't the world's best batting average. Sure hope CDC isn't experiencing the "Seagate syndrome!" Dick O'Connor Washington Department of Fisheries Olympia, Washington 98504 Internet Mail: djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu **************************************************************************** DISCLAIMER: I speak only for myself, not for the Department. Here, anyway! ****************************************************************************
Erik@cup.portal.com (Erik - Dufek) (02/28/89)
In <QY0TH6y00WQ1ILCfQ6@andrew.cmu.edu> Johnny J. Chin writes: > From my personal experience as a PC technician (for ~7 years), I do NOT ^^^^^^^^ > [good thoughts on winchesters deleted] > I recommend the DTC because it allows you the ability > to upgrade to another drive without having to get another controller; whereas > with WDC you may have to (ie. the XTGEN card only supports a 20 MB and will ^^^^ ^^^^^ > not support a ST-251). With DTC, all you have to do is change the switches. > [Aside: I have been working for a computer firm in New York City for almost > 7 years and have since become the Technical Supervisor. > ^^^^^^^ > (Just in case you question my credablity.) I do. > -- J. Chin (a.k.a. Computer Dr.) Sorry Computer Doctor, for all your other intelligent comments you left yourself so wide open this was too good to pass up. What would you suggest that I do with my WD XTGEN that is controlling my 40Mb Toshiba (MK134)? Should I continue storing bits there or has my clone figured out a way to use the ether and is actually storing 1's and 0's in the vapor? Then again maybe my second drive on that controller (a Seagate ST-225) is a transvestite and has suddenly turned RLL. It's amazing how I've got 60 megs out of your 20Mb controller! Maybe I should will the system to the Smithsonian. Then again I could just not pay attention to every self proclaimed expert. > Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's. I'll bet CMU appreciates that.
rzh@lll-lcc.UUCP (Roger Hanscom) (03/03/89)
In <QY0TH6y00WQ1ILCfQ6@andrew.cmu.edu> jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) writes: > > [hard drive recommendations deleted...] > >Now was for the controller card. I ONLY recommend DTC (Data Technology Corp.) > > [snarf, snarf, munch .....] > >with WDC you may have to (ie. the XTGEN card only supports a 20 MB and will >not support a ST-251). With DTC, all you have to do is change the switches. This is not correct. I just purchased a WD-XTGEN and a 3" hh 30M MFM Seagate (138???), and they work fine together. I also see more than 20M!! Roger ================================================================== roger rzh%freedom.llnl.gov@lll-lcc.llnl.gov or {lll-lcc,ucbvax,...}!freedom!rzh Seen on a PYT's car near Walnut Creek, CA.: "sit on a happy face." ==================================================================
jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) (03/04/89)
Bob:
I don't know if I've answered you already or not, but since I'm going thru all
of the old mail that has piled up. Here is my reply. Sorry if I have taken
so long.
To really achieve speed your most common configuration will be to use an EDSI
or SCSI formatting drive. But there are MFM drives which do come close in
speed, most of these are made by Core and Storage Dimensions and all of them
are high capacity drives. Be warned ... they are expensive.
As for Microscience, Micropolis, or CDC? I personally will choose CDC since
because they are better drive manufacturer. Of all the drives I had pass by me
in the past several (3 or 4) years, maybe about 1 CDC was bad. Definitely
can't say that for the other two manufacturers. I also haven't heard of any
significant (if any at all) startup problems with the CDC drives. CDC, by the
way, make most of their drives in a half height format.
As for Microscience, they are okay. Micropolis, if I recall, only makes full
height drives. I personally fell that both, Microscience and Micropolis, are
in the same approx. class of drives. I have had startup problems with both
Microscience and Micropolis. Actually, more with Micropolis. I have a few
file servers using Microscience for years and nothing has been wrong with them.
Not to mention that two of these Microscience drives that I am using in this
one file server were originally in an AT for about a year with heavy use.
So in summary, I strongly recommend CDC. Or if you can afford them, Core or
Storage Dimensions (Maxstor). Next best drive would probably be Microscience
and Micropolis, in that order.
I hope this helps you.
__________ ___
/ \ / / /_/ / /\/
_/ / / / __/. /__ / / / / /
/ / /
/ / 4730 Centre Ave. #412 ARPAnet: Johnny.J.Chin@andrew.cmu.edu
/ ------- / Pittsburgh, PA 15213 BITnet: jc58@andrew
\__________/ (412) 268-8936 UUCP: ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!jc58
Computer Dr.
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are STRICTLY my own, and not CMU's.