Exploding the Top Ten Myths About Removable Media Drives; Myth No. 1: Bootable Removable Media Drives First Will Become Available in the First Quarter of 1997.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 1996--SyQuest Technology (NASDAQ:SYQT), a world leader in removable cartridge hard drives, today unveiled the Top Ten Myths about removable media drives in order to bring clarity to this booming computer market segment.

"With the significant growth of this market, as well as the introduction of some new technologies and vendors, we are seeing a great deal of confusion in the marketplace about functionality, performance and application of the various devices," said Ron Brown, vice president of marketing at SyQuest.

"Some of what we term `myths' have been perpetuated due to the lack of a clear understanding of the technologies involved. As a long-time industry leader and the inventor of removable cartridge hard drive technology, we hope to bring clarity and understanding to the consumer of the options available when making a purchase decision."

Myth No. 1: Bootable Removable Media Drives First Will Become Available in the First Quarter of 1997

Bootable removable cartridge hard drives have been available to the market since 1982. Since the introduction of the 5MB, SQ306R by SyQuest Technology in June of that year, all SyQuest drives (other than parallel port versions) have been fully bootable.

In fact, some current SyQuest users load separate operating systems directly onto SyQuest cartridges, affording them the capability to work in different environments without the trouble of partitioning the normal C:, or internal hard disk drive, of their system to accomplish similar capabilities.

When considering booting from a removable, says Brown, "consumers should be aware that no device from any vendor that connects to a parallel port, can boot today's system."

Myth No. 2: High-Density Floppy Products Directly Compete With Removable Cartridge Hard Drives

While removable cartridge hard drives and high-density floppies both fall into the category of "removable storage devices," they are not direct competitors. Individuals who need performance, quality and reliability typically choose to purchase a hard drive product that will enable his or her work to take place on-line, in real time, directly from hard disk cartridges.

A secondary advantage of these removable hard disk cartridges is that they also may be used for long- or short-term archiving of data. Due to the lower performance of the high-density floppy drive and the limited life of the polyester-based magnetic media of high-density floppy disks, they are used largely for archiving.

Like tape users, those who work with high-density floppy technology do not require speed or performance. There is less than a 20 percent overlap between these two market segments.

Myth No. 3: Removable Cartridge Disk Drives are Inherently Slower than the Fixed Hard Disk Drive

Performance of removable cartridge hard drives based on industry standard Winchester technology is nearly identical to that of fixed hard drive technology (developed by companies like Seagate and Western Digital Corporation) in production at the time of device introduction. Connected via the SCSI port, there is little difference in performance.

Connected via parallel port, a decline in data speeds of the drive will be noted, due to the limitations inherent in the parallel port itself. A parallel port configuration exists for many removable media drives for the simple convenience of the consumer who wants to use a removable, but does not want to install a SCSI card.

Since 1982, all SyQuest drives have been based on Winchester technology and are built with the same parts as those used in fixed Winchester hard drives.

Three other technologies in removable cartridge drives are on the market: high density floppy, optical and Magneto Optical (MO). These removable technologies run at a fraction of the speed of hard drive technology.

Myth No. 4: The Initial Cost of a Removable Cartridge Drive is the Most Important Factor in a Purchase Decision

While initial cost is an important concern, the continuing cost of the media must be factored in.

For example, a 1GB cartridge selling for $99 would cost approximately $.10 per Megabyte, while a 1.3GB cartridge offered at the same retail price would cost just over $.075 per megabyte, a savings of 25 percent to the user. Based on this example, a user who intends to purchase enough cartridges to store 50GB of data will save over a thousand dollars by choosing a cartridge with a greater capacity.

Myth No. 5: Removable Hard Disk Cartridges are Fragile

Removable cartridges are built to withstand user handling. SyQuest cartridges, for example, are shock-resistant and must pass rigorous drop shock tests and dust and smoke chamber tests before qualification. They are designed for durability and are guaranteed to survive falls from desktops and drops by users.

Cartridges can be transported safely via mail, shipping service, bicycle and backpack. Life expectancy is estimated to be up to 30 years.

Myth No. 6: Removable Cartridge Drives are Used Solely for Temporary Data Storage

While many users place files on cartridges for temporary storage -- a popular application for these products -- some removable technologies lend themselves to applications requiring higher performance. Due to quick access times and high data transfer rates, removable cartridge drives based on Winchester technology easily access entire software packages directly from the cartridge with little or no degradation in performance.

Users report success using SyQuest Winchester drives to run operating systems and less frequently used software, edit and play video clips, develop multimedia presentations, access musical sampler data, edit real-time audio clips, edit graphics files on the fly, scan high-resolution photos, run Internet browsers and download data, run Internet search engines for managed downloads, and play games with enhanced performance from the cartridge.

Myth No. 7: Bigger is Better -- The More Capacity per Cartridge, the Better Off You Are

Some applications require a very large capacity removable cartridge such as video, audio and large scale multimedia files; in such cases, this statement is true.

However, using removable cartridge hard drives of over a gigabyte in capacity for less data-intensive applications can be wasteful of expensive, critical space.

According to Brown, consumers who use removable cartridge hard drives for organizing a shared family desktop so each member has a personal hard disk cartridge, installing computer games for enhanced performance, compiling personal tax returns, and protecting confidential legal documents choose removables like SyQuest's EZ product line, including the EZ135 and the EZFlyer 230.

With lower-capacity removable cartridge hard drives like these, each cartridge costs significantly less, for an increased value to the user.

Myth No. 8: Removable Cartridge Drives Aren't Portable

The removable media itself is as portable as the standard 1.44MB floppy diskette.

External configurations of the removable cartridge drive itself are easy to carry and easy to install. "Many of our users carry their drives home with them at night, then bring the drive -- and their work -- in the next morning. Some have two drives, one at home and one at work, and simply carry a cartridge back and forth," Brown said.

In fact, recent enhancements to drive enclosures have made many popular models lighter and smaller than ever. This year, SyQuest introduced a new, slim-line chassis design for its external EZFlyer 230 and SyJet drives; each weighs about 24 oz.

Myth No. 9: Removables are Hard to Install

Most removable cartridge hard drives can be installed and operational in 10 minutes. Brown says in order to install straight from the box, consumers must be careful to purchase a drive with an interface that is compatible for connection with their own computer system.

"That's why SyQuest offers separate packaging options for PC and Macintosh users. Many new Pentium PCs come equipped with a high-density SCSI interface; we define this for consumers and make available a removable device with the configuration they require. Mac users, on the other hand, need to connect to a DB25-pin interface; we meet their needs as well."

Many removables, such as SyQuest drives, come with a suite of software utilities for backup, format and write-protect functions, making the acquisition of third-party software unnecessary. SyQuest's EZFlyer 230, for example, comes with a suite of utilities that format, duplicate, write protect, and lock cartridges, recover problem data and back up a fixed hard drive.

Myth No.10: As Soon as It's Installed, It's Obsolete

With some technologies, this may be true. "Consumers should look for a manufacturer who develops removable families," says Brown.

"For example, SyQuest has two new removable cartridge hard drive families that were developed to protect the investment of the user. Within the EZ and SyJet families, we plan to continue to upgrade capacities while maintaining downward compatibility within the family."

The SyQuest 5.25" family, best-known as the established standard in the desktop publishing industry, was first introduced with a 44MB capacity 10 years ago, and has since increased to 88MB and 200MB, maintaining downward compatibility. SyQuest still manufactures cartridges at all three capacity points.

SyQuest continues to support its drive products with cartridges long after the drive is no longer being produced, Brown says. "Our users are still buying 44MB cartridges, which we first shipped in 1986. So, we still make and support them, and plan to continue to do so as long as the market exists for them."

Further information on the Ten Top Myths About Removable Cartridge Drives is available by contacting Amy Reardon at SyQuest Technology, phone [phone].

About SyQuest

SyQuest Technology is a world leader in removable cartridge hard drives. Founded in 1982, the company has an installed base of more than 3 million drives and 15 million cartridges worldwide. SyQuest is headquartered in Fremont, California, and maintains manufacturing facilities in Fremont, California, and Penang (Malaysia) with additional facilities in Colorado, California, Europe and Asia.

The company offers removable cartridge hard drives for Apple, Windows, MS-DOS, PC-DOS, UNIX, SGI and SunOS platforms. SyQuest (SYQT) is publicly traded on NASDAQ's National Market System. See SyQuest on the World Wide Web at http://www.syquest.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including competition in the marketplace for the company's products, other risks detailed from time to time in the SEC reports filed by SyQuest, including the report on Form 10-Q filed by SyQuest for the quarter ended June 30, 1996. -0-

Note to Editors: EZ135, EZFlyer and SyJet are trademarks and SyQuest and the SyQuest logo are registered trademarks of SyQuest Technology. All other brands or tradenames are the property of their respective companies.

CONTACT: SyQuest Technology

Amy Reardon, 510/226-5386

or

The Rudestam Group

Rolf Rudestam, 909/585-2012