Re: kooky question #125: What implications w/ a cd rom & PCT???

[dempson@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <5mz8pqM.rocketusa@delphi.com>,
Rocket Press...a Litmag  <rocketusa@delphi.com> wrote:
> ok, say I get a PCTransporter.  say I pick up a cd rom drive.

What sort of CD-ROM drive?  The really cheap ones only work on a real
PC.  You can only use a SCSI CD-ROM drive on an Apple II.

> a not too expensive combo, lately, considering...
> I own a IIgs, no zip chips or the like, 1.25 meg.
> will i need an IBM 3.5" drive if i have an Apple 800k?

No, but...

You can connect the Apple 3.5 Drive to the PC Transporter.  It is then
able to read/write MS-DOS 720k disks (slowly).  You may have trouble
if you format disks on the PC Transporter and try to read them on
a real PC.  You will not be able to access high density 3.5" disks in
this configuration.

If you only have one Apple 3.5 Drive, I wouldn't recommend doing this,
because the PC Transporter is also very slow at accessing 3.5" disks
when used from ProDOS or GS/OS.  What is more, any copy-protected
software or demos/games which bypass the firmware will not work with
the 3.5" drive connected to the PCT.  In addition, you cannot boot
from this drive.

If you have a second 3.5" drive you could connect one to the PCT and
leave the other one on the IIgs disk port.

Do you have a hard drive?  If not, the PC Transporter will be
impractical, and two floppy drives are required (at least one of which
must not be connected to the PCT).

Disk access is much better with a TransDrive (specially made for the
PCT), or with a separate disk controller and drive than can access MFM
disks (e.g. a SuperDrive with SuperDrive controller, which is what I
use, or a BlueDisk controller with PC drive, or a SCSI card and a
floptical drive).

You cannot connect a standard PC floppy drive directly to the PC
Transporter.  A special cable needs to be made up (I don't know how
to make this), and an external enclosure is required.  The TransDrive
is exactly this - an external drive enclosure with one drive already
installed.  The Dual TransDrive has a position for a second drive to
be installed.

> will i be able to switch between apple and ms-dos cds?

No.  You will not be able to access MS-DOS CDs at all (from the PCT -
you might be able to access the files on them from the IIgs, but you
won't be able to do anything with most of them).

> will my modem work with the PCT?

Yes, but only at speeds up to 2400 bps.  Anything faster, and the PCT
will lose characters.

> Is the PCT real slow, as people whine here about?

Yes.  It is a fast IBM XT clone, which is an awful lot slower than
current PCs.  Disk access (floppy and hard drive) is noticeably slower
than a real PC (even an IBM XT!)

> will i be able to transfer my prodos text files into an IBM format?

Yes.

> AS soon as someone answers these I'll come down here and delete the question.

There's no need to do that - the message will be deleted automatically
after a delay of anything from a few days to a few weeks, depending on
the site.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand