[comp.sys.mac.hardware] What's the "best" drive around?

c9a-ai@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU (Class Account) (03/07/90)

After hearing all the different "opinions" on Jasmine, I wonder what's
the best drive, or shall we say "best buy"?  I was going to get a
Jasmine 40Meg for my Mac Plus, but I'm not so sure now...
Since I have only a Plus, speed isn't really the issue, and I don't
expect to upgrade my system in the near future.  So, does it matter
if I buy a Ehman drive?  Do I need to consider drive performance with
a Plus?  


Yan Or
c60b-dr@buddy.Berkeley.EDU
c9a-ai@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU

jtn@potomac.ads.com (John T. Nelson) (03/08/90)

> After hearing all the different "opinions" on Jasmine, I wonder what's
> the best drive, or shall we say "best buy"?  I was going to get a
> Jasmine 40Meg for my Mac Plus, but I'm not so sure now...
> Since I have only a Plus, speed isn't really the issue, and I don't
> expect to upgrade my system in the near future.  So, does it matter
> if I buy a Ehman drive?  Do I need to consider drive performance with
> a Plus?  

Not really.  The Mac Plus has a very slow SCSI interface so no matter
how fast the drive, your Plus won't be able to enhale the bits fast
enough to keep up with it.

Don't go with Jasmine.  Their maintenance turnaround is abysmal and
their drives are unreliable in my humble opinion.  Ehman drives are
getting good reviews and should be fast enough for your Plus.  The
Ehman drive is a little noisy but comes with a 1 year warrenty on the
drive and two years on the electornics/cabinet.

And they're MUCH less expensive than Jasmine!

> Yan Or

mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) (03/15/90)

In article <8411@potomac.ads.com> jtn@potomac.ads.com (John T. Nelson) writes:
[original question:  what's the best drive?  fastest?]
>
>Not really.  The Mac Plus has a very slow SCSI interface so no matter
>how fast the drive, your Plus won't be able to enhale the bits fast
>enough to keep up with it.

I'm not entirely sure I buy this.  My HyperDrive FX/20 was rated my MacWorld
as one of the fastest 20Meg drives available when they tested them.  It also
outran every other 20, and most 40's that I saw.  However, when I purchased my
LaCie 105Mb, which has an effective 12ms seek, a cache, and pretty good data
transfer, I saw at least a twofold performance increase.  Probably more like
3-fold.  Speed definitely makes a difference!!!  Not to mention LaCie's
excellent service, the neat stuff that comes with their drives, and the 5 YEAR
WARRANTY!!!!

--Mike

hammersslammers1@oxy.edu (David J. Harr) (03/15/90)

While we're arguing religion (excuse me, 'hardware'), allow me to put in a
plug for Hard Drives International in Arizona. Competitive prices and nice
service. When the 160 Mbyte drive I bought last year went south, they told
me to send it in and they would send me a new one. When it turned out that
the drive was backordered, they let me talk them into selling me a 340Mbyte
drive for a measly extra $100. They have ads in all the Mac rags, their
number is 1-800-234-DISK. For you international types, try (602)967-7435. I
am really looking forward to seeing the message "342,134k available" when I
get the disk.

David