The CFS850A is one of Conner’s past visions of their affordable drive series, coming in at a whopping 850MB in 1995. Like Conner’s of the past, the same “tub” design remains, with some differences (notably: no anodisation).
A striking red label stands out, alongside a noisy seeking mechanism on top. If you want loud, these may be one of your best choices.
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IMG_4181-scaled.jpg)
Drive Attributes ------------------------------------- Conner Peripherals CFS850A ------------------------------------- Capacity 850MB Mfc Date 1995 (week 44) Format 3.5" Interface PATA Platters 2 Heads 4 Cache 64KB RPM 3600 CHS 1651/16/63 Origin Malaysia (CPM) -------------------------------------
The CFS850A comes in with only two platters. By 95′, densities started to improve.
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-label.jpg)
The red label is the star of the show, but Conner’s labels in general lack most useful information. We’re just given the model number & date of manufacture, being week 44 of 1995. This unit was produced in Conner’s factory in Malaysia.
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-r1-scaled.jpg)
The rear remains unchanged from drives such as the CFS210A/420A, Conner always kept it consistant.
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-r2-scaled.jpg)
The foam beneath the PCB has rotted somewhat, but still gives away that the base contains no interesting details. It’s quite nice that Conner routed the spindle motor power connections through the same connector as the head-stack, similarly to NEC designs of the same era. It makes PCB removal very easy.
The spindle motor is a standard unit from PM DM-T.
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-pcb-scaled.jpg)
Little changes were made as Conner improved density, the same old Cirrus Logic interface adapter remains. A microcontroller from NCR microelectronics stands in the middle, with codename Ranger. NCR Microelectronics fell off many years ago, but were a key developer of SCSI logic in the early 1980’s. NCR were absorbed by LSI many years ago, LSI having been absorbed far in the past too.
The whopping 64KB of cache is from Samsung, a real champion of performance, wouldn’t you say?
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-pcb-b-scaled.jpg)
The rear of the PCB has nothing fancy, just some traced branding. No codenames or anything…
![](https://bananahdd.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cfs850a-perf.png)
The CFS850A may not be the most extraordinary unit, but they boast impressive sounds and are quite fun to use. Personally, in a sea of CFS210A’s and lower-capacity Conner’s, the CFS850A is a nice change of pace. They did a good job, since many still keep on going in the current day.
If you missed the video I made on this drive, you can find it here:
References:
[1] PC Mag (1995) 21st November 1995, 394 pages, Vol. 14, No. 20, ISSN 0888-8507, page 23, Published by Ziff Davis inc., Acquired from: https://books.google.nl/books?id=COEmRfcp2RAC
[1] PC Mag (1995) 6 Feb 1996, 416 pages, Vol. 15, No. 3, ISSN 0888-8507, page 297, Published by Ziff Davis inc., Acquired from: https://books.google.nl/books?id=WVbZSlyrT5kC