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On Sun, 21 Sep 97 07:55:54 , you wrote: >On Sun, 21 Sep 1997 09:10:41 -0500, Mik Tip wrote: >>Anyone know when IBM plans to introduce the internal "zip" >>drive for the ThinkPad? >> >>I've seen several posts already on other areas of the net, but no >>'definite' answers. >> >>Anyone have the "Shark" system? >> >>I've contemplated just running an external 3.5 gig hard drive, via parallel >>port. Anyone doing so already? > >And for anyone who is doing that, or running other parallel port >devices, are they really slow? I would only expect 8-bit speed, as >the parallel port is only 8 bit anyways. > >Also, does anyone know if these devices are compatible with higher >end OSes such as OS/2 and various unixes? Can't help with the Unix and OS/2 questions, but I've done almost all of these. I'm currently running the original 85MB drive from an IBM 500 externally using a parallel port connector. The transfer rate is pretty slow, but I've never clocked it. I can tell its slow only in comparison to my internal drive and my pc card hard drive. My PCMCIA drive is a Maxtor MobileMax 131MB drive double spaced to 250MB. This performs as fast as any laptop internal drive, though it's a 5v device and is supposedly not supported on newer machines (though what that means exactly, I haven't heard yet). It does drain the battery, but for someone with no desktops and more than one laptop, it's the optimal system for large amounts of data. Mine currently has every directory on my Kiwi's drive except /windows, with the original .zip file of every app I've ever downloaded off the net (just in case). They are the smallest, most rugged way to carry a few hundred megabytes of data around, bar none. I'd love to have the cash to shell out for a 540 model and double space it to a GB, just to have a GB in my pocket! And programs run off a pc card drive run as quickly as the ones from your main drive (I run DOOM from it). The Shark I tried out worked fine, kinda slow, but I had the same problem as with Zip drives and EZ drives, it's another darn thing to carry and not a particularly small one at that. I hadn't even heard rumors that IBM was making an internal Zip bay, though the 770 is supposed to get a DVD drive. Check the mags for CNF, they made a Zip drive that will work in a Compaq's CD-ROM bay and are supposedly working on other maker's designs as well. For a while there I was hoping they'd make one for Kiwis, to save the hassle of buying the 2nd hard drive bay (ok, it's only $30) and installing another drive in my CD-ROM's bay. epbrown Stop by the Portable Computing Center for reviews, editorials, and the FAQ on laptop computers. http://www.enteract.com/~epbrown Laptop: Kiwi 680TX