[TI-H] Re: TiDrive (Was PIXpander & Stuff)
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[TI-H] Re: TiDrive (Was PIXpander & Stuff)
On Monday, April 29, 2002, at 01:28 AM, Tim Comport wrote:
>
> I just want to clarify that my EEPROM expander is complete. And contrary
> to what Krevinek said below, EEPROM 's are non-volatile (they do hold
> their data without power), thus ELECTRICALLY ERASABLE Programmable Read
> Only Memory; and they hold their data for up to 10 years (40 years with
> the ATMEL EEPROM's I use) or more according to manufacturers.
I wasn't even referring to EEPROMs when I stated a 3-month data-life. I
was referring to the memory card. Even SRAM has data decay without power
and read/write, although it is MUCH slower than DRAM's degradation
(which happens, even with power). I am very familar with EEPROMs, SRAM,
DRAM and their good/bad sides.
> The factor
> that determines the EEPROM's longevity in a particular application is
> the number of erase/write cycles, and again according to manufacturers
> this is anywhere from 10000 to 1 million! (depending on temp, etc.),
> more than enough for this application (it would last a few years at
> least).
Good to hear on the improvement on the write-cycle lifespan, although
the fact that it does vary makes the lifespan of that particular EEPROM
rather iffy to nail down at best, and I personally don't like the idea
of having to grab a new EEPROM because I found that my last write failed
2-3 years after the purchase. EEPROMs wind up being great for archival,
but not for heavy use (Like I intend with the TiDrive). It all comes
down to preference, application and end usage.
> And in relation to being modular, an 8 pin IC on a small PCB is
> a lot smaller to carry around than a PSX Memory card (although who cares
> ... really).
Sure it is modular, but as I comment a little further in this message,
ICs aren't exactly designed for the type of punishment being modular
would require in this type of application. As long as you are nice to
your ICs, I can see people carrying a couple 1MB EEPROMs. But if you are
like me, those ICs will get destroyed in a matter of days while carrying
them around.
> Although, I agree that the pixpander would be great for those of you
> that own a Playstation. As you might have guessed, I don't, and the main
> aim of my project was to investigate a cheap (EEPROM << PSX Memory card;
> in Australia anyway) alternative.
Yeah, in a lot of ways, it is cheaper, although a little more of a pain
to manage at times. Would you rather carry around a couple ICs in foam
padding or a couple memory cards if you wanted more space than a single
EEPROM could give you? In the situation of many, yours will be good, but
for someone like me who wants to carry around most of the TI-86 archives
with me, and the abuse I give to anything that touches my backpack,
EEPROMs alone would get destroyed too quickly.
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