No, they are
not the same. the latter will do DD and the 1773 was single
density.
The 1773 was used on TRS80, Icom, and other early systems that were
softsector.
I can assure you that a 1773 is capable of double density operation.
I shuffled the 1771 with 1773. Oops, it's easy to do with WD numbering.
Allison