PART 1 ** /"Come Fly With Me"/1 page/769 words/1 photo/Sandy Thomson and Al Goold ** Removeable Device review. Hardware. Any Atari Commercial Having sold his SyQuest EZ135, Sandy Thomson takes his his new EZFlyer for a test flight. "Come Fly With Me" Some time ago I bought a EZ135 drive and was very happy with it, but when Dave Litterick of SyQuest came to a recent STAG (Scotland's/TOS Atari Group) meeting and gave a demo of some of their products I was "so impressed I bought the company"... Well, as I found found myself a little short of the necessary loose change, I settled for an EZFlyer instead. The new EZFlyer from SyQuest continues their long and successful line of removable media drives, and comes with a price tag within the reach of most Atari owners. *** Boxout *** Cable problems. Unfortunately, as is common with most peripherals nowadays, the leads and software supplied with the Flyer are only suitable for PC and Mac use. For most Atari's unless there is a SCSI device already chained to the computer, a host adaptor such as The ICD Link, The Translator or Toplink will be needed. This is not necessary with the Atari Falcon. If you already have an external SCSI device, then you will require a suitable cable to attach it to the 25 pin SCSI socket on the rear of the EZFlyer. If the Flyer is going to be your only external SCSI device, you will require a SCSI II to 25 pin cable or a SCSI II to 50 pin cable, and a 25 pin to 50 pin adaptor. *** Boxout *** Once again Syquest have opted for an external power supply, but this time there is a generous length of cable supplied which allows the power supply unit to be located well away from the drive. Connection is by DIN plug into the back of the casing. Also located on the back are the two 25 pin sockets marked A and B. Termination is internal and automatic (if required). The drive itself is quite small, only 136mm wide by 184mm long and 38mm high and weighs in at only 675 grams. The manufacturers handbook therefore recommends that, if the drive is mounted vertically, that it be securely wedged to stop it falling over when in use. The dark grey plastic EZFlyer has a bright yellow power switch which is sited on the left side of the casing (or the top if used vertically). There are two lights on the front of the casing. One shows power on, and the other changes from green to amber when the drive is being accessed. The dark green button on the front right of the casing activates the auto-eject mechanism. This is a vast improvement on the system used to eject cartridges on the EZ135. This button is also to allocate the drives SCSI ID number. The cartridge is inserted in the front of the drive, and is locked in position with a slight downwards movement. The dust-cover flap then springs back into place to protect the mechanism. As the software supplied with the drive is either Mac or PC specific, the cartridge has to be formatted for Atari use, and AHDI has proved to be the most suitable program for this purpose. Once the drive has been formatted and partitioned as required, it can be used in the same manner as any other external hard drive. Perhaps its biggest advantage, is that each cartridge can be viewed as a separate 230Mb hard drive. The EZFlyer performs in a similar manner to its predecessor (see comparative test), the EZ135, whose cartridges are compatible with the new drive. Indeed, if booted with a 135Mb cartridge on board, the drive identifies itself as an EZ135. Cartridges can be changed during use without switching off or re-booting. Simply use the auto-eject button and update any open windows by pressing escape. Cartridge prices are reasonable, with a 230Mb costing around œ25, and 135Mb around œ17, although there are reductions for multiple purchases. The more cartridges that are bought reduces the overall pounds per Megabyte cost of the drive. Conclusion. The EZFlyer is fast, quiet, easy to use, and equally at home as a primary hard drive, or a storage or back-up mechanism. I love it... ***Boxout*** Handy Tip Remember that if the EZFlyer is the only hard drive on the system, each cartridge will require to be configured as a complete hard drive with its own auto folder and accessories. ***Boxout***