Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!wuphys!rdd
From: rdd@wuphys.wustl.edu (Rakhal D. Dave)
Subject: Re: ED (2.88M) disks for 3$ each
Message-ID: <1991May17.160011.8109@wuphys.wustl.edu>
Reply-To: rdd@wuphys.UUCP (Rakhal D. Dave)
Organization: Physics Dept, Washington U. in St Louis
References: <13209@dog.ee.lbl.gov>
Date: Fri, 17 May 91 16:00:11 GMT

In article <13209@dog.ee.lbl.gov> skankman@ux5.lbl.gov (David Schurig) writes:
>I was at the U.C. San Diego book store the other day and I checked
>the NeXT edu prices.  I saw 50 ED disks for $160 i.e. $3.2 each.
>Do any other schools have this deal?  U.C. Berkeley does not. 
>This brings the price of ED disks down to 1.1 $/Mbyte.  Compare
>to 1.4 $/Mbyte for the best HD disk deal I have seen. Considering
>the added convenience of higher capacity this pricing makes ED disks
>the media of choice in my mind.  Of course one still needs HD disks
>for carrying data to other platforms, but I am very glad my floppy
>drive plays these ED guys.  Good move Jobs. :^)
>
>p.s. I have noticed lately that monster size hard drives are slipping
>below the 2 $/Mbyte level.  Does this signify the heyday of these
>devices or the demise of their industry.  I vote we end the mechanical 
>reign of terror.
>
>Daev

MEI/ Micro Center (1-800-634-3478) sells DS/HD disks for 59 cents each (The
price is down from 79 cents earlier) Delivery time is 6 to 8 weeks though.
This amounts to 41 cents/Mbyte. If you make a hole in these disks at the
right place using the ED disk as a template you can convert it to a
2.88 MB disk. (This is true, beleive me). While there may be those who
feel insecure about the stored data after doing this, I do too, I must admit
that after doing this to over 20 disks in the past 4 months I have yet to 
face a disk reading problem. What happens on occasion that the disk may
not format at 2,88 MB. In which case plug the new hole with tape and unplug
the old hole and it will work at 1.44 MB. But if the disk does format at
2.88 MB it seems to pose no problem later. 95% of the time the disk will
format at 2.88 MB. If you do this and buy the disk from MEI the cost per MB
is 20 cents. Rakhal.
