#bridge/hardcard
6 messages in this thread
Does anybody out there know if the bridgecard and a 40 meg hard card (the true
one slot brand) would be a good combination? I'm thinking that might be more
cost effective than buying a $350 Commodore controller and a $385 ST251 hard
disk drive. For just $200 more I can also get IBM compatibility. Any pros
and/or cons — speed etc. I would probably format the card to have about 37
meg for the Amiga and 3 meg for the IBM side. Thanks for the help in advance.
Also, I hate loud hard disk drives. Is the 40 meg hardcard noisy (please say
no or maybe you have a better brand)?
There should be no problem. At AmiExpo LA a guy who was testing Bridge
compatability for Commodore said that he had discovered no incompatabilities –
hardware or software. The 2088 gives you a top quality clone. The 40 megger
should work, then.
Now the question is, do you really want to go that route. If you are
planning on formatting it 90% Amiga and 10% PC, I think you want the drive to
be on the other side of the bridge. While I don't have any real figures, I am
sure that the Amiga accesses a drive on the PC side much more slowly than it
accesses one on the Amiga side — and drive access speed is not blazing on the
Amiga side.
Considering the differences in performance, the extra couple of hundred
dollars for an Amiga drive with the 2090 would probably be worth it. Or maybe
you could go with a smaller drive and save money that way?
Remember, if you are really going to be using the PC side, you'll
probably eventually want a dedicated hard drive on each side of the bridge.
That way you are certain to have optimum performance. (Gad, these toys get
expensive, don't they?)
-Brian
Pete,
I would suggest going for the 2090 if your storage requirements are mostly
Amiga oriented. The speed is better, and should be VERY much better once the
new file system is out.
Regards, Larry.
Or, he can wait until May (if he has the time) and can get Perry K's (of ASDG)
speedy little Hard Disk Controller! From the sounds of the thing, ishould give
the Amiga 2000 wings to fly with!
-Brendan Larson
Pete,
I have a friend at work who uses a Plus brand hardcard (the original – and
still the only brand that is thin enough to occupy just 1 slot). It is a 10
MegaByte model but has similar construction to the 40 Meg unit you are
considering. He uses it in a Compaq portable and let me tell ya, this thing is
quiet! In fact, it is so quiet that it comes with a software utility that
sends gronking noises to the PC's speaker during disk accesses just to let you
know it is alive! When I first observed the Plus hardcard in action, I thought
it was incredibly loud until my friend switched the sound driver off and voila:
total silence. Well, maybe not total silence, but I could not hear it over the
Compaq's fan. Also, PC magazine considers the 20 and 40 Meg Plus hardcards to
be Rolls Royce of hardcards – best engineering, construction, and performance
(read speed). This was out of about 15 different hardcards. Hope this helps.
Mike Danner
Thanks for the hardcard info. I'll keep it in mind if I want a dedicated
hardcard for the PC side. I think everybody convinced me to go the 2090 route.
I'll probably pick up an ST251 40 Seagate — I heard they're pretty good and
fairly quiet. I repeat that I really do hate loud hard drives. If anybody has
a better and/or quieter drive please let me know. Thanks again for the great
feedback.