🚀 go-pugleaf

drew@qualcomm.com (Drew Eckhardt) writes:
> Ralph Shnelvar <ralphs@tesser.com> wrote:
> >The 3100 is a really nice, modern tape drive.
> >The 1300 is an awful drive.
> 
> Will you quantify what makes the 3100 "really nice and modern" and the 
> 1300 "awful," or is this accusation without a factual basis?

I thought about both some time back and did some digging around
UK Trade Suppliers, repair firms & from WangDAT/TEK repair people.

- The 1300 exhibited higher return-rates cf. the 3100.
- The 3100/3200 are both modern drives. Whatever drive you get, it
  is worth remembering the importance of correct cleaning regimes.

Your mileage & inferences may vary.

Note, quantitative figures can be worthless without qualitative info.
- Were people mounting or cleaning drives properly? Eg, it's like
  saying "Barracudas are unreliable" without considering whether
  users et al bothered to cool the poor things to specification.
- Some may be lemons, some not. There is a distinct grey area ;)

If either drive is well-used 2nd-hand consider & enquire which
is cheaper/easier to repair, DAT drives are costly to repair tho.
-- 
Julian AF Bradbury     Ergonomist; Human Factors & IT Specialist
Ergonomics & IT FAQs                  http://194.72.60.96/www/3b