Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!apple!amdahl!pccuts!tat
From: tat@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com (Tom Thackrey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 6250 bpi tape systems
Keywords: hardware
Message-ID: <883@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com>
Date: 28 Feb 90 18:43:35 GMT
References: <25E9C047.16258@paris.ics.uci.edu>
Reply-To: tat@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com (Tom Thackrey)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale  CA
Lines: 29

In article <25E9C047.16258@paris.ics.uci.edu> roy@ics.uci.edu (John M.A. Roy) writes:
 >
 >Anybody out there have a Cipher or Qualstar tape system that they like
 >or dislike?  We are about to purchase one or the other, specifically:
 >
 >	1. Qualstar 1260-SYS with a PCDI-1 controller ~$5k
 >	2. Qualstar TapeLinx 1260 with a TX-8 controller ~$5k
 >	3. Ciper 990M with a TX-8 controller ~$8k
 >
 >I know the Cipher is faster and has other features, but is it worth
 >the extra money. I'm also interested in service and reliability.

I bought a Qualstar 1260 / TX-8 and had very poor results.  I tried
various adapter cards and software and the drive was swapped a few times.
The best it would do is read tapes it created.  Tapes from other
sources had lots of I/O errors, even though they worked on other
systems.
After 6 months of trying, I asked my dealer to find me another brand of
drive.  The dealer was very helpful all along the way.  I now have a
Pertec drive and a MicroTech adapter and software.  It all works
flawlessly.  The software includes TAR and CPIO which was an added
bonus.  It cost me quite a bit more for the Pertec drive, but
MicroTech gave me 100% of what I paid for the Qualstar and a good
price on the Pertec.
BTW I have no connection to Pertec or MicroTech.
-- 
Tom Thackrey sun!amdahl!tat00

[ The opinions expressed herin are mine alone. ]