SYQT SyQuest SparQ (SPARQ1AI-01) Drive

Pros: Cheap large capacity storage option
Cons: Fit and finish not exactly top notch

I brought one of these as with my new 27 gig drive I had no easy back up solution.

I got it online at Egghead in an express auction with 10 disks for $150.

The unit works well, though following a caution from a friend I avoided...

Pros: Large capicity, fast, removable, cheap
Cons: hard to find

Well, i'm really impressed with the SparQ drive. I got mine new (still in their original box) on eBay for really cheap. Around $33 each, IIRC. I love them. Some people have reported reliability problems with them, but I haven't had any. These drives are...

Pros: cheap on E-bay
Cons: no warranty unless bought from manufacturer

As a follow up to my previous two postings, I would recommend that this product not be purchased under any circumstances.

According to Syquest, they are only providing warranty for those units sold by itself or one of its approved...

Pros: CO$T Ease of Installation, Easy to use, Fast Access Times
Cons: Can only use SparQ disks.

Pros: "Unlimited" storage capacity, trusty EIDE configuration, relatively easy installation.
Cons: Expensive as a drive, cartiges expensive

Esteemed Netizens,

About a year ago, I outgrew the pathetic 2.9gig drive my PC came with. The thought of adding a device to my system with "unlimited capacity" was intriguing.

I went through 3 other removable devices...

Pros: Easy setup
Cons: lack of support

I purchased an external Sparq drive on auction knowing that the company had gone into receivership. I thought it might be worth the risk considering I needed a lot more temp storage than a Zip can hold.

It has run perfectly for about nine...

Pros: Cheap cartridges. Thats about it.
Cons: No reliabilty, easily broken, Syquest is in trouble.

Overall when you first read the specs it sounds great. The cartridges are relativly cheap compare to those of its competitors (JAZ especially). Long term reliability is absolutly horrible. I bought this drive and it was working perfectly fine for...

Pros: great portable high capacity storage before 1999
Cons: Too fragile and perhaps too complicated for the average Joe.

I bought the Sparq for $100 to replace the EZflyer I used every day at work for 2 years (it died only because I plugged it into a scsi port in error). The Sparq is currently working fine with a Windows 2000 desktop. I never had any of the problems other people reported but then I always treated the drive like it was a crate of eggs. In 1998 I considered this drive a great product. Now with CDRW and DVDRW drives the SparQ is obsolete. I prefer using my USB 512mb pen drive.