johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (03/08/90)
I recently did some research on removables prior to purchasing one. First of all, there are two primary sources of removables in the 40MB range: the Bernoulli system from IOMega, and the Syquest drives from various companies. Most of my research was restricted to the Syquest drives, since I saw immediately that the Bernoulli's were rather expensive and reputed to be slower than the newer Syquests. The Syquest drives are made by Syquest, but packaged with power supply, cables, fan, etc. by a miriad of other companies. The drive mechanism and the cartridges are the same, but the difference comes in the packaging, software included, warranty, etc. The cartridges each hold about 42 or 42.5 MB when formatted (though they are advertised as anything from 40 to 45 Meg). Some of the drives are as follows with their approximate costs: Company Product Cost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LaCie Cirrus 45 $800 Mass Microsystems Datapack 45MB $1799 (retail) (or as low as $1185) Ehman (Cutting Edge) Removable 45MB $749 Dolphin Systems Flipper 44 $879 Peripheral Land Inc. Infinity Turbo 40 $1000 Mirror Technologies RM42 $747 MicroTech Int. R45 Removable $1099 (but reports of under $900?) DPI DPI44 $739 with one cartridge MacZone Syquest system $803 Bay Microsystems 44 Repack $1149 (retail) Crate ExpandaCrate $1525 (retail) FWB hammerDisk44 $1895 (retail) Info Technologies Info42R $1200 (retail) MacProducts USA Magic 45 $1495 (retail) MicroNet Technology Micro/Removable 45 $1645 (retail) Relax Technology Mobile 42 Plus $1695 (retail) Those listed with retail costs are taken from a writeup "Hard Disk Alternatives", MacWorld, July 1989, pp. 116-122, which tells little more about these drives other than what I've listed above, except that in that issue's "Where to Buy" section, the addresses of these companies are available. I did get back a number of responses about these drives, but as one of them said after requesting the same info a while ago, > I got a lot of advice, most of it contradictory and of the form "I have > blah blah and really like it" or "I got a blah, blah and it was defective" Taking into account all that was said to me about these drive, there are a certain number of things I would suggest looking into before buying one of these beasts. 1. COST - of course. This is a prime consideration for most of us. They seem to range from the low $700's (e.g. Ehman, Mirror Tech, DPI) up to around $1500. The cartridges also differ some in price from different vendors, but I believe that they are all identical. (Anyone want to confirm that?) If so, then one could purchase the cartridges from a cheaper source. Check also for special discounts; some manufacturers (e.g. MicroTech and DPI) will give a discount if you are a member of a users group and request the users-group price. 2. SPEED - Syquest recently (last 6 months?) came out with a faster and more reliable (at least they say so . . . time will tell) drive. This is important because some vendors are still packaging and selling the older drives. i) 25ms "average" access time, 12000 hrs MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) ii) 20ms "average" access time, 30000 hrs MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) How does one tell the difference? Well one person said that the older version has red and green lights on the front and the newer orange and green (mine is supposed to be the newer and has orange and green); but the only way to really check is by examining the ROM (don't ask me how). Ask the vendor which version they are selling. If they don't know, and especially if they can't find out for you, be suspicious. For those who wonder really how fast a 20ms access time is . . . my Syquest takes about 50% longer to duplicate a 3MB file than my internal Apple (Quantum) 80Meg drive does; the Syquest duplicates the 3MB file in the same amount of time it takes to duplicate a 140K file on a floppy. 3. WARRANTY - some of the manufacturers offer one-year warranties, some offer two year. Also, some have 30 day money-back guaranties. Many also have a one-year warranty on the cartridges. In addition, some vendors (e.g. Mirror Technologies) offer "replacement" programs where if your drive goes bad, you can call them, they'll send another drive overnite (or second day) and you send your defective drive back in the same box; they repare it and return it to you, and you send back the "replacement", (and I think that they pay for the shipping) -- this is for a reasonable fee of $20/yr (for Mirror Tech). 4. TERMINATION - The last device on the SCSI port must be terminated (as I understand it, that means grounding the end of the SCSI line), so the Syquest drive has an internal terminator. For most of these devices, the syquest has to be turned on if you want to use your internal hard drive -- I am finding this to be somewhat annoying, since I use my Syquest primarily as a backup system and for holding large data files for my research for which I have no room on my internal hard drive and therefore would like to leave the beast turned off when I'm not going to be using it (there has been some discussion on c.s.m.h about how to get around this termination problem). I have read (but have not confirmed) that MicroTech removes the internal Syquest terminator and adds an external one (that can be removed if the drive is not the last in the SCSI chain). Most seem to allow physically doing what MicroTech does (removing the internal and adding an external terminator, purchased at an electronics store), but a notable exception (as I have been read) is LaCie's Cirrus, which can only be terminated with the power on. 5. SCSI ADDRESS - Each device on a SCSI chain has an address. Some of the drives have external pushbuttons to change the drive's SCSI address. This would be particularly helpful if one was using the drive on several Macs, each with several SCSI devices. 6. SOFTWARE - each manufacturer includes its own software with the drive. Most include formatting software (to format new cartridges) and software to check for (and sometimes block out) bad sectors on a cartridge. Some also include software for partitioning disks into multiple volumes and some to add password protection to disks. If you purchase a cartridge, most vendors also include some shareware programs (I got 10 Meg on mine). CAUTION - there have been several reports that the formatting software from some companies (Ehman was noted) is incompatible with the IIci and may conflict with Apple's CD-ROM INIT, though it is possible that the software has been updated to relieve this problem. 7. EXTRAS - some vendor's packaging also includes surge protectors on the input power line, additional power outlets on the drive (presumably to plug your Mac into a surge-protected outlet). 8. FAN - one issue that was mentioned a number of times was that the cooling fan on some of the drives (especially Ehman/Cutting Edge) were rather noisy, though I haven't seen (or heard) most of these drives, so I cannot comment on that. 9. POWER SUPPLY - This is important also, but I haven't the foggiest how to determine what defines a "good" power supply. Well, that is about all that I can think of right now. I ended up buying a Syquest from Mirror Technologies, due to a number of factors (low cost, faster version, 2 year warranty, etc.), and so far have been quite pleased with it. I got 5 cartridges, so I am ecstatic to have over 200MB in storage for under $1300, with the chance of expanding yet again according to my future needs. If I was going to start again with this purchase, I think I would choose the MicroTech (partly because there were more reports praising this one than any of the other Syquests, but also, and perhaps more importantly now, is that MicroTech packages things so that the terminator is external and (supposedly, anyway) you don't have to have the Syquest on to use an internal hard drive) if I was ignoring price. If the reports of lower cost on the MicroTech's are true (<$900), then it would be tempting; if not, then I think I would stick with the Mirror Technologies, assuming I could rig the external termination correctly (that's my next project). I do have a (somewhat) condensed copy of all of the responses I got about this and a list of the various companies (with address, phone #, cost, warranty, etc.) that sell the Syquests, and would be happy to make that available to anyone who wants it (probably through e-mail since it is rather long, unless there is an overwhelming demand for it). Hope this helps anyone else thinking about buying a syquest. Erik A. Johnson, Graduate Student \ Internet: johnsone@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering \ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \ P.S. Don't hold me to any of the data I have listed here. Much of what I have said has come from other people on the net and e-mail that I got in answer to my queries. The rest has come from talking to sales rep's at some of the manufacturers and from reading various advertisements and articles in MacWorld, MacUser, and MacWeek. P.P.S. Other than the fact that I bought a Syquest from Mirror Technologies, I have absolutely no connection with any of the Syquest manufacturers.
name@portia.Stanford.EDU (tony cooper) (03/08/90)
> I believe that they are all identical. (Anyone want to confirm that?)
No - the cartridges are not all identical. There are at least two types and
I don't know the difference between them. But in appearance the old ones are
open to the world with a filter keeping dust out. The new ones are sealed.
I know the old syquest drives used a puff or air to blow dust out. I don't
know what the new ones do. I don't know if the two cartridges and the two
drives are interchangeable (they are physically, but may not supposed to be).
It's conceivable that the old drives might have trouble with the new
cartridges if they try to blow air where there is no longer a hole. But I
doubt it.
Perhaps someone can give the full story on this. I'm just guessing.
Tony Cooper
tony@popserver.stanford.edupsych@watserv1.waterloo.edu (R.Crispin - Psychology) (03/08/90)
There was a comment regarding whether cartridges formated using the old drive will work with the new drive. I have a DPI 44 Removable and the old cartidges worked in the replacement drive which was the newer model drive. Richard Crispin Dept. of Psychology Bitnet: psych@watdcs University of Waterloo Unix : psych@watserv1.UWaterloo.ca Waterloo, Ont. Canada N2L 3G1 (519)885-1211 ext 2879