hooverm@sysjj.mdcbbs.com (SQUID 6 on the DARK side) (12/06/90)
Summary of opinions re: Plus Development's HardCards
Here is a summary of opinions I received regarding the HARDCARD from Plus
Development. Based upon these opinions, a HARDCARD is definitely in my future!
Mark <o===6
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From: BBS::IN%"uunet!clutx.clarkson.edu!smithbm" "Azrak" 3-DEC-1990 20:50:20.74
I have the HardCard40 (the old one designed for the PC).
During the time it was in an IBM PC (yea, the original!) it worked
flawlessly. It came with no bad sectors marked or unmarked. It was a
perfect disk. I think after the second year of operation, the drive
wouldn't start spinning upon bootup. After a call to Plus's technical
support, they had a few reasons why it might not run. One reason was
that the drive might have been oiled too much. (I took the drive out,
waved it in the air a couple times, and reseated it into the slot and
it booted up fine, though it did continue sticking) After all the data
was backed up, Plus gave us a brand new drive and took the old one back
to see what went wrong. They gave us the new drive with no questions
asked.
I have the replacement unit in a Zenith 248 (80286-8), a school issued
computer (Don't ever buy Zenith!!)
I cannot boot off the drive because the Zenith complains about an
"unformatted partition". It is quite formatted (about 10 times during
my frenzy to get the Zenith to boot off it), so I can't figure out what
the trouble is. It is NOT the HardCard's fault. The manual says the
HardCard will work fine on 80286 based machines. I think it is the
Zenith.
I highly recommend the HardCard.
Keep in mind, I have an old drive. The replacement unit has worked
perfectly since I got it. I boot off of drive A, but that is because
of the Zenith. I run the computer every day (more than a year now)
and the drive hasn't stuck once. Also, neither drives had ANY bad
sectors. Marked or unmarked; old or new. It is an 8-bit card, 175K/Sec
transfer rate (Due to slow 80286, 8-bit, old technology, and Zenith
DOS), and less than 40ms access time. Yes, very slow, but for free
from Dad, I'm not complaining.
The new HardCards are MUCH better. The new HardCardII40 and 80 are
nice drives. Now Plus has the HardCardIIXL in 50Mb or 105(!)Mb sizes.
I think they are still only an inch thick. The XL series has 9ms access
time with the cache installed.
Sorry if I rambled on too much. I hope this helps you on your decision.
- Brian Smith (smithbm@clutx.clarkson.edu)
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From: BBS::IN%"att!attmail.ATT.COM!rabeck" 4-DEC-1990 07:32:25.45
I just installed a 80MB HardcardII on an AT&T 386 with no trouble. I haven't
really had much opportunity to use it yet, but there was no trouble with the
installation.
Is there any particular information I can try to find out for you?
Ron Beck
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From: BBS::IN%"uunet!engr.uark.edu!mdk" 4-DEC-1990 08:51:33.09
I saw your note about the hardcard.. I've got the 80 meg version in my
home computer. This is the 2nd hardcard I have purchased from Plus Development
. I am very impressed with the company and their products. I sold my 4 year
old Plus Hardcard 20 and bought the 80 Meg version. The only problem I had
with the hardcard is that the original driver (.SYS) wasn't compatable with
windows v3.0. I called them, and they Federal Expressed a new version to me the
next day.. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you..
Mike Kohut
mdk@engr.uark.edu
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From: BBS::IN%"uunet!sumax.seattleu.edu!halcyon!ralphs" 5-DEC-1990 12:52:53.73
This is one of the best mass storage devices available. I have used their
20 meg products for years, and if I were able to afford the 105meg drive
(or even the 80), I would get one without hesitation. PLUS has a very
fine reputation.
These drives are quiet, accurate, dependable (I've installed a dozen of
them and they are so reliable, I can't remember where), etc., etc., etc.
With the 9ms access time, the larger ones should be blazingly fast. I
think the 20's were around 40ms, maybe 28--it's been a while.
Do not attempt to change interleaves, etc. after the drive is installed.
PLUS uses a proprietary RLL system that I could not overcome with standard
hard drive formatting utilities. They have their own software to do that
kind of thing.
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From: BBS::IN%"uunet!actew.oz.au!ins_wayne" "Wayne Myles" 5-DEC-1990 16:55:12.31
I have owned one of these exact drives for over a year now, and
it has performed brilliantly at all times - within
specification.
Unfortunately, it has a non-standard BIOS, so it will work only
with device drivers; these are supplied for DOS and OS/2 only.
In both environments, it works like a charm. In others, they
don't want to know. MINIX will not boot, because it uses an IRQ
over 16 (decimal). MS Windows 3 has a hernia, as usual with any
non-standard BIOS driver, however close. (I detest and loath
microsoft.)
For normal DOS stuff, it's hard to beat. The performance is
great. I have seen a PLUS HardCard removed from a machine,
repeatedly bashed hard on a table, plugged in, and work perfectly.
Amazing!
Wayne Myles Email: ins_wayne@actew.oz.au, wsm@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au