jdp@caleb.UUCP (Jim Pritchett) (07/22/90)
[]
Since there have been a couple of highly biased anti-Seagate, pro-Quantum
postings, I thought that I would give another view. (Naturally, I have
no financial interest in either company.) It is true that there have
been many reports of "stiction" problems with Seagate drives (mostly
among the non-SCSI ST-251 drives.) However, there are a LOT of Seagate
drives out there! Even a 0.01% failure rate would produce a significant
number of complaints on the net about Seagates (I am not implying that
the Seagate drives are super reliable, I am just pointing out the fact
that even if they were, we would still 'hear' a lot about the failures.)
There are not nearly as many Quantums 'out there.' Also, I have heard
a few reports of "stiction" on Quantums also.
I have an 80 Meg Seagate ST-296N. I have had no problems with it yet.
I think it is past its warrantee now. This does NOT mean that you won't
have problems with Seagates. It simply means that the two previous posters
were exaggerating the problems with Seagates. What they also "forgot"
to mention is the fact that the Seagates are generally cheaper than
the Quantums. When you buy cheaper equipment, you should expect lower
quality - but this is not always the case. (e.g. the A2090 hard disk
controller. I bought it from CBM because I foolishly expected that CBM
would produce the controller closest to the SCSI standards. Now they've
had TWO different controller designs since then with NO upgrade path for
the poor slobs who bought early! Now we are hearing rumors that the
newest one still doesn't do everything "right." As always, caveat emptor!
This is NOT really intended to be a flame against CBM, but it was the first
example that I could think of. I love my Amiga, but I am less than pleased
with the A2090 although it has run my two HDs flawlessly for a couple of
years.)
Does anyone out there have any approximate numbers for drives 'out there'
for Seagates vs. Quantums? Just curious...
One poster claimed that Seagate doesn't know anything about 'large' drives.
Well, the largest Quantum that I've heard about is the 105 Meg drive.
Seagate has been making drives that big for some time. (If Quantum makes
bigger drives, excuse my ignorance and ignore this paragraph.)
Conclusion: None. Just get as many facts as you can and then make the
price/performance tradeoff according to your situation.
--
Jim Pritchett
UUCP: texbell.swbt.com!rwsys!caleb!jdp
or texbell.swbt.com!letni!dms3b1!caleb!jdppomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) (07/24/90)
In article <9821.AA9821@caleb>, jdp@caleb.UUCP (Jim Pritchett) writes... >One poster claimed that Seagate doesn't know anything about 'large' drives. >Well, the largest Quantum that I've heard about is the 105 Meg drive. [Most of the above message deleted] When I was interviewing at Apollo/HP they showed a 200 meg 3.5" HD, which they said was a Quantum. I had previously never heard of a 200 meg, but I am pretty sure they make a 160 meg. So, Quantum can make big drives. Maybe they don't make a 760 meg drive, but nobody makes a 760 meg 3.5" 1/2 height yet. (I say yet because the technology exists to make 4-800 meg HD's) My personal experience with Seagate is that their drives are built with quality in mind. I have experienced only limited problems with Seagates, even "beating the crap" out of them. My experience with quantum is that they are fast and reliable, but for some reason I far more careful about shocking quantums. To me, there name doesn't carry the same weight when it comes to quality. Bob Pomeroy pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (The above is not a flame against either drive. Both are excellent, I have used both and would not pick one over the other for reliability reasons.)
dawill@hubcap.clemson.edu (david williams) (07/24/90)
In article <9821.AA9821@caleb>, jdp@caleb.UUCP (Jim Pritchett) writes: > > [] > > Since there have been a couple of highly biased anti-Seagate, pro-Quantum > postings, I thought that I would give another view. (Naturally, I have > no financial interest in either company.) It is true that there have > been many reports of "stiction" problems with Seagate drives (mostly > among the non-SCSI ST-251 drives.) However, there are a LOT of Seagate > drives out there! Even a 0.01% failure rate would produce a significant > number of complaints on the net about Seagates (I am not implying that > the Seagate drives are super reliable, I am just pointing out the fact > that even if they were, we would still 'hear' a lot about the failures.) > There are not nearly as many Quantums 'out there.' Also, I have heard > a few reports of "stiction" on Quantums also. > > I have an 80 Meg Seagate ST-296N. I have had no problems with it yet. > I think it is past its warrantee now. This does NOT mean that you won't > have problems with Seagates. It simply means that the two previous posters [stuff deleted] > > Jim Pritchett Jim, I hate to say this, but it's gonna getcha. I bought a 296N myself, since my roommate has one that had been operating for about 6 months (at the time). Hummm, I said to myself, maybe these particular drives aren't having the stiction problems. So: I bought one. The first one that arrived was dead. Poor construction on the PC board meant that it wouldn't format. (Though it would do a low-level format, strange.) The next one worked fine, and I was happy... Up to about a week ago, I should say. Last week, the blamed thing wouldn't spin up! Arguuuh! However, I am lucky, since the drive is still under warranty. (It's about 6 months old) So, I went next door to tell my old roommate my woes, and to check his harddrive carefully. I was rather suprised to find him removing the drive from his 2000. "Huh?" said I "What's wrong?" He replied that his drive had just developed stiction problems, and that I better check my drive. TWO OF EM! IN THE SAME WEEK! I *knew* I shouldn't have bought a seagate. So, the moral is: beware if you don't have the data on your 296N backed up! Dave Williams dawill@hubcap.clemson.edu "Huh? What? Could you repeat the question?"
gerber@buzzer.enet.dec.com (Robert M. Gerber) (07/25/90)
I have an ST-251 from Seagate (ST506 interface). I have not had any problems in over two years with it. I have left it powered up for two days at the most. I have also done many power cycles in a few minutes while adding memory. I have backed up my drive on a pretty regular schedule. Does this prevent Murphy's Law from killing my drive? Maybe not, however if it does ever die, I know I won't have lost mush work. I have seen (many) other ST251's die with the nospinup problem. I will probably wind up with a quantum and or a SYQUEST for my next drive(s). This is because I want to get an A3000 soon (comes with a QUANTUM of course...), and I think a SYQUEST would provide me with the rest of the disk requirements I might need for a long time. (Providing I get enough cartridges. :-) ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- Robert M. Gerber UUCP: ...!decwrl!oldjon.enet!gerber INET: gerber@oldjon.enet.dec.com Any opinions represented here are definetly not those of my employer. Come to think of it, they may not be mine either!
billsey@agora.uucp (Bill Seymour) (07/25/90)
In article <13748@shlump.nac.dec.com> pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com (Robert Pomeroy) writes:
:
:In article <9821.AA9821@caleb:, jdp@caleb.UUCP (Jim Pritchett) writes...
::One poster claimed that Seagate doesn't know anything about 'large' drives.
::Well, the largest Quantum that I've heard about is the 105 Meg drive.
:
:[Most of the above message deleted]
:
:When I was interviewing at Apollo/HP they showed a 200 meg 3.5" HD, which
:they said was a Quantum. I had previously never heard of a 200 meg, but I am
:pretty sure they make a 160 meg. So, Quantum can make big drives. Maybe they
:don't make a 760 meg drive, but nobody makes a 760 meg 3.5" 1/2 height yet.
:(I say yet because the technology exists to make 4-800 meg HD's)
Quantum recently announced two more high capacity models that store
330M and 425M. It seems everyone is in the middle of a 'my 3.5 inch HD is
bigger than yours' war right now. :-) With the two new low end drives
(50 and 100M) Quantum now has seven models ranging from 50M to 425M.
: Bob Pomeroy
: pomeroy@refine.enet.dec.com
-Bill Seymour ...tektronix!reed!percival!agora!billsey
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