Re: Questions from a new 360Cs owner

[Randal Whittle <whittle@chaph.usc.edu>]

> 1 - Is there a source for the removable hard disk case? Will IBM sell them
>     without a disk inside? Or do I have to buy IBM disks for the unit?
> 

        Nope--many have tried, none have succeeded.  Although in the ThinkPad
FAQ put together by Sean Chou, there is a mention of somebody having a 200-
something MB Maxtor drive successfully installed in their ThinkPad 750
series--but he bought it used that way and doesn't know how it was done!

        I am very much surprised that some company out there hasn't duplicated
the 750-series hard drives and casing and marketed them.  After all, we can
by 3rd party memory, can't we?  Why not 3rd party drives?  Or 3rd party
batteries?  I am quite annoyed by these facts...

> 2 - Does anybody know if third party memory is available for the 360 yet? I
>     understand that 750 memory will work, but if I don't need the parity
>     bits...

        I don't know that the cost is appreciably different.  But yeah--there
is plenty of 3rd party memory for the 700 series.
 
> 3 - Battery life: what's the accepted wisdom for care of the nickel hydride
>     battery?  Is it better to fully discharge the battery before recharging
>     it, or is better to keep it "topped up"?

        For the most part, NiMH batteries are mostly like NiCD's.  Hydrides
just happen to last about twice as long as Ni-Cads (per volume unit in size).
Differences?  Well...for one thing, Hydride batteries don't hold their charge
for as long (while sitting unused) as do NiCads.  In fact, they can lose 10
to 20% of their charge overnight and be just plain discharged completely in a
matter of a few days.  In this sense, NiCads fare much better.

        But like NiCads, Hydrides can also suffer from the same kind of
"memory effect".  Luckily, its just not quite as bad--the Hydride is not
quite as susceptible to the memory effect and it is easier to "re-train" it
*out* of the memory effect than a NiCad.

        So the answer to your question is Yes--it is generally better to do
as complete a discharge as you can on your Hydride battery, but you don't have
to be completely anal about it or worry about it constantly the way one might
with a NiCad.  I make it a point to use the "fuel" program (I don't know
if your 360 has this or not) to do a discharge cycle of the battery once per
month or once every couple of weeks, depending on usage.  That's plenty.  It
requires a little more if you are breaking in a new battery or resurrecting
one that has not been in use for a while (I alternate between 2 batteries
and since I have not had to use battery time very often lately, I usually
use one battery all month, then completely discharge it for storage and
switch to another battery--which requires a couple of charge cycles to figure
out where it stands again.).

> 4 - Has anybody tried NeXTStep on a Thinkpad?

	I didn't even know the NeXT OS was available to run on Intel chips!

-----
Randy Whittle    whittle@chaph.usc.edu
University of Southern California School of Business (Fight on, 'SC Trojans!)
 - Motorcycle nut, HP 48GX & 100LX user, & lover of fine chocolate...
 "It's not denial, I'm just very selective about the reality I accept!" -Calvin
 "Consensus is the negation of leadership." - Margaret Thatcher