dba@K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (David Anderson) (11/16/87)
Thanks to some reassuring reviews posted to this group, and responses I received from some of you, I recently ordered a MacSnap 548S (512E to 2M plus SCSI) upgrade and a Rodime 20M SCSI disk drive from MacConnection. I'm amazed how much more useful my Mac is now. ** The price on the Rodime drive is now only $529! ** Here's a mini-review for those who are interested: MacConnection (1-800-MAC-LISA): The gods of the mail order business. Buy from them. Today! Seriously, their prices were competitive, though not always the best. They shipped right away (next day Airborne Express for $3 total), and dealt with a screwup (by the bank where we have our Visa card) in a very professional manner. Dove MacSnap 548S ($469): I was going to get the offical Apple 512E to MacPlus upgrade, and go to 2.5M, but finally decided it wasn't worth twice the cost. This upgrade was described a few months ago by Chuq, so I won't elaborate too much here. The 7 chip connectors have been redesigned to fit more snuggly onto the chips; I had to modify two of them (as instructed) to fit onto my NEC components. The "snap" part of the installation was VERY DIFFICULT -- I spent about an hour fussing with it before I got it properly installed. My thumbs eventually wore out and I got out a wooden dowel and a rubber mallet to gently tap the board into place. All in all, about a 3 hour job. I wouldn't recommend it except to those with experience doing this kind of work. The upgrade is fairly well engineered, except for the replacement cover for the battery case, which is junk. I called tech support twice (the manual doesn't quite match what they ship), and they were quite helpful. Kensington System Saver Mac ($64): I got this to cool off the Mac, which seemed like a good idea. I chose the Kensington because MacWorld said it is the quietest fan, and MacConnection carries it. It is a bit noisier than I expected, but I'm already used to it. Built-in surge supressor, powers Mac plus 2 outlets (one switched). Rodime 20 ($529): The drive works great, no problems. The current formatting software works fine with the Dove SCSI, early software apparently didn't work correctly. Once again, the manual doesn't match the product, but it seems close enough. I bought it because it is the cheapest 20M drive I've seen for the Mac. It comes formatted, ready to boot. Seems fast, not too noisy. I have no connection with any of these companies, except as a satisfied customer. --david dba@cs.cmu.edu