🚀 go-pugleaf

CC>From: chuckc@fc.hp.com (Chuck Cairns)
CC>Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site

CC>Eric Lambert (esl1@crux2.cit.cornell.edu) wrote:  :  I read in a
CC>magazine yesterday about a new (?)  disk for IBM's.  :  It is the size
CC>of a 3.5" disk, but optical, so the TPI is :  somewhere over 1000.  It
CC>stores 21MB of data, and each disk costs :  about $25.  The drives are
CC>standard size 3.5" drives and can :  read/write to 720K.  1.44meg, and
CC>21meg Floptical disks.  All for :  about $500.  Is this new?  Does it
CC>work?  Does anyone have one?  :  :  Thanks.  :  :  -------- :  Eric
CC>Lambert esl1@cornell.edu

CC> It exists.  Relatively new.  Rumor has it that it will go to ~40 meg
CC> soon.  One of these technologies which has been "coming" for a long time.

CC> Consider however that floptical is (I believe) much slower and has less
CC> capacity than either a Bernoulli Drive or a Syquest/SyDos drive!  Both
CC> of those can be gotten in the 88-90 Megabyte range for ~$500.  The
CC> removable media is ~$110 a pop for ~90 meg so it is slightly more
CC> expensive per byte but faster and larger.  The 44 Meg Bernoulli and
CC> Syquest drives are less $$ and the media is also less $$.  Beroulli
CC> claims that their media is very impervious to shock.  I think Syquest is
CC> somewhat faster.
CC> (see ads in Computer Shopper, Hard Drives Intl for examp)


I don't believe it is slower. It (the floptical) uses a SCSI interface
which enables it to actually read and write faster than the usual 1.44M
drive. After all, it has to for it to be a competitive product - who
wants a snail of a product!

I take it that you're talking US$ here 'cause of the impossible price of
$500 for a Bernoulli Drive in Aussie Dollars. In this case, then the
$500 tag on a floptical seems high compared to DownUnder because it
comes to A$770, when it is actually selling for close to A$700, though
I've heard of getting it for A$550 with some "arm-twisting".
 þ SLMR 2.0 þ þ Seeing is believing ...
 * Origin: SexyLegs Line2 SBBS Rego & Support Australia (3:633/357)