CompuServe Messages

Hi Dennis, The 8500 series has been discontinued but there are still alot of them out there "new" for sale. The newer version is the 8505 which has actually been around awhile, it just hasn't really caught on for a variety of reasons. It holds twice as much and supposedly runs faster although my Exabyte is a DFSCSI so unless there's a newer version of the 8505 that is a WSCSI I rather doubt there is much difference in speed… definitely no difference over a network. The 8505 will provide twice the capacity with Compression which is theoretically one of its big features… but that really depends on how tightly the files are packed to begin with. Regardless, you have the choice at the present with some very good pricing on the 8500 which _is_ the industry standard. Still. With all the options available it is doubtful the 8505 will take its place… So whenever you are ready the 8505 will be an option. Maybe in a year or so, the 8505 will be more prevalent and more video / print places will also have drivers for it. As far as I know 4mm DAT is not supported on the Abacus except over a network. If you can convince someplace to hook it up and provided you have the right software etc. yes that is an option. But its not as simple as putting an 8mm tape in the mail, not to mention as reliable or inexpensive. The 8mm format is still the most reliable… as far as I know. When it comes time, there are several people here who have 8505 and I'm sure would be happy to discuss it with you. Exabyte people are like 3DS people, die hards. <G> John