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From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: "floptical" drive questions (was IIgs. Whats happening....)
Message-ID: <14448@darkstar.ucsc.edu>
Date: 13 Apr 91 06:27:44 GMT
References: <m0jRbNY-000050C@jartel.info.com>
Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz; Open Access Computing
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In article <m0jRbNY-000050C@jartel.info.com> whitewolf@gnh-starport.cts.com (Tae Song) writes:
>The Insite drive hold only around 20MB, and is/was suppose to cost about $250
>or so.  I think Brier took over teh 20MB drive, I don't know full story, I use
>to keep on both type of drive.

	"Only" around 20 megabytes? It's on a 3.5" floppy disk for (the non-
existant) God's sake.
	
	Versus the roughly VHS-tape sized Syquest based cartridge.. Ok..
It's smaller... I'd say about 2/3 of the surface area on the top as a VHS 
take and 1/2 the volume. 

>Anyways, you could skip the floptical drive and for the Syquest 44MB removable
>drives.  The SyQuest was developed by Brier, BTW.

	Are you sure that Brier designed it? There is a company CALLED
Syquest. Did Syquest just buy the rights from Brier? If so, WHY? Seems
like a stupid business decision.

	Anyway, the floptical drive is A MUCH MUCH MUCH better deal.
For LESS money, you get the drive, which is at most 1/2 the size of 
the Syquest-based drives.
	And the Syquest based drives are MUCH more expensive per meg, 
and are "less portable". That is, they're WAY more than twice as big, and
only hold twice as much info.
	The Brier and Insite drives use special FLOPPY DISKS which cost
about $20 to hold 20 megs (The 50 megabyte version's disks probably cost
a little more).
	The Syquest based drive's CARTRIDGE costs around $70-$80, from
most of the mail order ads I see. And those are 44 megs [unformatted]
vs. the Syquest & Insite's 25 megs [unformatted].

	Sure seems like a HELL of a worse deal to me. I still may end
up getting either of them (floptical or Syquest), depending on when
the flopticals are ready and if I test them which performs better, etc.,
but I presume I'll get a floptical.
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu Apple IIGS Forever! ULTIMA VI GS -mail me. CDs-mail me\
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