MCCABE@MTUS5.BITNET (05/18/89)
Date: 17 May 89, 18:32:45 EST
From: Jim McCabe MCCABE at MTUS5
To: INFO-ATARI16 at SCORE.STANFORD.EDU
Subject: Hard Drives & ABCO
Hi folks,
My dreams of getting a hard drive are finally being realized,
but I have a couple questions that I want to ask before jumping in
head first.
a) Is the "ICD Host Adapter" basically the same case used
in their FAST series of drives (without the drive itself,
of course)? I really like the under-monitor functionality
of their FAST boxes...
b) Is there room to plug in another drive mechanism? I can't
remember where I got this idea, but somehow I acquired the
idea that to their boxes have room for another drive,
and that their controller is already ready for two in the case.
This would be GREAT if it were true -- is it?
c) Has anyone dealt with a company called ABCO before? They
sell a 42MB system (Seagate drive, ICD Host Adapter) that looks
good from the small add I found. I wonder if their price is
too good to be true...
Any help or comments would be appreciated!
Jim McCabe
MCCABE @ MTUS5.BITNETcovertr@gtephx.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) (05/23/89)
ABCO is for real, and is run by Ralph Mariano, editor of ST Report. ABCO is located in Jacksonville, FL. Get any issue of ST REPORT (online on GEnie) for his address. I bought a dual Seagate 65 Meg (over 130 meg formatted!) hard drive system from ABCO last November. It took 3 weeks from when I sent in the check to when the drive was Fed Exxed to my home in Phoenix AZ. ABCO uses a custom cabinet and a VERY nice switching power supply. The DMA interface is daisy chained so that I can hook my SLM804 controller to the drive's output. I have used it a lot in the last 8 months with no faults. The drives are 28 ms drives and so are FAST. And I got a great price. Just tell Ralph that Richard Covert referred you and you can deal him down from his list prices. ABCO sells a wide range of drives and will custom build yours if needed. ABCO uses Seagates but will use others if you ask. All in all, I have been very pleased with my dual SEagate drives from ABCO. Richard (130 megs ain't enuf :-) )Covert