jaffe@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Saul) (01/02/91)
Several weeks ago I posted a request for information about SCSI Floppy disk drives available for Sun Sparcstations, specifically for the new SLC. I received the following information from various people: Artecon 2440 Impala Drive Box 9000 Dept. 5500 Carlsbad, California 92008-0993 1-800-USA-ARTE Central Data 1602 Newton Drive Champaign IL 61821 1-800-482-0315 Aurora Technologies 1-617-577-1288 Micronet Technology 20 Mason Irvine, CA 1-714-837-6033 Workstations Plus 1615 Alvarado St. San Leandro, CA 94577 1-800-735-5777 Acropolis Systems 1638 Centre Point Dr. Milpitas, CA 95035 1-408-946-6947 Dataram P.O. Box 7528 Princeton, NJ 08543 1-800-822-0071 Clearpont Research Corp. 35 Parkwood Dr. Hopkinton, MA 01748-1659 1-800-clearpt All of these companies apparently sell Floppy Disk Drives that will operate on the SCSI bus of Sun Workstations and are selling it for about $995. Why so much? After talking with several of the salepeople at these companies, I have found that they are selling the physical device AND a set of programs to access the disk and use it with MS-DOS files. This bothers me. What it comes down to is that they do not sell the device and a driver but instead expect you to shell out $$$ for software that DUPLICATES standard unix software like tar, bar, etc. Furthermore, the MS-DOS stuff that they provide duplicates DOS-Windows as distributed by Sun but does not do the IBM-PC emulation to run programs. So I would end up buying a unix license for standard software, the disk drive and the accompanying software which I will never use and DOS-Windows. This is ridiculous when all I want is the physical device and a kernel - total price should be about $300-$400 or less. A couple of people suggested that I consult an attorney based on the fact that the Sun sales literature claims that the device would be supported like other devices are supported. I did consult with an attorney about this but am left with the opinion that if I sued, I would likely lose since the case would essentially be my word against Sun's and the documentation that states otherwise is not sufficient because it is worded ambiguously. You or I might know what it meant but, a judge or jury would likely not. So the end result is that I am left with a Sun workstation that I can use for some things but not everything I wanted it for, I will likely not be able to purchase any new software because most vendors are now distributing software on either CD-Roms (far too expensive for me to consider) or floppies, neither of which I can use, and I will not be able to share software or files with other people unless they can read a 1/4" data cartridge tape (not likely for my purposes). I am also left with a very bad taste in my mouth. If it sounds as if I'm bitter, I am. I just spent about $8,000 on a Sun Workstation and hard disk drive only to find out that I may have to spend another $2,000 - $4,000. At this point, I'm seriously considering selling the Sun and buying something else (like an IBM-PC). Saul Jaffe Rutgers University ARPA: Jaffe@elbereth.rutgers.edu UUCP: ...!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!jaffe