Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-beacon!bu.edu!dartvax!Eric.J.Baumgartner
From: Eric.J.Baumgartner@dartmouth.edu (Eric J. Baumgartner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Seeking opinions on 45MB removables
Message-ID: <1991Jun16.212739.5599@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>
Date: 16 Jun 91 21:27:39 GMT
References: <5253@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
Sender: news@dartvax.dartmouth.edu (The News Manager)
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 66

In article <5253@ryn.mro4.dec.com>
long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Rich Long) writes:

> I'm getting tired of shuffling floppies, so am getting ready to buy a 45MB
>  Syquest cartridge drive for backup purposes and scratch space. So, I turn to
>  you net.experts for opinions. I'm a novice in this area, so be gentle.
> 
>  I've read the review in the Feb. '91 Macuser, and it looks like either the
>  APS or Ehman drives are good bets.

I bought an Ehman for work and later an APS for myself.  I prefer the
APS.  I can boot the Mac with the APS off.  The Ehman (and the DPI a
co-worker has AND the ClubMac another co-worker has... we've been doing
our own survey :-) must be turned on to boot.  (I also know another guy
whose Ehman went south about three months after he got it.  Mine has
behaved fine.)

>  o Do Syquests work like big floppies, in that you shove one in and it mounts,
>  and you drag its ICON to the trash, and it dismounts? I notice in the review
>  that some of the drives include INITs or CDEVs. What are they for? Would the
>  cdev interface mean that cartridges must be manually mounted?

I'm suffering INIT backlash so I don't use an auto-mount INIT to mount
the Syquest when I insert it.  Instead, I use a neato FKEY called
MountEm.  It works great and I don't have to worry about another INIT
clogging the System heap.  (If you use SCSIProbe, use vers. 3.0 for
System 7 compatibility.)

>  o Some of the drives include switched AC outlets. Does this mean I could plug
>  my Mac into that outlet, power up the drive and have the Mac come up with it?
>  Would there be timing problems (as there are for some hard disks)? 

Both the APS and the Ehman have two AC outlets on the back, as well as
push button SCSI settings.  You should be able to plug a non-Mac II
into the Syquest and turn everything on at once.

>  General Stuff:
> 
>  - I need the drive to be System 7 compatible NOW. 
> 
>  - I'd like to spend no more than about $500.

APS with shipping: 500.50.  Close enough? :-)  (Prices have probably
dropped.)

For a while I had a 7 beta on a Syquest and I booted off that if I
wanted to run 7.  Worked great.  I use the Syquest at work as an
on-line drive for various projects, usually one per disk, and daily
backups (Finder copies).  The APS at home I use when I want to bring
work home  (I got real sick of carrying floppies) or for backup of that
Mac.  Syquests make pretty expensive backup devices if that's all you
use them for, but they're plenty fast and it's very nice to have an
open-ended storage solution... if I need more room, I only have to
spend $70 at a time.

I think 44M is plenty for individual use, so the 88s and the opticals
don't really interest me.  There's also the compatibility issue; sure,
your 88 will read your friend's 44, but it doesn't write to it.  There
are a lot of 44s out there already.  Unless you're doing serious image
or sound work or something that eats up disk space by the Gig, an 80M
internal and a Syquest make for a very nice, expandable system.

Eric Baumgartner                   *  ebaum@dartmouth.edu
Interactive Media Lab              *  - When in danger or in doubt,
Dartmouth Medical School           *      run in circles, scream and
shout.