abrams@cs.columbia.edu (Steven Abrams) (09/07/90)
This may have been discussed here before, but I just started reading this group... There seems to be a lot of companies selling Conner drives, really cheaply, and I can get a 3.5" 104 MB IDE drive *with* an IDE controller for $550.00 == this seems like an amazing price. HOWEVER -- I've been around computers long enough to know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, so I'm asking for the combined wisdom of the net.world on this one. Has anyone heard ANYTHING about these drives, good, bad, or indifferent. I know that Conner has been around for a while, but I'm very curious as to why they have recently been popping up for sale in *cheap droves*. Any answers are appreciated, e-mail or posted, and I'll summarize e-mailed responses if desired... ~~~Steve -- /************************************************* * *Steven Abrams abrams@cs.columbia.edu *
grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) (09/07/90)
In article <ABRAMS.90Sep6175804@cs.cs.columbia.edu# abrams@cs.columbia.edu (Steven Abrams) writes:
#
# There seems to be a lot of companies selling Conner drives, really
# cheaply, and I can get a 3.5" 104 MB IDE drive *with* an IDE
# controller for $550.00 == this seems like an amazing price.
#
# [...]
#
# Has anyone heard ANYTHING about these drives, good, bad, or
# indifferent.
#
I'll vouch for them. I abused one at AST. Hundereds of power-up/downs,
voltages from 4.0 to 5.75, unplugging power or signal connectors at
different times, shaking them, knocking them over, torching with a heat
gun... AND IT WOULDN'T DIE ! Never lost anything, not even my prized copy
of Blockout [and you thought tetris was fun...]. These drives hold an
astonishing amount of data for their size, and are pretty fast.
And, you *can* low-level format these drives....kleonard@gvlv1.gvl.unisys.com (Ken Leonard) (09/10/90)
In article <1417@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) writes: * In article <ABRAMS.90Sep6175804@cs.cs.columbia.edu# abrams@cs.columbia.edu (Steven Abrams) writes: * # * # There seems to be a lot of companies selling Conner drives, really * # * # [...] * # * # Has anyone heard ANYTHING about these drives, good, bad, or * # indifferent. * # * * I'll vouch for them. I abused one at AST. Hundereds of power-up/downs, * * [...] * * And, you *can* low-level format these drives.... ----------- OK, you have our attention! -- So how do you _do_ the llfmt? DiskManager? Speedstor? other? (version)? -- How about their "80MB" drive (?model number?) ? ---------------- regardz, Ken
grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) (09/11/90)
I wrote:
** [about Conner drives]
**
** And, you *can* low-level format these drives....
*-----------
In article <922@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM* kleonard@gvlv1.UUCP (Ken Leonard) writes:
*OK, you have our attention!
*--
*So how do you _do_ the llfmt? DiskManager? Speedstor? other? (version)?
*--
*How about their "80MB" drive (?model number?) ?
*----------------
I dunno about the 80MB. I only used 40 and ~120MB drives. Luv 'em.
I'm going to ask my friends at AST Research if they know. I'll post when
I find out.
From a BIOS guru, a Conner drive is *indistinguisable* from a regular 16-bit
AT hard-disk/controller (sometimes called MFM). This is also stated in the
Conner manual, which I have a copy of.alz@tc.fluke.COM (Al Weiss) (09/13/90)
In article <ABRAMS.90Sep6175804@cs.cs.columbia.edu>(Steven Abrams) writes: >There seems to be a lot of companies selling Conner drives, really >cheaply, and I can get a 3.5" 104 MB IDE drive *with* an IDE >controller for $550.00 == this seems like an amazing price. >Has anyone heard ANYTHING about these drives, good, bad, or >indifferent. I know that Conner has been around for a while, but I'm >very curious as to why they have recently been popping up for sale in >*cheap droves*. My opinion is that Conner drives are great. I have tested their 40 meg drives at and beyond environmental specs for weeks on end with fine success. I am aware of potential stiction problems with early production of the CP-34x series, but a code number identifies whether it is from the questionable era or the later good production (details available upon request). Don't confuse that with the CP-304x series, which is all good. Other sizes like the 100 and 200 meggers (CP-310x and CP-320x series) never had the potential stiction problem, either. As with most/many companies in the hard drive business, Conner is constantly bringing out new products and stopping production of older varieties. They have also been adding production capability and lowering prices to keep up with the demand and competition. I just checked with Conner (because of your question), and they say the the CP-3104 (the IDE version from the 310x series) is currently in production and just came off of allocation. That means that there are a lot more available now, so prices might fall a bit. But their guess is that an OEM had a bunch stockpiled and unloaded them, cheaply, in your area, just due to inventory problems. My contact said "great price, better grab em while you can". But it is probably just a very localized situation. If others away from New York have seen this also, please post your findings! You might also try quizing the three national distributers: Anthem, Cal-Abco, and Avnet (was Hamilton/Avnet). One of the three will likely know where they came from. Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with Conner. Just a satisfied OEMer. Regards, Al -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Al Weiss alz@tc.fluke.com 206-356-5252 John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. MS-269E PO Box 9090 Everett, WA 98206-9090 USA