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From: luse@cod.NOSC.MIL (Stephen A. Luse)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: external floppy options for IIGS
Keywords: floppy drive, IIGS
Message-ID: <1565@cod.NOSC.MIL>
Date: 21 Jun 89 13:46:50 GMT
Organization: Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego
Lines: 28

Please excuse my ignorance-- I own an IBM compatible and feel like a
stranger in a strange land.

A friend has bought an Apple IIGS for his daughter which has a 3.5"
floppy, but he would like to add an external 5.25" floppy.  Our
local computer store will sell him a true Apple external drive for 
about $250.  Is this a complete plug-'n'-go unit?

In checking out an Apple mag ('A+'?) I notice that there are third
party drives available, such as Applied Engineering, for around
$110.  My questions are:  If I buy a third party drive, what else do
I need?  Is there a disk controller already in the IIGS that will
handle this drive?  (I know *nothing* about the inards of this
machine!)  Does the controller come as part of the drive, so it is
essentially a plug-'n'-go?  Do the external drives have their own
power supply, or do they get power from the computer?  What cableing
is necessary for the interface?

Any technical help in this area is greatly appreciated.  I have
built many PC-compatible systems and am very famialiar with that
world, but know nothing about Apples.  

Please e-mail any responses directly to:

					Stephen Luse
					luse@nosc.mil

Thanks in advance!