!pr2
Review of the FCP Hard Disk................Bob Sander-Cederlof

First Class Peripherals has been advertising for some months now their 10 megabyte hard disk system (The Sider) for the Apple.  At only $695, including drive, controller, cable, and software, it sounds too good to be true.  We called them and asked for a chance to write a review, and they loaned us one for a month.

I first tried hooking it up to an Apple II Plus, the same one we have used with hard disks in the past.  However, after 5 or 6 wasted hours, it still would not function.  We could not even get the disk to completely initialize.  I finally called the 800 number for customer service, and found out that there have been problems hooking the Sider to some II+'s.  They suggested trying it on a //e before giving up.  Sure enough, it worked perfectly on our //e.  The Sider is sold subject to a 15-day trial period, so there is plenty of time to find out if it will work with your II+.

I am very pleased.  The Sider works well, looks good, and is not too noisy.  We have heard of at least one customer who did complain of the noise level, but I have never listened to a quieter one.  Because of the venting design there is no internal fan, so the only noise is the spinning disk.  Anyway, my office already has two fans going on Apples and another in a Minolta copier.  The Sider nicely masks them all.

The size and shape are nice, too.  It is somewhat smaller than I expected:  less than 4x8x16 inches.  At first I set it along side of my Apple (after all it is called the Sider), but now it is along the back edge of my work table.  This way it takes practically no space at all, yet I can still easily reach the on/off switch.

The installation software that comes with the Sider initializes the 10 megabytes into four separate partitions.  One is for DOS, one for ProDOS, one for CP/M, and one for Pascal.  You can vary the partition size for each one, although a certain minimum amount must be allocated; you cannot squeeze one all the way out.  The DOS partition allows a combination of floppy size volumes and large volumes.  The large volumes give you three times the amount of a regular Apple floppy.  I set mine up with 32 small volumes and one large volume.

The ProDOS partition divides the allocated space into two equal size volumes, designated /HARD1/ and /HARD2/.  Since I shrank CP/M and Pascal to the minimum, the ProDOS volumes are about 2.5 megabytes each.

If you want to change the partitions, you have to completely re-initialize.  That means all your files will disappear.  Of course you can restore them from your backup floppy copies.

The only modification to DOS 3.3 that the Sider makes is to put a call to their firmware at $BD00.  I decided to apply my own set of patches, which among other things speed up LOAD, BLOAD, RUN, and BRUN.  They were not only compatible, they even speeded up the hard disk!  Here is a table comparing the Sider with floppies, both with and without my patches:

BLOAD             ----floppies-----  ----The Sider----
       # sectors  standard  patched  standard  patched
       -----------------------------------------------
          22         7.7      3.8       3.0      1.3
          69        18.7      5.6       6.7      2.4
         131        32.6      8.6      12.3      3.8

I also timed the assembly of a large program, whose source was on two disks (the S-C Macro Assembler itself, in fact).  With my speed up patches the floppy assembly took 4 minutes 50 seconds; the Sider with standard DOS took 3 minutes 50 seconds; the Sider with my patches took only 2 minutes 32 seconds.

All these times are under DOS 3.3 of course.  ProDOS is about the same as my patched version of DOS in speed, but has other advantages like larger volumes and files.

The main competition for the Sider comes from the two most popular companies, Apple and Corvus.  Apple's ProFILE hard disk is sleek and nice, and only costs three times what the Sider does.  Since you are paying more, you also get less:  Apple only supports ProDOS.  The ProFILE doesn't work with CP/M, Pascal, or DOS 3.3.  (Unless there is a new ProDOS compatible Pascal.)  Corvus costs even more than ProFILE, last time I checked.  On the other hand, they have an excellent reputation.

Its always hard to trust some new little company, even when they have a great product and price.  Just who is First Class Peripherals, anyway?  Well, they are a subsidiary of Xebec, one of the bigger makers of hard disks.  Xebec has been around a long time (over ten years) and has a first class reputation.  I think we can depend on them.  The Sider comes with a one-year limited warranty, which I think means that if it breaks you send it in and they will fix it or replace it.  (Note:  a whole year, not just 90 days!)  After the warranty has expired there is a flat $150 charge for repairs.

The only way to buy a Sider is directly from First Class Peri- pherals.  You can call them at 1-800-538-1307, or write to 2158 Avenue C, Bethlehem, PA 18001.  If you are in a user group of significant size, I understand someone at FCP might want to visit with a demo unit.  You might give them a call.
