Path: utzoo!yunexus!ists!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!bu-cs!dartvax!eleazar.dartmouth.edu!changwoo
From: changwoo@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Chang P. Woo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Hard Drives
Summary: Microtech is not too bad
Keywords: Microtech Nova 40
Message-ID: <17091@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 18 Nov 89 18:32:41 GMT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.17091
References: <89110303365844@masnet.uucp> <5488@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> <17064@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Reply-To: chang.woo@dartmouth.edu (Chang P. Woo)
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 37

In article <17064@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> jalden@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
(Joshua M. Alden) writes:
>>I would go for Microtech Nova 40, because it uses the faster
>>Quantum drive with the Claimed Access time (ms) of 19, and,
>>5 years warranty.

>    There are much better deals.  I work a bit over 20 hours a week at
>the Kiewit Computation Center here at Dartmouth.  I repair hard drives,
>among other things.  Two years ago, Dartmouth endorsed the Novas as the
>drive for the incoming freshmen, and we in User Services have been
>fixing them ever since.  They tend to break, quite a bit.  They can't be
>re-named without being re-formatted.  You can't update the System on a
>Nova without completely re-formatting and re-installing.
>    Don't touch the Novas!
>-Josh.

Yeah, but I don't think that argument is fully justified since
Microtech has changed the drive mechanism since. The Novas given to
Dartmouth earlier were NOT Quantum mechanism. The new Microtech drives
(they don't call it NOVA anymore) are lot more quieter, faster, and
reliable than the previous incarnation.

Sometime ago I had a chance to chat with a person from Microtech. He
acknowledged the hardware problem with old Nova drive, but he was quite
confident in the new drives.

I am pretty sure that there are much better deals than Microtech's.
However, I don't think they deserve too much harshness (they did deserve
such earlier days, but not now).

I have no connection whatsoever with Microtech, except as a potential
customer.

--
Chang P. Woo           | Chang.P.Woo@dartmouth.EDU (preferred)
                       | changwoo@eleazar.dartmouth.EDU
                       | HB 4489, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755