Issue 18: Apr 2002
Features
- | Foreword
- | Build your own Retro game
- | MIDIGEN
- | Tip of the day
- | Setting up a MIDI system
- | 8-bit vor 12 Party
- | Miniature Marvel
- | Activision's Pressure Cooker: Pre-processed Perils
- | Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…
| Miniature Marvel Dave Barkin is impressed by IBM's 1 GB Microdrive Well I just purchased a professional level digital camera, the Nikon D1X DSLR. No, this article isn't a review of this camera, although it will be used with my Hades computer. If people want a review, write to me at MyAtari and I'll be happy to do so. This short little article is just to let you know the IBM Microdrive will work just fine with an Atari. You'll need a SCSI PCMCIA card reader and Big DOS in your AUTO folder and the drive kicks in and works just like any other SCSI peripheral. You'll have all the ease (or all the trouble) of any SCSI device. Check back on my article in issue 14 about digital cameras for a slightly more detailed description of how this hook-up works. How fast is this drive? That's a good question and I'm glad I asked it. The simple answer is, "Beats me." You guys are going to have to pay me big bucks to reformat the drive as an Atari drive. I bought it for my digital camera and while I'm not sure, I suspect the camera won't be able to access an Atari formatted drive. However, as-is (IBM format) the drive is 3/4 the speed of the IDE drive that came with my machine. A more practical number, because speed of the drive is dependent on many other factors, is a comparison. So here is a simple data transfer benchmark: 10 MB file from the IBM drive to my IDE drive: 8 seconds 10 MB file from the IDE drive to the IBM drive: 10 seconds Why get this drive in the first place? The drive is expensive at about $350 US. It comes with a special adapter to plug into your card reader. As the accompanying picture shows, it's not very large. In fact it's unbelievable that a real hard drive is that small. So to describe this machine as portable is an understatement. It's also pretty tough - it's built to function while walking around and taking pictures - try that with a regular hard drive. Still I suspect it won't stand up well to be used as a frisbee (IBM quotes the non-operating shock resistance as 1,500 G at 1 ms, but don't try it - Ed). Once again if people are ready to pay me I'll be happy to do this extreme kind of testing. chatobarkin@myatari.net
Useful links
IBM storage products www.storage.ibm.com
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