[Coco] torn on getting a coco...

[Mark Marlette]

This sounds like a good candidate for Roger's new CoCoNet product????

Roger????

At 12/15/2008 11:27 PM, you wrote:

>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. **
>
>
>
>
>--
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>
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>12/15/2008 5:04 PM