[Coco] torn on getting a coco...

[Michael Robinson]

On Tue, 2008-12-16 at 03:32 +0000, BookWorm wrote:
> Boisie, I agree completely, and I intend to keep using my 5 1/4" drives. I have 
> had problems with bad disks, but I seem to be doing better than some people did 
> in the 80's! I find it much more convinient to have both drives the same size 
> for backups, etc.
> 
> Mark, you have joysticks? Do you have one of those mouse/joystick combinations 
> sold by Disto? What other hardware do you have, besides your own products, 
> drives, etc.? I'm probably not the only one here who wishes you'd post a list.
> 
> Everyone else, I've ordered stuff from these guys several times and never had 
> any problems. My order was always delivered as soon as I could expect it if not 
> sooner. If their prices seem high, try finding a new ram upgrade, ide or scsi 
> controller...at *any* price!
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/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.

At least someone is finally offering one for less than $150.  
Even so, this is approaching $50 shipped.  The prices I see 
right now range from $29 to about $89, minus the shipping 
of course.

I don't know about everyone else on here, but $13 for a 1.44 meg drive
at your local electronics store is way less then $50.  $50 is getting 
close to the price of a COCO 3, which can be had from cloud-9 for $60.

Now then, 360k drives aren't the only choice.  There are also, drum
roll. 720k drives.  Let's take a look at those.

http://cgi.ebay.com/720K-Floppy-Drive-Sankyo-FDU380-3-5-Disk-Sharp-PC-4501_W0QQitemZ140106395766QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
They support more rugged media and, they store more.  This drive is in
the $300+ range.  I think most people without extra cash lying around
will think twice about getting this drive and even if you don't, Cloud-9
doesn't bother to ask if you can support 720k media. 720k media is
standard for the COCO 3 by the way.

5 1/4" media is shredder friendly.  That's the only real positive 
of 5 1/4" media compared to the alternatives that exist today.  
The reason you have to back up your data, these disks are easily
corrupted.  Shelf life?  Let's be honest, only some people are 
lucky enough to read disks that are 20 years old.

A show of hands, how many people who have bought a new PC or Mac 
lately have noticed that it doesn't have a disk drive at all?  
These days if you want a disk drive, you generally go with a 
USB one ( especially if your computer is a laptop ).

There is a reason why the CDROM took the place of the disk drive 
in the PC world along with USB memory sticks and flash cards, the
reliability is so much better and by the time you factor in the 
extra capacity of the newer media, the higher cost is actually 
less.  Let's face it, do you buy one floppy disk and expect that 
floppy to work?  No, you buy at least 10 at a time and half of 
those disks could be bad.

This expensive 720k floppy drive is the only one I found.

In summary:

1) Floppy disks are unreliable.
2) Floppy disks are getting harder to acquire.
3) Floppy drives are getting expensive, especially low density ones.
4) CD-R, CD-RW, usb stick, flash memory is getting better and cheaper 
   per meg.
5) Being comfortable with a dying technology that is getting expensive,
   is that the way to go?

People say they are comfortable with floppy disks.  Why?  Aside from
drivewire there are alternative possibilities.  One possibility is to
send a usb stick or flash card to cloud-9 when you buy software.

I've had problems with software on disks because my disk drives are 
bad.  I bought a drivewire rom pack, I don't want to turn around and
buy used disk drives as well.  I would appreciate dsk images of the
software from cloud-9 on cdrom that I can load into drivewire, if I
want to purchase any more software.

** Any low density disk drive that I buy is going to be used. **