Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!caesar.cs.montana.edu!milton!phaedrus
From: phaedrus@milton.acs.washington.edu (The Wanderer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Cutting Edge Hard Drives
Message-ID: <1449@milton.acs.washington.edu>
Date: 18 Jan 90 03:48:21 GMT
References: <501@nfsun.UUCP>
Reply-To: phaedrus@milton.acs.washington.edu (The Wanderer)
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Lines: 38

In article <501@nfsun.UUCP> pcops@nfsun.UUCP (Operations) writes:
>I'm thinking of buying a Cutting Edge 45+ Hard Drive for my Mac+ from
>MacWarehouse @$525. The price seems right, but my question is if the
>drive itself is worth buying.  Can anyone who owns one of these drives
>tell me what they think of it.

     I have nothing bad to say about Cutting Edge drives; I've bought and used
two myself (well, more or less... more on that later), and have had no hardware
problems with them at all.  The new ones are very quiet, small and attractive,
and reasonably fast.  If you have a IIci, note that the drive might not boot
your machine as it ships--make it very clear when you order that you have a
IIci, and make sure that HDD Formatter (not just HDD Manager) is fixed with the
drive.  And be prepared to expend a little effort playing telephone tag to get
technical support.  But otherwise, I've had no problems.  (And their technical
support is still very much better than many other hardware companies I've dealt
with--of late, notably Jasmine.)
     But there is one very important factor to consider when purchasing any
Cutting Edge product.  All these products are made by Ehman Engineering;
"Cutting Edge" is the nameplate they use to sell their products to other
dealers/mail order houses.  And all of these same products are available
directly from Ehman, for reduced prices (an average of $100 less than Cutting
Edge pricing).  Check MacWorld/MacUser for Ehman ads.
     Currently, Ehman's 45+-meg prices are $449 for internal, $499 for
external.  So assuming you're buying an external, you'd still save $26 by
going Ehman direct, even at MacWareHouse's sale prices.  And you'd only have
one company to deal with for support, rather than two.  On the other hand, $26
may be worth it to you to obtain MacWareHouse's faster shipping and (I'm
told... I shop MacConnection myself) excellent support.  But in any case,
be aware of your options, and check the Ehman ads before buying.

  --Disclaimer: I have no relation with Ehman except as a reasonably happy
    of their hard drive products (only "reasonably" at the moment because I'm
    still waiting for HDD Formatter to make my new Ehman 80+ external boot my
    IIci... I called today; it'll supposedly arrive tomorrow... if it does and     it works, I'll revert to extremely satisfied... :)
-- 
Internet: phaedrus@u.washington.edu        (University of Washington, Seattle)
  The views expressed here are not those of this station or its management.
   "If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs,
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