mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) (10/26/88)
I have spent the past few weeks deciding what kind of hard disk to buy for my
A1000. As a small service to other A1000 owners in the same boat with me, I'll
tell about my decision and where I made my purchases.
After examining all the alternatives for HD controllers available to me, I
finally settled on the Microbotics Starboard/Stardrive combo. The utility of
having a hard disk now outweighed the wait for the Pacific Peripherals SubSystem
box (which allows use of A2000 DMA controllers) and the high cost of the Bill's
Boards BusExpander ($495 + assembly before I can even plug in a controller card)
or upgrading to an A2000 (probably about $1000 out of my pocket just for the
upgrade). The Starboard is usable in an A2000, and will be usable should I
decide to buy an A2000 compatibility box in the future. It also has memory
expansion capability and an onboard clock, which competing A1000 SCSI interfaces
do not offer. The Starboard costs $239 with 0K (1 MB capable) from
InterComputing in Dallas, TX (800-531-4747). The StarDrive module costs $95,
total cost to me was $337 including shipping and handling.
For a hard disk, I decided on the Seagate ST-157N. It is a 48 MB 3 1/2" SCSI
disk with a 28 ms access time. FirstStop Computer Company's (800-832-4322)
price for the ST-157N was $491; Lyco Computer's (800-233-8760) price was $445.
I paid $478.13 (including tax and shipping) for the drive. If you don't live in
Pennsylvania, you probably won't get charged tax, so you will probably get it
for about $28 less than I did.
Now for my questions:
What kind of cable does the ST-157N use? The Stardrive comes with a 25-pin
cable, but odds are that the ST-157N uses a 50-pin cable.
Does anybody have recommendations for a place to get a power supply and case
for the drive?
--M
Michael Portuesi / Information Technology Center / Carnegie Mellon University
ARPA/UUCP: mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu BITNET: rainwalker@drycas
"my friends say she's a dumb blonde, but they don't know she dyes her hair"dosa@suned1.UUCP (Michael Dosa) (10/26/88)
In article <wXNAf4y00Vsf07rkEW@andrew.cmu.edu> mp1u+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Portuesi) writes: >Now for my questions: > > What kind of cable does the ST-157N use? The Stardrive comes with a 25-pin > cable, but odds are that the ST-157N uses a 50-pin cable. > > Does anybody have recommendations for a place to get a power supply and case > for the drive? Boy, does this sound familiar. The way I did mine was purchase a ext. HD enclosure. (HD Intl - AZ ($139)). The cable from the back of the St157 (50 header block) to back of the ext. enclosure (50 pin Centronics) was make with ribbon cable. I'm sure you local electronics store has the parts use a vise to clamp the cable ends. The cable from the ext enclosure to the Microbotics is a stock cable ($26), mine was called SCSI to Mac cable. I tried to build a cable from the pin out, but it would work, even after triple checking it out. Good Luck.