From: Alden S Klovdahl (Alden.Klovdahl_at_anu.edu.au)
Date: Thu Jul 20 2000 - 18:38:08 EDT
very useful comments.
i am wondering if the Superdisk LS-120 or Zip drives are still
worthwhile options. i was in Microcenter a few weeks ago, one in
houston and one in the d.c. area, and had trouble finding blank
120 or zip disks.
... it was all CD-R or CD-RW.
even if someone has a lot of data on these already, there are probably
faster/cheaper ways of transferring to a T20 or A20 than an ultra drive.
regards, al
Alden S Klovdahl / alden.klovdahl_at_anu.edu.au / fax: +61 2 62 49 05 25
Sociology Arts / Australian National University / Canberra ACT Australia 0200
On Thu, 20 Jul 2000, AC Brown wrote:
> Date: 2000 Jul 20
> To: <thinkpad_at_cs.utk.edu>
> From: AC Brown <acb_at_acbrown.com>
> Subj: T20 Evaluation: Ultrabay 2000 Peripherals and Compatibility
>
> There are have been a number of questions on this board concerning the
> new IBM A20 and T20 computers, especially compared to previous models.
> I'm a long time Thinkpad user (750C, 755CD, 560, and 570), and I've had
> experience with Toshiba, Compaq, and Powerbook notebooks. I recently
> acquired a new T20 (2647-84U, Windows 2000), so I thought I'd post my
> impressions after almost three weeks of use. I plan several postings on
> the various aspects of the T20, especially compared with my previous
> Thinkpads.
>
> ULTRABAY 2000 PERIPHERALS
>
> The T20 comes with a floppy diskette drive and either a CD-ROM or DVD
> drive. All fit in the Ultrabay 2000 on the right side of the computer.
> Only one drive can be used at a time in the T20. The drives can be
> changed by pressing a small lever at the right rear of the case which
> releases an Ultrabay 2000 ejection lever which in turn ejects the drive.
> Hot swapping is supported, at least under Windows 2000.
>
> The IBM web site lists the following Ultrabay 2000 devices: CD-R/W
> drive, SuperDisk (LS-120) drive, ZIP drive (250 MB), second hard drive
> adapter, an Ultrabay 2000 battery, as well as the CD-ROM and DVD drives.
>
> The T20 docking station contains an Ultrabay 2000 slot, permitting two
> drives to be used simultaneously. Also, a special cable is available
> (but not furnished with the T20) allowing connection of the diskette
> drive to the T20's parallel port (blocking use of a parallel printer);
> the cable also permits connecting the diskette drive to the floppy
> connector (not the parallel port) of the port replicator.
>
> COMPATIBILITY
>
> Ultrabay 2000 devices are the same shape and size and otherwise appear
> identical with the UltraslimBay units for the TP 600 and the TP 570
> Ultrabase. Also, they use the same connectors. However, the connectors
> on the Ultrabase 2000 units are offset several millimeters from those
> for the UltraslimBay; therefore, they are not interchangeable. Whether
> this is meant to prevent insertion of electrically incompatible units or
> is a result of some technical design imperative or is a marketing ploy
> to force T20 users to buy new peripherals or is simply an oversight is not
> clear to me. If it's for one of the latter reasons, shame on IBM!
>
> As a sop to TP 570/600 users, the IBM web site does list a portable
> drive bay that connects to a PCCard and permits UltraslimBay units to
> be used with the T20.
>
> While not documented, the external diskette drives from the TP 570 and
> the TP 560 can be used with T20. The diskette connector on the rear of
> the Port Replicator mates with that on the diskette cable that came with
> the TP 560/570. I've tried using the TP 570 diskette with the T20 in
> this way and it works fine. Also, the cable that IBM sells for using
> the T20 diskette externally consists of two parts, a parallel port
> adapter and a cable. From the illustrations, it appears the adapter
> that attaches to the parallel port will take a TP 560/570 cable.
>
> In summary, the available peripherals seem to cover most of needs of T20
> owners, but in my opinion, IBM did a disservice to loyal users by not
> designing their A20 and T20 computers to be compatible with TP 570/600
> peripherals!
>
>
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