CompuServe Messages

Dietmar, "The Adaptec software did not even lowlevel a cartridge. Thus I went for CorelSCSI." Ah! So there you are! 🙂 Your software doesn't like your hardware, and then the thing is unreliable and all the other nice comments you have launch against it. I guess that it is matter of experiences and I realize that, loving the PC idiosynkrazy as much I do, it not unusual (ha!) to find this kind of thisdoesn'tworkwiththat problems. I have to agree with you in ALL your points, but if you are talking about Sony and from your comments about noise I guess you are talking about the first MO mechanism arround. Indeed, althought I had, despite the noise, a wonderful experience with 128MB cartridges, there were some problems in some units, depending on the manufacturer (being the Sony one of worst implementations of MO I have ever found -and it was their invention 😛 ) If you are in the market for a MO disk today, then you are lucky, because you can get the new 230MB or the 5.25" models and I can guarantee you that you not only are NOT going to find the faults you encountered, but that the medium is solid, reliable and faster than any other medium in the market, including tape backup. If you are living in the US, you can be confident that your MO cartridge will be readed in most service bureaus (from the ID, you are in Europe, and there you will find a lot of acceptance of the MO format too). IMHO, from my personal experience and extensive research throught the years (which include testing of several units in my experience as a writer, talks with other MO users including SBs and publishing houses,etc.), anyone will find the current MO standard a true option for their image storage needs, being the 5.25" models true alternatives to online storage (if you are not seeking for a disk system for your PAR 🙂 As for the new 2.5" CDs, I don't have a clue. I didn't try one yet, and most probably I never will do it. The size (MBs) is too small for our needs, but people may find it interesting if they want maximum portability and security. Is the industry going to accept this new format? I don't know. It will take a time for it to be at the same level of the MO. Again this is also going to wait for takeoff, but if you really want to get into the next century of online storage, wait a couple of months for what Nomai and IBM are going to introduce. What do you get when you get a SyQuest-like device and add to it Partial Response Maximum Likelihood data channels and magneto resistive heads? And MCD. 540MB and 680MB cartridges now, with 750MB and 1.2GB cartridges in 1996, ALL in a 3.5" format and backwards compatible (except for the 540MB model, which is not MR based) and with, take this, data transfer rates as high as 8.5MB. Less than $600 for the drive and $70 per cartridge. For that price, I am going to buy two and send one for Gary so he can send me a 680MB disk with the next beta of 3DSr5NT <g> And don't worry for your magneto optical phobias, the only laser you will find in a MCD is the servo (no, not Tom, you mysties 🙂 that tracks a piece of reflective material to pack more magnetic tracks into less space (remember that we are talking about 540-1.2GB on a 3.5" cartridge). Since it is magnetic, no fans will be involved, so you ears will be safe too (MO disks right out of the unit are like hot donuts, even with the noisy fans). Sounds to good to be true? Call 1-407-391-1216 (see, no 800s 🙂 and get the whole story. Or just get a glimpse to March issue of MacUser. Or just wait a couple of months to get IBM to market them in Europe. Or forget all about it. Or get a 1 terabyte RAID. Or get back to hand drawn animation. Or just push the button. ana /krazy images