jclesius@bbn.com (Jeff Clesius) (05/02/91)
Can anyone shed some light on SyQuest 45Mb removable disk drives? There seems to be an interesting range of prices for them, and also some interesting rumors/stories/etc. about reliability. There was a helpful article in MacWORLD this month explaining the technology behind the drives, but they didn't really cover reliability issues in depth; I would prefer testimonials from consumers anyway! I need to purchase such a beast in the near future. It needs to have EXTERNAL SCSI termination because my scanner is internally terminated. I would appreciate any first-hand information with respect to reliability and price. Personally, I would prefer to spend the extra bucks for a more reliable unit, but, there's no need to overspend either. Any information is most welcome, and THANKS! Jeff Clesius 50 Enterprise Ctr Middletown, RI 02840 (401) 849-2543 jclesius@bbn.com
gousha@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Gousha) (05/02/91)
>Can anyone shed some light on SyQuest 45Mb removable disk drives? >I need to purchase such a beast in the near future. It needs to have >EXTERNAL SCSI termination because my scanner is internally terminated. >I would appreciate any first-hand information with respect to reliability >and price. Personally, I would prefer to spend the extra bucks for a more >reliable unit, but, there's no need to overspend either. >Any information is most welcome, and THANKS! >Jeff Clesius >jclesius@bbn.com I purchased a SyQuest Drive from Berkeley Data Access (a local company) about five months ago. I've run a number of cartridges through it since then, and have had almost no problems whatsoever. One cartridge of the many I got to begin with did fail on me, but it was almost immediate, and was QUICKLY replaced by BDA with a new one that hasn't had a hitch since. Good company! I am told that SyQuest drives have a failure rate about twice that of normal hard drives. As you can expect, a lot of people swear by them, and a lot of people swear AT them. Personally, I love the things, and the idea that extra HD space only costs me ~$2/meg instead of the regular $8-10/meg. As to the drive itself, (at least the one that I got), it's a zero footprint model with internal SCSI termination controlled by a switch on the back - much nicer than dealing with plugging external terminators into the line. I was considering a mainstream model like an Ehman or a Microtech until I stumbled over one of BDA's product description sheets at a BMUG meeting, (about 4 pages) and read what it had that the others DON'T. If you're interested, mail me and I can get you more info. Hope some of this - or any of this - helps. P.S. I hope this doesn't sound TOO much like a sales pitch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charles Gousha | "Yes, Star Trek IS a way of life" gousha@cory.berkeley.edu | (my own philosophy) All normal disclaimers apply, as well as some abnormal ones.
ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) (05/02/91)
I have some knowledge of Syquest drives running on three totally different systems. (Actually, I came across another system today that is running one.) To summarize, I wouldn't buy one now if I needed one. I'd look closer at the Ricoh removable hard drive. A local sysop has had nothing but trouble running his Syquest on a MS-DOS- based system. He went through two mechs within a couple of months time. A friend of mine runs a Syquest on his Atari ST and it recently crashed after about a year. The place where I have my internship has had a Syquest on their Mac IIfx for over a year with no problems, it seems. I see a problem with the cartridges. The theory is that HD platters are supposed to be protected from dust particles, etcetera, but the Syquest drives' shutter can be easily opened and expose the platter. I can't see how it can possibly protect the platter. It's about as protective as the shutter on a 3.5" disk! I don't have any experience with the Ricoh drive, nor have I ever heard of anyone actually using one, but the rumor is that they are more expensive and more reliable than the Syquest. -- ||| Ed Krimen [ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu or al661@cleveland.freenet.edu] ||| Video Production Major, California State University, Chico / | \ SysOp, Fuji BBS: 916-894-1261
price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) (05/02/91)
In article <1991May02.062642.3920@ecst.csuchico.edu>, ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes: >I have some knowledge of Syquest drives running on three totally different >systems. (Actually, I came across another system today that is running one.) To >summarize, I wouldn't buy one now if I needed one. I'd look closer at the >Ricoh removable hard drive. True, the Ricoh cartridges do seem to merit a closer look. >I see a problem with the cartridges. The theory is that HD platters are >supposed to be protected from dust particles, etcetera, but the Syquest >drives' shutter can be easily opened and expose the platter. I can't >see how it can possibly protect the platter. It's about as protective >as the shutter on a 3.5" disk! The easy answer to this is *not* to open the shutter! I mean, come on, it's not like you're going to purposely damage your data - which is what opening the shutter amounts to (if you do it enough - I've had the same cartridge for over a year, with less than one complaint). John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu Where there is no solution, there is no problem.
steve@violet.berkeley.edu (Steve Goldfield;232HMB;3-6292;;MF62) (05/03/91)
In article <00947FE8.7AA745A0@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu> price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu (John Price) writes: #>In article <1991May02.062642.3920@ecst.csuchico.edu>, ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes: #>>I have some knowledge of Syquest drives running on three totally different #>>systems. (Actually, I came across another system today that is running one.) To #>>summarize, I wouldn't buy one now if I needed one. I'd look closer at the #>>Ricoh removable hard drive. #> #> True, the Ricoh cartridges do seem to merit a closer look. #> #>>I see a problem with the cartridges. The theory is that HD platters are #>>supposed to be protected from dust particles, etcetera, but the Syquest #>>drives' shutter can be easily opened and expose the platter. I can't #>>see how it can possibly protect the platter. It's about as protective #>>as the shutter on a 3.5" disk! #> #> The easy answer to this is *not* to open the shutter! I mean, come #>on, it's not like you're going to purposely damage your data - which is #>what opening the shutter amounts to (if you do it enough - I've had the #>same cartridge for over a year, with less than one complaint). #> #> John Price * * * * price@uclapp.physics.ucla.edu #> Where there is no solution, there is no problem. Ditto. Many of us have been using the Syquest cartridges over long periods of time without problems. I've even dropped cartridges and not damaged them. Syquest has a new drive with double the capacity which reportedly can read the old cartridges, too. If several hundred dollars to get an extra few megabytes doesn't mean much to you or if you are in an environment that demands the extra robustness of the Ricoh, go ahead and get it. But one can get a Syquest (in the DPI box) for less than $600. The Ricoh's I've seen were closer to or more than $1,000. Steve Goldfield
david@sherpa.UUCP (Dave Quarles) (05/05/91)
>>Can anyone shed some light on SyQuest 45Mb removable disk drives? From article <13284@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, by gousha@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Gousha):>>Jeff Clesius > I purchased a SyQuest Drive from Berkeley Data Access (a local company) > about five months ago. I've run a number of cartridges through it since > then, and have had almost no problems whatsoever. One cartridge of the > I was considering a mainstream model like an Ehman or a Microtech until =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I purchased an Ehman almost 2 YEARS ago and have had nearly NO problems. I have had: 1. One cartridge lose its directory which MacTools Deluxe reparied. 2. A noisy fan, which I am trying to get replaced. 3. Some problems getting Tech support to help me. Other than that I would do it AGAIN without hesitation, especially since they are now over $300 cheaper. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Dave =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
hoepfner@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patrick Hoepfner) (05/07/91)
ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes: >I wouldn't buy one now if I needed one. I'd look closer at the >Ricoh removable hard drive. >A friend of mine runs a Syquest on his Atari ST and it recently crashed >after about a year. In continuous operation, ANY drive will have problems. You can ask just about any BBS sysop about this. And the SyQuest mechanisms aren't ment to replace a hard drive. >I don't have any experience with the Ricoh drive, nor have I ever heard of >anyone actually using one, but the rumor is that they are more expensive >and more reliable than the Syquest. I wouldn't trust ANY rumors like this. I would much rather trust some one like MacWorld which recently suggested that the Ricoh was not the drive to get. Get a copy and read for yourself. They suggested that Bernoulli was best for backups and the SyQuest was best for continuous operation. I would be interested in finding out just what the NEW SyQuest 88 MB drives can do. They should add the few nice things that the Ricoh drives have (such as the better shutter and the don't allow the disk to eject until it has spun down). +--------------------------+---------------------------------------+ / Patrick Hoepfner | NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center \ / America Online: PatrickH9 | Internet: hoepfner@heasfs.gsfc.nasa.gov \ +-----------------------------+------------------------------------------+