tletski@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com (02/26/91)
Does an LC work with an FDHD SuperDrive? If not, why not. Thanks in advance, Paul Tletski Highland Heights, Ohio USA
gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) (02/26/91)
In article <3406.27c907ee@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com> tletski@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com writes: >Does an LC work with an FDHD SuperDrive? If not, why not. Yes, the Mac LC works with a SuperDrive. As a matter of fact, the SuperDrive is the "standard" floppy drive on the entire current Macintosh line (Classic, SE/30, Portable, LC, IIci, IIfx). The LC comes with one internal SuperDrive. (Educational clients can get a model with 2 internal SuperDrives and no hard drive). There's just one problem... the LC lacks a port for an external floppy drive - it's the only Macintosh without such a port. I read in either MacUser or MacWorld that the engineers excluded an external floppy port because it would have added $1.50 to the cost. I understand shaving features to reduce price, but a floppy drive port? <sigh> -- Jim Gaynor - Systems Analyst 1 + "This is Serious. He is Lost. The Ohio State University ACS-FM-OCES | We must begin the Search at once." gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.ed | -Rabbit, from gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu + "The House at Pooh Corner"
gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb26.132542.25220@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes: >In article <3406.27c907ee@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com> tletski@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com writes: >>Does an LC work with an FDHD SuperDrive? If not, why not. > > Yes, the Mac LC works with a SuperDrive. [...] > There's just one problem... the LC lacks a port for an >external floppy drive - it's the only Macintosh without such a port. Well, it seems I've made an error. The LC is joined by the Mac II, IIx, and IIfx in the family of Macintoshes that lack ports for an external floppy. (The IIcx and IIci -do- have an external floppy port) However, I'll still assert that a port for an external floppy shouldn't have been excluded from the LC. With the II/x/fx, there is more than enough room for a second internal floppy drive along with a hard drive. With the LC, you would have to sacrifice the internal hard drive to put in a second floppy - and the "mass market" LC isn't available in a no-hard-drive model. Thanks, Nick... -- Jim Gaynor - Systems Analyst 1 + "This is Serious. He is Lost. The Ohio State University ACS-FM-OCES | We must begin the Search at once." gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.ed | -Rabbit, from gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu + "The House at Pooh Corner"
eaeu137@orion.oac.uci.edu (Andrew Theodore Laurence) (02/27/91)
Doesn't someone make a SuperDrive clone that works through SCSI?? --Andrew eaeu137@orion.oac.uci.edu
tchi@sal-sun89.usc.edu (The Answer Company) (02/27/91)
In article <27CAB6E1.25535@orion.oac.uci.edu>, eaeu137@orion.oac.uci.edu (Andrew Theodore Laurence) writes: |> |> Doesn't someone make a SuperDrive clone that works through SCSI?? |> |> --Andrew |> eaeu137@orion.oac.uci.edu I think PLI makes the Turbo Floopy or Super Floopy or something like that. It works through the SCSI port. We used to have one connected to a Mac II so we could read HD disks. The old one only reads 720K and 1440K disks and NOT Mac 400K/800K disks. Maybe the new one does. I think they go for $300+. Tony Chi (tchi@usc.edu) The Answer Company
russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb26.132542.25220@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes: >drive). There's just one problem... the LC lacks a port for an >external floppy drive - it's the only Macintosh without such a port. Not so-- the Mac II and IIx both lack such a port, and probably the IIfx also lacks the port (since it is in the same case). > I read in either MacUser or MacWorld that the engineers >excluded an external floppy port because it would have added $1.50 to >the cost. I understand shaving features to reduce price, but a floppy >drive port? <sigh> It should be possible to run a 40-pin ribbon cable from the second floppy connector on the motherboard onto the similiar connector inside an external drive, no? It's a kludge, but it ought to work (provided the ribbon is short and of good quality-- I doubt the stuff usually used for RS232 applications would work.) -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus.
dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) (03/05/91)
In article <1991Feb26.183753.27138@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes: > However, I'll still assert that a port for an external floppy >shouldn't have been excluded from the LC. With the II/x/fx, there is >more than enough room for a second internal floppy drive along with a >hard drive. With the LC, you would have to sacrifice the internal >hard drive to put in a second floppy - and the "mass market" LC isn't >available in a no-hard-drive model. Sorry, I'll disagree on this one. A fairly recent MacWarehouse catalog (6.0) lists an external 800K floppy drive for $149, and doesn't even seem to list any 1.44M external floppy drives (except maybe for the Rapport stuff, which I'm too lazy to sort out). For $399 you can buy (from Hard Drives International) a 105MB 19ms Quantum hard drive. I admit $250 is a big step, but it seems clear that floppy drives are simply getting less and less competitive. While you do need one floppy drive (to read in new software, and to support sneakernet), I no longer see any reason to have more than one, unless you really really can't manage the price difference; and in that case you should make do with one drive and save your money for a hard drive. However, it's impossible to second-guess other people's needs, so perhaps you do have a use for a second floppy drive that a hard drive won't meet. In that case, take a look at the Infinity TurboFloppy 1.4, listed in the MacWarehouse catalog for $359; it's an external floppy drive that plugs into your SCSI port. -- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com) I don't speak for my employer. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | When I was young, my family bought a color TV. Our neigbors, who | | were poorer, had only a black-and-white set. They bought a piece of | | cellophane, red on top, yellow in the middle, and blue on the bottom, | | and taped it over their screen, so they could claim that they had a | | color TV, too. | | Now there's Windows 3.0. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------
awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) (03/05/91)
In article <16693@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) writes: >A fairly recent MacWarehouse catalog (6.0) lists an external 800K >floppy drive for $149, and doesn't even seem to list any 1.44M In this week's MacWEEK, MacDirect offers Fujitsu 800k drives for $99. MacAvenue has the same price, and they list the Applied Engineering 1.44 meg drive for $239. (The MacAvenue prices are from the April MacWorld.)
gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) (03/07/91)
In article <16693@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) writes: >In article <1991Feb26.183753.27138@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes: > >> However, I'll still assert that a port for an external floppy >>shouldn't have been excluded from the LC... > >Sorry, I'll disagree on this one. > > [discusses plummeting price of hard drives] What's your point? That one ought to buy a hard drive? I'd say so, too. I'd rather add another hard drive to my system than another floppy. >However, it's impossible to second-guess other people's needs, so Exactly. Then why lock people out of using a second floppy drive in the interest of saving all of $4 in design? >perhaps you do have a use for a second floppy drive that a hard drive >won't meet. In that case, take a look at the Infinity TurboFloppy >1.4, listed in the MacWarehouse catalog for $359; it's an external >floppy drive that plugs into your SCSI port. You don't quite see the point, do you? People ought to have the option of having a second floppy drive. They may want to do disk-disk copies without infinite swapping. They may simply find it (-gasp-) useful and convenient. In any case, if we're only trimming $4 off the design cost, by excluding an external port, why cut it out? There -is- such a thing as the point of diminishing returns... -- Jim Gaynor - Systems Analyst 1 + "This is Serious. He is Lost. The Ohio State University ACS-FM-OCES | We must begin the Search at once." gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.ed | -Rabbit, from gaynor@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu + "The House at Pooh Corner"
6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Erik Adams) (03/09/91)
Most of the discussion in this thread has been about would it be useful to connect second drive to an LC. I think it would be, but that's just the way I work. What gets me is that the darn thing is generally only available with a hard disk and a floppy. I'm a student, and will get the two floppy version, but not because I'm trying to cut corners or anything: I've already got a hard disk (or will any day now) and don't want to have to buy another when I've got a perfectly good one already. Two floppies are better than one: I do not see ever regretting having two. That the LC is generally only available with one, and can only have a second added by third party SCSI floppies is a marketting error, in my opinion. (Plus, I've heard bad things about SCSI floppy drives :-) Erik "And at that moment, I thought of my mother..." 6500erik@ucsbuxa.bitnet or 6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu
bill@shaman.cc.ncsu.edu (Bill Goodwin) (03/09/91)
I agree with Erik, I've already got a Jasmine DirectDrive 45 with which I am very happy. I don't want a new hard drive. I want a color computer to hook MY hard drive to. If anyone out there finds a place to get an LC with only the floppy drive and no hard drive, drop me a line!!! Bill Goodwin bill@shaman.cc.ncsu.edu -- =============================================================================== # Bill Goodwin # Two of the most important questions in life: # # Raleigh, NC # # # # 1) Are you Sarah Conner? #
dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) (03/12/91)
In article <1991Mar7.142044.23744@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> gaynor@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Jim Gaynor) writes: > You don't quite see the point, do you? People ought to have >the option of having a second floppy drive. They may want to do >disk-disk copies without infinite swapping. They may simply find it >(-gasp-) useful and convenient. In any case, if we're only trimming >$4 off the design cost, by excluding an external port, why cut it out? >There -is- such a thing as the point of diminishing returns... I don't quite see the reason for the disagreeable tone of this. Yes, I do see the point. I did tell the original poster how to add a second floppy drive to his system. I'm not aware of any similarly useful information in your comments. If you have a hard disk, you can make disk-disk copies without infinite swapping. I'm sure you see how. Even IF it's only $4 (which I doubt), yes, we have reached the point of diminishing returns. Fewer and fewer people want a second floppy drive, because (with a hard disk) it's so seldom useful and convenient. I have a second drive I almost never use. There comes a point where it isn't worth even $4. Further flames to /dev/null.
ds4a@dalton.acc.Virginia.EDU (Dale Southard) (03/13/91)
This may or may not have been mentioned before but... Just because there is no floppy drive port does not mean that one cannot add a second floppy drive. A quick look in one of my mail-order catalogs reveals that at least one manufacturer builds a SCSI-floppy (PLI, if you care). I agree with the previous post -- diminishing returns. How many macs have you seen with an external floppy? I have friends with perfectly good 800K externals that are sitting on shelves because they are not used. If you really need a second floppy on the LC, plug it into the SCSI. We are going to need the room on the rear panel for all of those ethernet ports soon :-). Note that if you are out of SCSI addresses, you probably needed more than LC in the first place. Just my opinion though. --> --> Dale UVa (ds4a@virginia.edu)
6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Erik Adams) (03/15/91)
In article <1991Mar12.212149.8548@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> ds4a@dalton.acc.Virginia.EDU (Dale Southard) writes: >This may or may not have been mentioned before but... > >Just because there is no floppy drive port does not mean that one cannot add >a second floppy drive. A quick look in one of my mail-order catalogs reveals >that at least one manufacturer builds a SCSI-floppy (PLI, if you care). I >agree with the previous post -- diminishing returns. How many macs have you >seen with an external floppy? I have friends with perfectly good 800K externals >that are sitting on shelves because they are not used. If you really need a >second floppy on the LC, plug it into the SCSI. We are going to need the room >on the rear panel for all of those ethernet ports soon :-). > (stuff deleted) >--> --> Dale UVa (ds4a@virginia.edu) Well, I use my external floppy all the damn time, but then I got it when hardrives were still damn expensive. And as far as connecting floppies through the SCSI, I've read that they do not provide the same kind of functionality that internal floppies do: one company's (I forget which) could only write to HD disks, 400k and 800k disks were read-only. I have an 800k disk drive, and use it, and probably will for a while to come. Erik 6500erik@ucsbuxa.bitnet or 6500erik@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu "You'll pay to know what you think!"