Abraxas@itsgw.rpi.edu (Yi Sun) (04/13/91)
Hi, I am looking for additional storage space. It seems to me that a removable cartrige hard drive (45Mb) is a good buy (about $800 with additional 45Mb cartrige of $100 each). My question is What is the catch? Does the head wears out more often than fixed hard drive? Is it slow? Your input is appreciated. regards. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Abraxas@rpi.edu
blissmer@expert.cc.purdue.edu (Kevin) (04/13/91)
>Hi, I am looking for additional storage space. It seems to me that a >removable cartrige hard drive (45Mb) is a good buy (about $800 with >additional 45Mb cartrige of $100 each). > >My question is What is the catch? Does the head wears out more often >than fixed hard drive? Is it slow? > No catch. A 45 removable SyQuest with one cartridge can be had for under $500 and cartridges cost $65 a piece at US Computer Merchants. I've used mine for over a year without a hitch. They're not even that slow (20 ms access). I'd definately buy a Syquest before buying any other second drive. Corey
afry@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Alan R. Fry) (04/13/91)
In article <h+gg-f.@rpi.edu> Abraxas@itsgw.rpi.edu (Yi Sun) writes: > >Hi, I am looking for additional storage space. It seems to me that a >removable cartrige hard drive (45Mb) is a good buy (about $800 with >additional 45Mb cartrige of $100 each). > >My question is What is the catch? Does the head wears out more often >than fixed hard drive? Is it slow? > >Your input is appreciated. > I recently went through this whole thing myself, and as far as I can tell, the differneces between drives is the power supply, case, fan, connectors, software, bundled software, and tech support. This sounds like a lot, and in fact it is! I worked at a place that had several hundred Mass Microsystems cartridge drives, and 40% (!!) of them had power supply problems. I would say that about another 20% of them had problems with the fan. From what I understand, MM has worked out some of the problems, but be carful of cheaply built dirves. The Syquest 555 drive mechanism itself is only manufactured by one company (Syquest! :-), and it is basically the same in all of the drives (although see the Feb 1991 MacUser for the details on this). For some really good reading, check out the May 1991 MacWorld which has a review of Syquest, Bernoulli, and Rioch drives. A more informative (but slightly older) article appeared in the February 1991 MacUser. I ended up buying an Ehman drive, which, at the time I bought it, was reasonably inexpensive and I trusted the company pretty well. So far I have had no problems with it, and I have a friend who has had an Ehman drive for over a year with no problems. Nevertheless, I don't have much reason to particulary recommend it over all other similarly priced drives. Read the articles I mentioned, check around with other people, and decide for yourself. Good luck, Alan -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Alan R Fry | You know what I hate? | | afry@uhura.cc.rochester.edu | Rhetorical questions. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Rich Holmes) (04/15/91)
While we're on this subject, you might be interested to know that Mirror Technologies just dropped its Syquest drive price by $120 (!). They're now $497. That and discovering I had less than 950K on my hard disk prompted me to buy one last week. I'd had my eye on the Mirror because it got a good review in MacUser and I had about as much confidence in the company as one can in this volatile industry, but for some reason I was holding off for a while. Good thing I did. Usual disclaimer: no connection with Mirror except as a customer; too soon to know if I'll be a satisfied customer, but things look good so far. -- - Rich Holmes rich@suhep.bitnet or rich@suhep.phy.syr.edu Syracuse U. Physics Dept. or if you must: rsholmes@rodan.acs.syr.edu The Kuwaitis have oil. The Kurds don't. End of story.