ajayshah@alhena.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) (01/30/91)
What do you know about buying QIC, CD-ROM and Exabyte drives from sources other than Sun? q1: does 3rd party equipment work flawlessly? q2: where and how much? In the case of hard disks, I know for sure, 3rd party sources are *vastly* cheaper than Sun. [[Ed's Note: I love the first question :) -bdg]] In case you find it useful, here is a summary on cheap sources for disks: |Article 12216 of comp.sys.next: |From: songer@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu (Christopher M Songer) |Subject: Fujitsu 2263SA Hard Drives. |Date: 22 Jan 91 15:01:11 GMT | |I got a several questions about the source of my drive via email. So, even |though I do not yet have it working, (missing An internal SCSI cable) here |is a summary. | |The drive is a Fujitsu 2263SA SCSI drive. Accoring to the Technical |Handbook included with the drive, it is 772Meg unformated and 671 Meg |formatted in 512 Byte sectors. I bought the drive from Fast Access in |Hammond Ill. for $1412.00 + $12.35 for shipping to W.Lafayette In. The |contact name is Mal Steadman and the phone number is 708 530 7749. | |The terms of the sale were that I sent them a cashier's check for the $$ |and they shipped the drive. They will (I understand) ship COD. I sent the |money on a Tuesday, overnight mail. So they received my order Wednesday, |shipped the drive Friday and I got it Monday. | |Obviously, I might have all this wrong. It is correct to the best of my |knowledge, however. I have no association with Fast Access other than |being a pleased customer. Info by Ajay Shah: Asked for prices in qty of 1/2, 22nd Jan, 670M $1413 1.2G $2198 --- |Try ATS at 1-800-359-3580 (sorry, I don't have a local number for them). |They are Anthem Technology Systems, we bought the last two Seagate |(Imprimum/CDC) Wren VII drives from them, the last one about a month or |two ago at $2900, and a 4-bay drive case for around $6-700. They sell |1-bay cases for $150. Call them for the latest prices on drives. You |might want to check on HP or Fujitsu drives as well although I tend to |stick with Seagate myself. --- |I've been buying mine from North East Peripherals. Here's my vendor info: | |North East Peripherals |Tim Walsh |P.O. Box 602 |Norwood, MA 02062 |(617) 769-9110 | |You can also get the naked drive (no box, cables, power supply) from a |variety of places; I know Arrow lists it (they're big, so there should be |a fairly local office for you); there are a lot listed in sources like |Computer Shopper. The drive is the WrenVII 1.2G drive. If you want to |put it into a box and add power yourself, you can save a couple of hundred |dollars. I usually buy the systems because it just isn't worth the hassle |of assembling my own for a couple of hundred dollars. Plus this way I get |a full package, supported by my vendor. | |The same company (originally CDC's Imprimis subsidiary, but they sold |Imprimis to Seagate a year or so ago) makes a large range of drives; I |have several WrenV and WrenVI drives, which are in the 550 to 700 MB |range. I haven't been pricing them recently, because I need the space, |and because on a price/gig basis, the bigger drives are cheaper, but they |do have some smaller drives. | |There are other vendors, too; I know Fuji makes some that are thought to |be quite good. The main reason I get the Wrens is they're what my vendor |likes. --- |Try contacting either of the following vendors: | |Unison Systems, Bob Riley @ 508 879-3200 or |Computer Systems Tech, Lori Squires @ 714 458-8567 | |CST will probably give you a better price but UNISON has a better staff |and is well worth the extra dollars. Note by Ajay Shah: I called CST and got these prices: 660 Meg Fujitsu == $2410 1.2G Fujitsu == $3700 --- |R Squared |9086 Bond |Overland Park, Kansas 66214 |(800) 937-3478 | |Steve Davis says they're selling the Fujitsu M2266SA 1.2GB drive for $2490 |(with 5-year advance-replacement warranty). --- |Look into any issue of Sun Expert or any workstation related magazine. |Some companies I have dealt with are: | |Vendor List for 660 MB SCSI Disk Subsystem |============================================================= |Vendor Contact Name Contact Tel # |============================================================= |Acropolis Systems Inc. Ken Schmitt 408-946-6947 |ApUnix Computer Services Vince Skahill 1-800-827-8649 |National Peripherals Inc Phil Clarke 708-325-4151 --- |From: "Michael A. Justice" <elroy!justice@chinet.chi.il.us> | |What's "cheap"? I paid $1750 for a 660Mb Fujitsu; if that's a good |price, you can call up Fast Access Corp. at (708) 530-7749 and ask for |Michael Hansen. (They're in Elmhurst, Illinois.) | |At any rate, FA has a good bunch of people. Standard disclaimer: I am |not getting any kickbacks from FA. --- |From: Bob Henkel <henkel@cis.ohio-state.edu> | | How about 1.2 Gig for $2895. | Pinnacle Data Systems, Inc. has them 614-487-1150 Ajay Shah, (213)734-3930, ajayshah@usc.edu