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COMPUTER BITS ■ BY DARREN YATES Mass data storage in the palm ofyourhand This month, we take a look at the Pocket Hard Disc or PHd from KT Technology. It runs as a logical hard drive from your PC's parallel port, can be removed in seconds & can store up to 120Mb of data. If you need to transfer a large number of files from·one place of work to another, your options are fairly limited. You could back up your files to floppy disc, but as soon as your files become larger than about 1.2Mb, it starts to get messy keeping track of which disc is first, second, third and so on. Backing up large amounts of data is also very time-consuming. Alternatively, you could use your trusty modem. However, with a maximum data transfer rate of 9600 baud, it could be quite some time before you get your telephone line and your computer back again. Even with the various data compression systems, . the best serial transfer rate you can get is Pocket hard disc backing up) large files in the form of the Pocket Hard Disc (PHd). This amazing piece of technology is just 148 x 75 x 28mm in size and fits in the palm of your hand but it can store up to 120 megabytes (120Mb) of data. The beauty of the PHd is that it's fully external - it requires no internal driver card and simply plugs into the parallel printer port on your PC. The sneaky thing about it is the way it obtains its power supply - it pinches it from the keyboard socket via an adaptor which is supplied with the unit. In operation, the disc is set up as the next logical drive in your system. So if you already have a hard disc designated as your C: drive, then the PHd becomes the D: drive. It then behaves just like a normal hard disc drive, yet is removable in seconds and can then be transported to any AT/386/486 system anywhere. Pretty neat, huh? Now KT Technology has come up with the answer to transferring (or Setting it up around 57,000 bits per second or 7Kb per second, which is still slow if you have to transfer megabytes of data. Another option is to use one of the new "floptical" disc drives. These use a disc very much like a normal 3.5inch disc and can store up to 20Mb. While this may sound great, the problem is that you have to assume that the user at the other end also has a floptical drive to read the disc. It is also surprising just how quickly a 20Mb disc can be filled with just a few large files. The PHd pocket hard disc is not much bigger than a 3.5-inch floppy but, depending on the version, can hold up to 120Mb of data. 88 SILICON CHIP The Pocket Hard Disc comes complete with its own installation software. This software ensures that the drive is recognised and checked when the computer boots up. In normal operation, there is no change to any of your existing software and the unit is used just like an ordinary hard disc drive, You can copy files to and from the PHd disc drive in the normal manner, or use it as the logged drive when working in a word processor or some other application. Before you install the PHd, you need to make sure that the system is turned oft otherwise it may be damaged or the data lost. The adaptor power cable is con- This delay period is cut to about five seconds on a 386DX machine. The data-transfer rate is greater than 700Kb/ second and the maximum seek time is 19ms, which is comparable to the faster internal hard disc drives available. This can be increased by using a _h ard disc caching program such as Windows SmartDrive. Applications The PHd pocket hard disc plugs into the computer's printer port & obtains its power from the keyboard socket via an adapter cable. The device has no effect on normal printer operation & can be unplugged in seconds. nected. to the keyboard socket and one printer port and you wish to use then the keyboard plug fitted to the your printer and the PHd? No probback of the adaptor socket. The power · lem. The PHd has another 25-pin D cable is then connected to the PHd. socket at the other end and so you just This makes it independent of exterplug your printer into that. From then nal power supplies which means that on, you just print files in the normal it can be used all over the world. way as though the PHd was not there. There is also a printer port cable But back to the installation of the which is suppliedwith 25-pin D sockPHd. ets at each end tci connect the PHd to Formatting the parallel port. Before you can start using the PHd, Once the appropriate file has been there are a number of changes needed copied across, you need to format the on your C: drive, The first of these is PHd and check the data transfer to and from your printer port. Formatmade to your CONFIG.SYS file so that each time the computer boots up, it ting is done in the usual way (ie, format D:), while the supplied disc looks for the PHd. This is done by adding the following lines: contains a file called PHDINITB.COM (for the 80Mb version) which checks INSTALL=C: \DOS\SHARE.EXE the data transfer and initialises the DEVICE=PHDLPTB0.SYS PHd. The device driver you install deNote that this data transfer check pends on which model you have. For only needs to be done once. example, if you have the 40Mb PHd Once you've done that, switch off model, the relevant device driver is and reboot your machine. PHDLPT40.SYS and so on. You can make these changes using Boot-testing either EDLIN or nearly any wordprocessor. Alternatively, you could use While your machine reboots, it tests the Windows Notepad or the Winthe validity of the printer port to endows SysEdit feature. sure that it will transfer data reliably. Next, you have to take the floppy During this time, a test message is displayed on the screen. disc provided and copy the The only drawback, and it's a miPHDLPTxx.SYS file from it to the root nor one, is that if you don't have the directory of the C: drive. This is the PHd plugged in when you boot up, it only file the computer requires to contakes a 286 computer about 30 sectrol the PHd. onds to figure out that it isn't there. What do you do if you only have One area where the PHd will really excel is in backing up existing hard disc drives. In fact, when we recently upgraded one of our 286 machines to a 386DX with a new 85Mb hard drive, we used the PHd to back up the old 40Mb hard disc and then simply transferred everything over to the new system. It was that easy. Previously, you'd either have to back everything up onto floppies or load in each piece of software again, taking hours to do so. The PHd backed up the complete disc in only a fraction of the time that would have been taken for floppies, without the hassle of changing anything. The ·drop test Because the PHd is designed to be fully portable, the makers have designed it to withstand a 150G shock. That means that it will well and truly handle normal everyday bumps and knocks and then some. But no, we did not try the drop test. That would be pushing things a bit too far. The PHd also only weighs 350gm, which is really a little heavy for your shirt pocket, but the fact that it is so compact brings up another important _point - security. Because it can be unplugged so easily, you can take a back-up of your hard disc with you wherever you go. Price & availability One of the best things about the PHd is the price. The 80Mb unit has a retail price of $799. When you consider that floptical drives retail for about $850 and that floptical disks are $30 fo $40 each, the PHd is good value. The 40Mb version sells for $549; the 60Mb for $599; and the 120Mb version for $999. For more information about the PHd, contact the distributors, · KT Technology, Building 7 Central Boulevard, Portside Business Park, Port Melbourne 3207, Phone (03) 646 5755; fax (03) 646 7997. SC NOVEMBER 1992 89