22 replies to this topic

[KLund1]

I've been looking through some old ANALOG mags and noticed that there are a lot of ad's for 3rd party drives.
I saw some for ASTRA, TRAK, Rena, Indus, Percom. Some double drives (2 stacked in the same case like an 815), All were DD/DS
As the 8-bit's aged the drives, I will assume, got better. What is the best performing drives that were made for the A8's thru the XE's?
I did a couple searching in here but did not find much.
Just wondering...

[wood_jl]

How are you looking to gauge performance?   Loading speed?   Fit the most information on a single disk?   Ability to backup protected software?    Consistently perform reliably?

Edited by wood_jl, Thu Aug 2, 2012 11:23 PM.

[KLund1]

Actually, all of those. I know some are some better then others in some aspect or another. What are the best in each, in user’s opinions’, or from user specs (not the manufactures’)
Still just wonding

[as...]

The best Disk Drive for Atari 8 bit = Toms 720 & Toms 710 .. Polish disk drive.
why?

Specyfication Toms 710:
http://atariki.krap....ex.php/TOMS_710

Specyfication Toms 720 :
http://atariki.krap....ex.php/TOMS_720


Toms 710 & 720 is dual head disc drive.

[Sub(Function(:))]

I never had one, but I always wanted an Indus, it had sector display on the front pannel.  It just looked cool.

but the 1050 is still the most widely used. and is easy to upgrade, to some thing more powerful. Mods like; Lazer, Happy, Super Archiver, US doubler.

[as...]

look front panel toms 720
- sector display is std. in Toms 720

[sup8pdct]

is the toms a clone of an indusGT with upgrades??
I must agree that a 1050 with an upgrade is the best drive.
James

Edited by sup8pdct, Fri Aug 3, 2012 3:54 AM.

[as...]

Och no! Toms is not clone ingus gt.
Toms is oryginal Polish construction .

Dual Head
720kb on disk 5 i 1/4
ultraspeed/toms turbo
centronics rs232
track buffering
itd.

[as...]

Och no! Toms is not clone ingus gt.
Toms is oryginal Polish construction .

Dual Head
720kb on disk 5 i 1/4
ultraspeed/toms turbo
centronics rs232
track buffering
itd.
Look in specyfication Toms
Specyfication only polish language.

Edited by as..., Fri Aug 3, 2012 4:41 AM.

[davidcalgary29]

I'd love to get my hands on one of those TOMS drives. I wonder if anyone has any for sale...

I do, otherwise, have to throw my vote to the Rana 1000. They're built like tanks and have been very reliable for me.

[jmetal88]

I went for the 1050, just because it was the easiest drive for me to find.  I built my own Super Archiver mod into it so I could have double density, though, haha.

[KLund1]

I've read in another thread that IndusGT drives have some added benefits when used with SpartaDOS X 4.5, track buffering, and power-ram(?) were mentioned. And sound like quite machine guns going off when loading a big file. I have one of these drives but not sure which version it is.

Side note: In looking at SpartaDOS X4.45 it looks like the best DOS for A8's after reading the manual and threads here, but it's not something easily accessed. It seem you have to "buy" a 3rd party programmable cartridge (expensive, hard to build/use). figure out to program the cart from a WIN PC before it can be used. Isn't there any pre-built, ready to use/buy relatively inexpensive carts with 4.45 already on them.? I do not know a GAL from PAL, ZIF from a DIP(me), I couldn't install an IC into a socket without putting it in backwards and bending pins and have 3 pins hang off the end of the socket.

[sup8pdct]

KLund1, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 7:08 PM, said:

I've read in another thread that IndusGT drives have some added benefits when used with SpartaDOS X 4.5, track buffering, and power-ram(?) were mentioned. And sound like quite machine guns going off when loading a big file. I have one of these drives but not sure which version it is.

For the indus track buffering to work, you will need to install indus ram charger board. only a few prototypes where ever made. But someone has made one using static ram chips. search this forum for more info and how to make one.
I don't believe sparta dos 4.45 can enable the indus track buffering at this time. However if you can get dosxl with super syncomesh, it will install the track buffering software.
There may be a problem with the dosxl version of super syncomesh with spartados.
As for version of indus GT, if it can read enhanced density disks beyond sector 720, it is the latest version rom (1.2)
Don't believe anyone that says they have version 1.4. It isn't
As a side note, with ram charger installed, the indus can become a z80 cpm computer which uses the atari as a consol.
A search will also find this.

James

[bbking67]

As long time owner of two Indus GT's, I'd suggest that it's one of the best drives for the Atari.  Certainly the best looking, but also a solid drive.  The biggest issue is Synchro-Mesh: it just isn't usable most of the time.  Nobody uses DOS XL, and the only other option is SpartaDOS X.  Now with SpartaDOS X it does work, but it is not as fast as a 1050 with a US Doubler or Happy upgrade.

I think in retrospect, the modded 1050 is the most practical and "best" floppy available because they work with everything and are generally fast.  I exclude the XF551 because using double-sided disks with Atari is just not practical.

[wood_jl]

My vote is for a "Happy" 1050.   It excels at *everything*, is very reliable, and the only drawback is you must flip the disk to use the 2nd side of it.

[WizWor]

I'm going to say the 1050.  Any other disks that I once owned have long since stopped working.  The 1050s are still running fine.  That is only part of the story.  They are very compatible.  Repairing the disks is not too difficult.  Parts were/are readily available.  They are/were relatively inexpensive.  There were/are a lot of mods.  Just one more time --  they run forever.

I have a pair of happys, a pair of us doublers, and a bunch of factory 1050s.  They just work.

[JohnBuell]

davidcalgary29, on Fri Aug 3, 2012 7:15 AM, said:

I'd love to get my hands on one of those TOMS drives. I wonder if anyone has any for sale...

I have to admit I got a little curious myself, but will the things run on 110V? It looks like a directly connected wire, not a power adapter you could just substitute.

[kenjennings]

I think the best "floppy" drive is no floppy drive at all.   My vote is for SIO2SD or SIO2PC.   Currently in the middle of backing up all the floppy disks to ATR files, so the  floppy drives can be disposed on eBay.

[davidcalgary29]

The SIO2SD is an amazing device! I hadn't used my A8 in about two years before recently getting one. It's such a joy to use the A8 when you have nearly instantaneous load times and aren't limited by capacity issues on a multicart.

[wood_jl]

I agree with those (above) who recommend SIO2PC or SIO2SD, and I add Sdrive to the recommendations.   However, I figure the original poster is aware of those devices, and wanted a "real" floppy drive for collecting purposes?   If so, I still say "Happy 1050."   If not interested in a real floppy drive per se, then by all means - don't get one, and get one of those other devices.   I never meant to insinuate that a real floppy drive is necessary at all; it isn't.

[MEtalGuy66]

Yeah. For manipulation of common atari disks/formats, Happy 1050 is the best all around drive by far, and has been for many many years.. However, this may change very soon. Mega-Hz and Candle are both working on modernized upgrade boards for the 1050 that utilize programmable logic and larger amounts of sram/flash, giving the device the abiliity to "emulate" most earlier/existing popular drive enhancements, as well as features never before available (eg. buffering an entire disk, etc.)..

I don't know what the actual development staus of either of these projects currently is, I am just speaking from what I have seen/heard from the developers, and on atariage in the last year or so..

ANyone interested in acquiring a happy 1050 can easily find a 1050 for $20-30 on Ebay, and purchase the Happy 1050 plug-in upgrade board from http://www.atarimax.com for $39.00..

Edited by MEtalGuy66, Sat Aug 4, 2012 10:03 PM.

[IndusGT]

As ironic as this is (look at my user name) hehe, I would have to say the happy 1050 is the best drive, the upgrade board from Atarimax is very easy to install. The Indus Gt back in the day was the premier drive, but the happy by far surpassed it...

[Mathy]

Hello Ken

MEtalGuy66, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 10:01 PM, said:

... as well as features never before available (eg. buffering an entire disk, etc.).

AFAIK there are five SuperSpeedy's in existence.  All probably over two decades old.  Two of them are owned by the ABBUC and used to copy all the magazines for all the members.  We once had over 800 members (maybe even 900, not sure), now over 400 members, so saving a few seconds per disk is vital.  I've seen the SuperSpeedy read, write and format disks.   It's FAST!

Mathy