cmdglv@vaxa.weeg.uiowa.edu (Mark Gleaves) (01/05/91)
We would like to attach an external tape drive to our PS/2 Model P70. For
those of you who don't know, the P70 only has two expansion slots, one
long and one short. The long slot is filled and the short slot is so short
that very, very few MCA cards can fit into it.
Therefore, we're looking for a tape unit that doesn't need a controller card.
I know there are plenty of tape drives that use either the serial port or the
parallel port, but I was wondering if anybody knew of a tape drive that
plugs into the "external storage device port" of the P70. This is a square,
thirty-pin plug on the back of the P70 that (I believe) is designed to connect
to an external floppy drive.
Does anyone out there manufacture a tape drive that can be plugged into this?
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Mark Gleaves Internet: cmdglv@vaxa.weeg.uiowa.edu
Bitnet: cmdglvva@uiamvs.bitnet
"News burst on us like meridian splendour on a blind man. We were over-
whelmed with it. . . . Nor was it until some days had elapsed, that we were
able to methodise it, or reduce it into form." -- Watkin Tenchcmdglv@pmvax.weeg.uiowa.edu (Mark Gleaves) (02/14/91)
About a month ago I posted a question to this group asking for information about tape drives that could be plugged into the external data port of the IBM PS/2 P70. I want to thank Sergiu Hart (hart@husc9.harvard.edu) for pointing me in the right direction. Irwin Magnetic Systems Inc. (313-930-9000) makes two tape drives that can use the external data port (with the help of an adapter cable). They are the 745Z 40MB drive and the 785Z 80MB drive. These are external, self-powered units that use DC2000 size cartridges. We purchased a 785Z from our local Computerland for $617 and were quoted a price of $529 for the 745Z. To plug these drives in to the external data port you need to purchase an IBM adapter cable (part #23F-2716). Computerland charged us $79 for this item. For the 785Z you can get either DC2080 80MB cartridges or the newer DC2120 120MB cartridges. The current Global Computer Supplies catalog lists preformatted 3M DC2080 cartridges at $21.19 apiece and 3M DC2120 cartridges at $31.49 apiece. Our tape drive arrived yesterday, and everything seems to work fine. Setup was super simple (just plug the cables in) and we've been able to successfully backup and restore files with no real problems. If you have a need for tape backup on your portable model 70 but don't want to waste that precious long slot, I'd recommend looking at the Irwin drives. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mark Gleaves cmdglv@pmvax.weeg.uiowa.edu "News burst on us like meridian splendour on a blind man. We were over- whelmed with it. . . . Nor was it until some days had elapsed, that we were able to methodise it, or reduce it into form." -- Watkin Tench