[Coco] torn on getting a coco...

Michael Robinson deemcr at robinson-west.com
Tue Dec 16 01:44:56 EST 2008


On Tue, 2008-12-16 at 05:47 +0000, tonym wrote:
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Michael Robinson deemcr at robinson-west.com
> >Sent 12/16/2008 12:27:31 AM
> >To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts coco at maltedmedia.com
> >Subject: Re: [Coco] torn on getting a coco...
> >
> >
> >
> >I don't want to support 5 1/4" disks in this day and age and here is
> >why:
> >
> >http://cgi.ebay.com/Olivetti-XM-4311-DSDD-360k-5-25-PC-Floppy- >
> >Disk->Drive_W0QQitemZ320285715890QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
> >And the shipping on that to Scappose, which isn't far 
> >by any means, is, drum roll, $14.49.
> >
> 
> Just because you don't know how to search, or don't bother to take the time to LEARN, doesn't mean they don't exist.
> http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-half-height-5-25-floppy-drive-360k_W0QQitemZ230313707702QQihZ013QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Mitsumi-D503V-360KB-5-25-Floppy-Disk-Drive_W0QQitemZ390015951685QQihZ026QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The two above could be junk.  They are sold as-is, so it is not fair to
use them as a counter argument.



> THIS one is a 1.2, but can be jumpered to run at 300rpm, making it a DS/QD 5.25" 720KB FDD:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Teac-5-25-Internal-Floppy-Drive-14733730-90-F2SSR80_W0QQitemZ250338757045QQihZ015QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

For this last one, "I don't know what capacity it supports."  Why bother
looking at it any further?

> http://cgi.ebay.com/MATSUSHITA-5-25-LOW-Density-Disk-Drive-FMD00790B4_W0QQitemZ190270507195QQihZ009QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This last one could be junk.  "It worked when we pulled it," but does it
work now?  How used is it?  How was it taken care of?

> http://cgi.ebay.com/Epson-SD-621L-360KB-5-25-HH-Floppy-Drive_W0QQitemZ170140024794QQihZ007QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This last one could be junk.  It isn't tested.  How much use has it seen
and for how much longer will it work?

> http://cgi.ebay.com/MITSUMI-D503-360KB-BLACK-INTERNAL-FLOPPY-DRIVE_W0QQitemZ360094158265QQihZ023QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This last one is sitting at $23.33.  A 1.44 meg 3.5" realize is going 
to cost $19.99 or less from your local store.  I am not interested in
speding more than $20 on a floppy drive period.

> http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-SHUGART-Floppy-Drive-SA455-3BBa-BLACK-360k_W0QQitemZ360094158381QQihZ023QQcategoryZ116268QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

More than I want to pay for a floppy drive again.  This technology just
isn't reliable enough to commit more than $20 to the drive itself.



> Non-eBay:
> http://www.oddmix.com/comp/chd_drv_shugart_sa455.html  Shugart, $30 shipped

$19.99 shipped would be okay, why spend $30 on a 1.2m drive?
5.25" media is very hard to come by.  I only know of one company in
California that I can get it from.  Why go to the effort, disks are
unreliable no matter how good your drive is compared to the
alternatives.  The only time I need a disk drive is to
play Gauntlet II because it doesn't follow the rules.
To save me the pain of dealing with disks, I can forego being able
to play Gauntlet II on an actual COCO 3.

> Need I keep going?       

No, you've missed the point.  It's time to get away from floppy drive
technology.  Cloud-9 has really missed the point, or Drivewire would 
be distributed on a rom pack by default and the company would be working
on a successor to the semi virtual diskette drive that will be
compatible with games such as Diecom Products Gauntlet II and store 360k
or more.  The time has come to simulate disk drives with better
technology and distribute dsk images on cdrom.  Sooner or later, disk
drive technology will go extinct.  Why wait for that to happen?  Of the
360k drives you list, how many of them are brand new?

Need I mention that I need to buy new media if I decide to get a
replacement floppy drive?  No matter who I buy it from, the disk
reliability issue is going to mean that some are bad and others
will go bad quickly.  Disks are not a good distribution means
in this day and age of better alternatives, especially 5.25"
disks.  Optical drives are more popular than disk drives today
and for very good reasons.  My argument hasn't been shot down
by these links to disk drives on and off E-Bay, it has been
strengthened.

Say you buy 50 disks for about $50.  That means that if you pick a drive
up for $30 you have sunk $80 into disk technology.  For $110, you can
get a virtual disk drive shipped to you that is more reliable than your
disks and their drive.  For a little more than that, you can probably
build a better virtual disk drive.  CD-R's are cheap where most people
have PC's that they can burn them on.  If you have an SVD or drivewire
and a burner on your PC, you are pretty much set so long as people who
are distributing software to you distribute it on CD.  A spindle of
50 700 megabyte compact writable discs is what?  It's less than what
floppy disks will cost you for the comparable amount of storage.
Anyone who wants something other than a floppy drive on their COCO
knows exactly what I'm pointing out.  They know that floppy technology
is limiting and they know that it is eventually going to go away.
Back in the day, floppy drives were cheap and about all that anyone
could afford.  Today, cdrom writers and CD-R media are what's cheap.

Need I mention that CD-R's have a 30 year shelf life and cost about
30 cents a piece?

Cloud-9 offers a CDROM kit, but I don't think it's a burner
unfortunately.

Floppy technology is crude compared to today's technology.  It's
time to let it die.

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