#Quad-speed EIDE drives
17 messages in this thread
Quad-speed EIDE drives are now under $200 retail with controller card, and even
many Circuit-City type machines now ship with them. 2x's probably won't be
made any more by the end of the year. 6x has been introduced (or at least
advertised as introduced).
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
A friend of mine recently purchased a 75mhz Pentium w/quad speed CD-ROM, 8 meg
mem, 530 meg hd, 1 meg video(exp to 2 meg), Soundblaster Pro w/speak and a ton
of software from Best Buy for $1699. So….the A4000 price sounds a bit bloated
to me.
So what do you think of Jim Drew's strong endorsement of the Apple CD-300? I
have to admit that the price of any 2x is very tempting compared to the price
of most 4xs, and any worthwhile I'm sure.
What would *you* recommend as a drive?
Mr. Zombie
I'm certainly no expert on available CD-ROM drives, but I'll answer anyway with
that understanding.
With SCSI, I'd buy whatever I could afford, probably 2x. With PC card or EIDE,
I'd probably grab the best I could get for $200, a low-end 4x. If I used the
heck out of my CD-ROM and wanted to get a good brand, I'd get NEC SCSI. I
don't use the heck out of my CD-ROM, so I'd be at the bargain end.
dale@iam.com http://www.iam.com
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
OK, thanks for the recommendation. If it's reasonably priced, I guess I'll get
the Apple CD-300 that Jim is so ga-ga about.
Mr. Zombie
Paul,
The driver for Apple CDroms is already installed on your new HD. With an
Apple CD-300 you will be able plug-in-go.
…Warp Engine Engaged…
-Paul-
Paul-
Oh, excellent! And again, thank you *very* much for all your help. I'm sorry
I had to dash out like that. It's just that I got started late because I
couldn't get AP running on Bill's 4000 for some odd reason, and then I got
lost. As it was it turned out that it didn't matter that much, but who knew?
Anyway, I really appreciate it, and if there's anything at all I can do for
you, just let me know.
Mr. Zombie
In the next couple of months Apple will drop the CD-300 for the CD-600 – a 4X
drive. All of their systems that ship with CDROM will now be the 4X drives.
-sja
Indeed, they already have, I think. I just bought a CD-300 on sale for an OK
price. But the woman who took my order referred to their quad-speed drive as
the CD-300e…
Mr. Zombie
It's a shame you couldn't wait 'til June and get the CD-600 … same suggested
retail as the 300.
-sja
I have an Apple CD300 and a Nec 2x drive (can't remember the model number) and
the CD 300 is a lot better drive.
That's cool, 'cause I just ordered one. I'm surprised the NEC isn't that good,
though–I thought they were one of the better drive brands.
Mr. Zombie
Hi,
>> I'm surprised the NEC isn't that good, though–I thought they were one of
the better drive brands.
<<
They are not. I had terrible experiences with NEC drives. You might ask other
people doing SCSI programming, too. The firmware is a CATASTROPHE (Full of
bugs)! Okay, this experience is quite long ago (well, in Computer business half
a year is "long" :-), probably it is getting better.
Oliver
Well, I'm now the proud owner of an Apple CD-300, purchased at closeout prices.
It's sitting on my computer now, but because MacroSystem sent me the wrong kind
of external SCSI connector I can't hook it up yet. The new one was supposed to
arrive today. 🙁
Mr. Zombie
I have a NEC 210 external and a Panasonic x2 speed and the NEC is every bit as
good. I've never had any problem with mine so I don't know what this other
guy's basis is for discrediting NEC.
….Via Autopilot and Gforce 040/33. //
…Only Amiga makes it possible \\/
Performance differences, obviously. I'd be inclined to call Oliver a reliable
source. He (I think) designed the Oktagon Z2 SCSI-2 controller and also did
the software, as well as writing a number of other utilities and who knows what
else.
Oh, you mean David Birdsong. I don't know him, so I couldn't say. But Oliver
Kastl concurs.
Mr. Zombie