Date: Fri 12-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-hard-drive-removable

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Buying A Removable HD

By Bob Brand

Should I ever have a catastrophic failure of my "C" drive, I probably will go

into cardiac arrest. The thought of having to download replacement browsers

from the Internet is a chilling thought. Browser file sizes are huge. Like so

many people, I only have 3.5" backups of my text files. There is just no way

to backup large files on 3.5" diskettes. In the past, the only alternative was

tape backup. Frankly, tape is slow, not 100 percent reliable, and frustrating.

Enter the removable hard disk.

Jaz, ZipPlus and DittoMax

The cost of removable hard disks has significantly decreased while the

capacity has dramatically increased. Currently, many people are using Iomega

Zip drives with cartridges that hold 100 MB (megabytes). After hearing rumors

about "the Click of Death" with the Zips, (see a website dedicated just to

this problem: http://www.thirdeyesp.com/jatin/iomega/), I found the April 21,

1998 issue of PC Magazine where all the removable drives are evaluated.

Editor's Choice is given to the SyQuest SparQ 1.0. This beauty holds 1 gig

(1,000 megabytes) of storage with a 12-millisecond access time. This beast

screams. For the same price, it comes in two flavors -- internal and external.

I decided on the internal model with the rationale that I could always remove

it from my NEC PC and install it on a newer computer when the time comes. The

internal drives are noticeably faster than the external units.

Where To Buy

When hunting for bargains on the Web, enter the exact name of the product you

want to purchase. I entered "Syquest SparQ 1.0" in the Altavista search

engine. After 20 or 30 minutes of poking around, I found most places were

selling the drive for the list price of $199. However, I discovered two

candidates with better deals. The first one, with an 800 number in New Jersey,

landed me on the phone with a fast-talking phone jock. He wanted $167 plus

freight, shipping and handling. While the price seemed reasonable, it just

didn't feel right. Next, I called KP Marketing in Port Washington, N.Y. It was

a toll call: (516) 944-3049. The recorded phone message asked for my phone

number and said to hang up. Within a few minutes, the phone rang. Perry Manno,

owner, order taker, and janitor is on the line. He is a one-man-band running a

Spartan operation with very low prices. The computer hardware business is

notorious for thin profit margins. Manno takes this to an extreme. He said

shipments are made directly from the warehouse to the customer. This causes a

delay in delivery from a few days to several weeks. If someone is not under

the gun, this is the place to buy. I bought the drive and a three-pack of "1

gig" cartridges ($89) for $252.99 delivered. Nobody could touch the price.

Nobody. I paid with a credit card.

The hardest part is the wait. After a few days, Manno called to say that the

cartridges would arrive first because the warehouse was backordered on the

drives. True to form, within a day, UPS delivered a small box with the media.

The following day, the drive arrived by brown truck.

Installation

In all candor, the task of adding an internal Syquest SparQ to a computer

cannot be recommended for novices. While the instructions are clear, the

process can be fraught with nasty problems. First, Syquest does not supply

rails for the 5.25" bay. Rails, screwed into the drive bracket, slide along

grooves in the computer cabinet. Next, the power cable was too short. Last, a

three-connector EIDE cable was needed (also not supplied by Syquest). A trip

to PC Warehouse in Danbury was necessary. Kevin Wong, the technician, had the

parts in stock. Cost: $10.

The external drive, on the other hand, is very easy to install. A cable

connects the drive to the parallel port. Run the installation software and

start using the unit.

Three hours later the SparQ was installed as the master device on the EIDE

controller relegating the CD ROM drive as the slave. The BIOS setting had to

be changed by adding the correct CMOS parameters: cylinders, heads and

sectors. I can see your eyes beginning to glaze. The good news is that the

drive works well and I take pride in the fact that I did not have to call

Syquest technical support for assistance. At one point, I came close.

So Far, So Good

The drive exceeds my expectations. It is fast and reliable. If you purchase

one but have difficulty with the installation, the technicians at a reputable

customer computer clone builder may have to complete the job. The SparQ will

run on Windows 3.X and Win '95 system hardware. When I upgrade to Windows '98,

I expect few problems. Incidentally, Iomega (maker of competitive Jaz drives)

recently reduced the prices of their removable drives.

If your only backup device is a 3.5" disk drive, a removable hard disk is

strongly recommended. The cost is reasonable and the reliability is high.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.theweb-shop.com/

http://www.syquest.com

http://www.iomega.com http://204.162.80.142/News/Item/0,4,18622,00.html

(This is the 107th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, "Spider" is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next week,

happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real

People (including links to sites mentioned in this article) can be found:

http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions to:

rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)