Steven, since you are in the market for removable high-end disk, you may want to consider what I've done.
There is a $40 product called a "Mobile Rack" (model RH-10, maker unknown) sold at Fry's, among other places. It is a 5 1/4" docking bay (SCSI or IDE) with a removable container which can hold any 3 1/2" hard drive. Each one comes with a key lock and 2 lights, one for power, one for drive-busy (actually, port-busy.)
I bought 2 of these and installed one at home and one at work. Then I bought a 6.4 GB HD and can now easily transport all the data I need. After seeing how well it worked, I decided not to buy a Zip+ to replace the PP Zip I gave away, because I no longer have need for it.
Next year, when 20GB HD's are going for $400, I'll pick up one and have even more high-end removable capacity.
Questions to all high-end drive users:
Q. How much will it cost next year to get 20GB capacity in the cheapest removable?
A. Much more than a HD
Q. Will 20GB of removable media be bulkier than one HD?
A. Yes
Will removable media be more rugged than a HD?
A. Yes, but normal precautions are in order for both
Q. Do you need the speed and UDMA Mode 2 that HD's have to offer?
A. You decide
Q. Is the constant ability to add ever cheaper and more capacious HD's worth the inconvenience of having to install a Mobile Rack on any computer you want to share with? (Consider that the Mobile Rack requires NO extra software drivers, you just cable it into either EIDE port or put it on your SCSI chain, making sure the HD that goes in it is jumpered correctly)
A. You decide
Q. Is the ability to partition desirable? Or is the ability to have (in the coming year) 20GB in a single partition (FAT32) desirable?
A. You decide
Q. Is there a market for obsolete used removables?
A. Possibly. But someone will definitely buy your used HD (if it still works.) You may even decide to keep the obsolete HD as a very fast backup medium.
The point is this. The high end removable market is a harder niche to be successful in, because it not only competes against all the IOM wanna-be's, but also against ingenious solutions like the $40 mobile rack.
Good luck with your impending decision.
Even more with your $10-11 SYQT sell order. |
