[Coco] Super IDE vs. Drive Pak

[Brian Blake]

On 11/15/2011 8:34 PM, Aaron Wolfe wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 8:31 PM, Aaron Wolfe<aawolfe at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> 1. SuperIDE w/RTC - $99
>>> 2. HDB-DOS for the SIDE - $30 (I do not know if the ROM is freely available
>>> to burn or not...)
>>> 3. CF adapter - $14 (you can subtract this if you already have a small IDE
>>> drive - I didn't)
>>> 4. 2GB CF card - $12 (you can subtract this if you already have a small IDE
>>> drive - I didn't)
>>>
>>> In my case, it was $156, and I didn't include the cost of SuperDriver (to
>> To be fair, $99 is for the SuperIDE with real time clock.  Since the
>> drivepak does not include a real time clock, it would make more sense
>> to compare the $75 SuperIDE model.
>>
>> Also, to get to $156 you're adding 2 drives, but since the drivepak
> sorry! i misread your email, you are adding the cost of an adapter not
> a second drive.  my mistake!
> it would be more fair to add just the cost of a CF card, since they
> are cheap and easy to acquire.
> pricewatch.com says 2GB CF cards go for about $10.

Actually, I purchased two 2GB CF cards at the time, and only added one 
in the math above. That would equal the storage of one 4GB DrivePak. And 
I did note the RTC module, just didn't think about the model without it; 
duly noted that the DrivePak does not have that, but, I just based the 
cost comparison on what I bought at the time.

Super IDE = $75
HDB-DOS = $30
2GB CF x 2 = $24
CF Adapter = $14

You're still at $143, and it still boils down to personal preference. I 
like them both, but, I'm a self proclaimed gadget geek. I spent moths 
looking for a GOOD bluetooth module that could be slapped onto a Serial 
Pak just to say I did, and I also spent months trying to get an XBee 
modem working with the Serial Pak, lol (had I read their forum, it 
wouldn't have taken that long...).

I guess it boils down to this - Cloud 9 will sell you a ready to go 
SuperIDE system if you want to pay for it and that's what you want. To 
me, half the fun was figuring the thing out myself.

I do feel the cost of entry to the Super-IDE is higher than the 
DrivePak. Once you get past that, it all boils down to personal 
preference, as they both perform similar functions and there will be a 
learning curve for either device.