Adaptec SCSI Card 29160N

Advantages: Plug n play, reliable, efficient
Disadvantages: A bit pricy

...Finally, just when I was begining to give up on ever attaching my SCSI drive to my system, along came the answer to my prayers. A neat fitted in seconds, no need to open the case solution; the Adaptec USB to SCSI connector. This piece of electronic genius allows you to connect virtually any SCSI device directly to your PC through its USB port. It works and is brilliant. It just plugs in and away it goes. Everything is supplied and with easy to follow directions. It is not cheap though, expect to pay about $50 ($90) for it but compared with a SCSI card & cables it probably works out the same and is definately 100% less hastle than trying to configure an already stuffed full to the brim machine. It's got my vote.... Read review

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Advantages: A bargain. Easy to install and used. Good entry level SCSI controller.
Disadvantages: No support for higher data rates.

...If you plug an SCSI card into your pc, don’t hold your breath because nothing exciting is going to happen. (Unless of course you have made a very bad job of installing the card. Then you might see smoke and flames coming from your cherished/reviled PC or even, in extreme cases, find yourself moving down a tunnel towards a bright light.) However, once you have installed you SCSI card you will be able to attach any number of exciting devices to your pc. Although this is an opinion of Adaptecs AVA-2900 series of SCSI card, it is also a general review of SCSI. I have done this because as far as I can tell this is the first review at Ciao of a SCSI controller card. This seems to be a bit of an over sight to me as any number of SCSI devices have been reviewed, (such as the excellent Plextor external SCSI cd writer which... Read review

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Advantages: Speed, 5 year warrenty
Disadvantages: Low capacity considering price

.... These controller cards typically come in PCI (32 bit) or PCI-X (64 bit) flavours. Some have the ability to be installed in either slots, but this will vary depending on the controller card purchased. An Adaptec 29160N works well with these drives and can be picked up second hand for around £30. For a good source on information regarding SCSI controller cards, vist Adaptecs website at www.adaptec.com. You may also need to consider a drive cooler as well, as these drives run hot due to their high rotational speeds. However, in my opinion this additional cost is well worth it. Whatever type of work you currently perform on you PC, it will boot faster, open applications quicker and generally feel more responsive. And if your system is still not fast enough, you can buy 2 or 3 drives, a RAID card and configure them as a stripped set which... Read review

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