[comp.sys.mac.apps] accessing DOS data

kr1@bushido (kahlil rowter) (09/03/90)

 am sorry if the net finds this topic boring.
 I am trying to help a friend who has a Mac Plus. He wants to have the capability
 to access DOS data (mainly word processing and spreadsheet files). He would like
 to know which setups is cheapest. Does he have to have a FDHD, with DOS mounter,
 or Access (by Insignia Solutions) with an external 800K drive, or a FDHD and the
 MacLink Plus translators. LAN and cable connections are out.
  
   EMail OK.
	
	  Thanks.
	   
		 Kahlil Rowter
		   (kr1@m-net.uucp)
			 (kr1@bushido.uucp)

hammen@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Robert Hammen) (09/08/90)

> I am trying to help a friend who has a Mac Plus. He wants to have the capabili
> to access DOS data (mainly word processing and spreadsheet files).

If he wants to read these files directly from a disk, there are a few options.

1) DaynaFile with DOS Mounter, ~$600 for a one-drive system. Connects via
SCSI chain. Both 5.25" and 3.5" DS & HD disks were available, though, as I
recall, you couldn't read 5 1/4 360K disks if you only had the 1.2 MB drive.

2) Kennect Technologies' Rapport drive controller ($295 list?) plus an 
external floppy drive. With any 800K drive, you'll be able to read 720K
DOS disks, as well as to write 1.2 MB to a Mac 800K floppy. Kennect also
sells the Drive 2.4, a high density drive which can read 1.4 MB DOS disks,
as well as write 2.4 MB to HD disks (the 1.2 and 2.4 MB formats are
readable only by other drives with the Kennect controller attached). Kennect
has recently announced 5.25" drives that plug into the Rapport controller;
I don't know pricing and other info, so it's probably worth a call to them
(I don't have the address or phone info handy).

3) PLI sells the TurboFloppy Plus (or whatever they're calling it), a 3.5"
HD floppy that connects via the SCSI chain. This model (unlike previous ones
that got bad reviews) can also read and write standard Mac DS and HD disks.
It also includes an INIT to mount disks when they're inserted. Lists for $399.

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/ Robert Hammen | Macintosh enthusiast & publishing guru, looking for a job /
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