Use those big honky disk-eating applications like Excel, More, or in my case PageMaker? Look into the DASCH. I use large applications, usually with relatively small files, so open-and-close times bug me. PageMaker's _lousy_ disk-handling routines drove me to find something faster than a couple 3.5" drives. But I couldn't afford, nor did I really need, a hard disk drive.
The DASCH is excellent for those with non-SCSI 512K and 128K Macs; it attaches to the printer or the modem port and acts like a serial hard disk.
There is a 1 Meg and a 2 Meg model, both sold by several mail order firms. PROGRAMS PLUS has the 2 Meg DASCH for $399. Others may be higher or lower - I have never seen the DASCH in stores. Since it's solid-state it's very reliable and totally SILENT.
With a 2 Meg "virtual hard disk" you can stash your applications by using Copy II Hard disk or the application's HD Installer - in most cases Copy II seems to bust the key disk BS when it writes your application to the DASCH. This is nice.
I have a lot of boilerplate, macros, and other stuff stored on the DASCH, as well as a 350K System Folder with a multitude of fonts and DAs.
FEATURES:
DASCH is a self-powered external PROM-controlled RAMdisk unit - kind of a "hardcard" in a box slightly bigger than the typical external 800K drive. If your Mac crashes it won't go down. It will wipe itself, though, if your mains power croaks.
You may leave it on all the time if you'd like. It mounts vertically or horizontally. I like mine bacause it brings my external drive up to a reasonable height.
SOFTWARE:
It attaches to printer or modem port, and has a boot routine called START. Insert a bootable disk - all it needs is a bare-bones System, the Finder, and START - with START as the "Set Startup" choice. You're off and running in a matter of seconds. CONFIGURE allows you to control the various parameters that START initializes.
BACKUP is a smart-backup utility that 1) remembers which files you don't want to backup (eg, System, Finder, MacWrite) and 2) asks for the diskettes containing the files you would like to back up.
THE BEST THING OF ALL:
This mother is an excellent IMAGEWRITER BUFFER when attached to the printer port (the Imagewriter daisy-chains through).
I have my 2 Meg DASCH holding some 400K aside as a buffer. Graphics and Draft mode printing move much faster - "Better" or "Faster" quality is improved by maybe 45% - and "Best" quality really benefits very little because of the way the Mac builds and sends the fonts.
Since I use relatively new ribbons I get away with Faster almost all the time - I would have an Imagewriter II, but I have an Imagewriter I because my newer printer is sitting around waiting for Apple to do something about it after it destroyed itself in June.
Highly recommended for those doing DESKTOP PUBLISHING or DESKTOP MUSIC COMPOSITION. A full-blown review is in ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN MAGAZINE, the December 1986 issue.
