Removable media for the masses?
Okay, so I'll be the first to admit that this isn't exactly a late-breaking development. In fact, it's been around long enough for even the printed magazines to have had their say on it. It's been floating around the marketplace for the last half-year or so.
So why do we cover it now in an online magazine? Several reasons. First of all, the technology is far from obsolete. Just because it's not brand new doesn't mean it's totally useless. Amiga people, after all, should be accustomed to accusations of obsolescence by now, and at least most of us agree that the Amiga, although not having been updated significantly in about 4 years, is still a competitive machine for a variety of reasons. So in the same sense, the 135mb EZ Drive still has a lot to offer.
I have been using a SyQuest EZ135 now since the end of 1995. I bought it simply because I was looking for a convenient way to both expand my storage capabilities (since this drive is 15mb bigger than my internal HD) and back up my data, since electrical problems had brought a rash of disk invalidations. It cost in the range of $300 at the time for an external SCSI model. Well, things have changed. This drive can now be had for as little as $95 and usually no more than $120.
Why such a drop? No, SyQuest didn't commit a vast mathematical error. (hey, whatever happened to that pentium fiasco...?) Well, you may know about IOMega and their Zip Drive. It's probably safe to assume that the EZ135 was designed to be a Zip killer. Somewhat similar in implementation, the two varied starkly in specifications, generally in favor of the EZ Drive.
The wheels of industry never stop turning, though, and since that time, both companies have been busily working on new designs. Both companies have recently introduced or announced new models with improved specifications, notably higher storage capacities. The result? The older ones go for super-cheap!
There's no question that removable-media storage devices have been around for some time. The old tape drives, and floppy disk drives, have always fit this description. But in terms of hard disks, even they have been around in removable form for a time. SyQuest is certainly one of the names that comes to mind when one considers this heritage. Well, the trend in computers these days has obviously been to make everything easier on the user, as evidenced by advances in multitasking, Graphical User Interfaces, Plug & Play (or Plug & Pray as it is in some cases...), and the development of the World Wide Web as a whole to give the internet a pretty face. Hey, only 20 years ago any computer was deemed (by the uninitiated) the domain of only techno-geeks and university students and professors with way too much time on their hands. And today...? Well, you get what I mean. So hardware manufacturers are trying to go after the multitudes of computer users who are looking for easy, quick, low-cost storage devices.
The EZ and Zip are both evidence of this. Both of them have stylish cases rather than "a box." Both are, presumably, easy to set up and use. Both are...yes, they are very similar, aren't they?
The test machine, in this case, was an Amiga A500/GVP A530 Turbo with AmigaDOS 3.1. The SCSI Controller is a 16-bit SCSI-II device.
Physically setting up the drive was extremely easy. I only had to plug the included SCSI cable into the back of the A530, and put the included terminating resistor pack into the back of the EZ Drive. You can set the SCSI device number with by poking a pen tip into little scrolling arrow buttons on the back. Upon startup, I was pleased to discover that the computer recognized the existence of the drive. So the next step was to get one of the 135mb cartridges ready to use with the system. To do this, I used the GVPSCSI software, which shows that the drive is not the least bit software-specific. It's a good thing, because there is no Amiga software support included with the EZDrive.
It's almost a pity I had to format the cartridge, because it says there are all sorts of great utilities on it...if you happen to own a Mac. Well, that procedure went painlessly, so the next thing I did was actually try out the drive.
As I mentioned, I was interested in finding a way to easily back up my internal hard disk. The EZDrive would presumably make that process very simple, because of its having a slightly larger storage capacity than the internal HD. So I started by dragging the System3.1 partition icon into the EZDrive. At first, all seemed to go well, but then the system reported a very strange error number and told me that it had encountered an unexpected SCSI state. Well, fortunately it occurred to me to fiddle with the SCSI settings, which solved the problem. There is a warning somewhere in the GVP manual about SyQuest drives not being able to sustain synchronous transfers, so I assumed that was the reasonable explanation, or if not, a suggestion of a reasonable explanation. In case you're wondering, the SCSI settings I'm using that work perfectly are the following:
From that point on, the drive worked perfectly.
Although the GVP A530 Turbo contains a 68030, the SCSI controller is 16-bit, and I thought it would be interesting to see how it performed under those circumstances, since most tests so far have been performed on higher-powered machines. Subjectively, I found the performance to be exemplary; SysInfo reported the EZDrive to transfer data at around 1.11mb/second. For comparison's sake, my 120mb internal Quantum drive is rated by SysInfo to be around 1.13mb/second. Very admirable results, for a removable disk to come that close to equalling the speed of a fixed disk.
Well, no, not really! I have no problem with this drive whatsoever, with the single exception, perhaps, that SyQuest does not offer Amiga support. Some people complain about the EZ Drive's eject mechanism which is characteristic of earlier SyQuest drives. I'd have to say that's a matter of personal opinion, because it certainly doesn't bother me. It seems to be a great drive, and I eagerly anticipate news of their next advance in this field.
All things considered, the SyQuest EZ135 Drive would become a worthy member of your SCSI bus. This was certainly the case before, but even more so now, when the price has absolutely plummeted to around $100. It's a fast little drive with a very decent capacity, and more than serves its purpose adequately.
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Installation:
Ease of use: Compatibility: Performance: Features: Interaction with company: |
78%
90% 92% 97% 93% N/A |
No Amiga support, SCSI settings issue
Marginally more difficult than a floppy drive Only problem is SCSI settings issue Outstanding, keeps up with fixed disks Nice SCSI unit dial, general implementation N/A |
Overall Score: |
90% | A nice little drive, fast and with a good capacity, and now a lower price |