*>*>* BEST FLOPPY DRIVE*<*<* Updated!!

[dingdongdingdong]

try to find it at onvia.com it have it for 10dollars free shipping i think

 

[WebDude]

Andrey,

What you found was most definitely the MOST EXPENSIVE floppy drive.

$149 for a 1.44 meg floppy.

OUCH!!! (Yeah I know it's scsi. But still.)

WebDude

 

[andrey]

he he, I know
Being SCSI floppy drive, it is still not any faster than our regular $10 floppy drive

 

[NuovoTech]

Best I've used are the PanaSonic LS-120x2 (double-speed). Look at PriceWatch
2 find OEM ones...

 

[Zach]

I had a sony that was nice, real quiet. I don't use floppies any more though, I don't even know which computer has it..

 

[Rocksnow]

NEC, Panasonic, Sony, Epson(I have one old old floppy from Epson), Samsung...etc. They look all the same to me but I prefer Panasonic as it is lighter than anothers(Does it matter?).
BTW anyone have news about the Panasonic 32MB Floppy + LS120/240?
This drive looks very interesting to me.

 

[Gustavus]

WildDreamer
I don't think Onvia has free shipping anymore. When I check out, the shipping is almost as much as the drive.

 

[Gustavus]

Soccerman
I have LS120 drives in both of my systems. How do I format ordinary 1.44 floppy disks to 32Meg?
That would be a very useful thing to know.
Thanks.
Gus Simmons

 

[Motero]

Any floppy is good. They are all the same. Any store has them at a &quot;good price&quot; because they are so cheap! I have an ls-120 drive in my pc...it's very nice.

 

[goog]

I bought a Panasonic floppy drive from Onvia Canada last summer, using in my recently built new system which says its generic NEC as does Sandra.
Don't think it really matters, its just a floppy drive.

 

[Geocross]

I cannot believe the amount of post this thread has attracted!!! It's a friggin floppy drive. They all perform about the same, and they all range in prices from 10-25 dollars. I bought a black Sony Floppy for $25 and couldn't tell the difference between this one or any other one I've ever used.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

NO, they are not the same.
Some are faster, some are more reliable.
My 7 years old NEC is still working.
I feel Mitsumi is faster than Teac, Sony, NEC.

 

[XeonTux]

lol, ok we need an anandtech benchmark article

wow that scsi comes in full-height! What a kewl way to fill up drive bays!


Seriously though, I think my next floppy is going to be a 2-in-1 Epson. It has both a 3.5 and 5.25 in one half-height 5.25&quot; bay. (If anyone has a white one in mint condition they're willing to ship cheap lemme know)

 

[Quickfingerz]

<sarcasm> What's a floppy drive? </sarcasm>

 

[Mday]

not really, you're better off getting it online, unless the store is having a sale...

 

[dingdongdingdong]

Hey Gustavus onvia still have free shipping just got two today.

 

[WildDreamer]

Yep, I just ordered a few things a bit ago and free shipping was still available, just make sure you select 3 - 7 Business Days for the s&amp;h method.

 

[Geocross]

yeah, kingofcomputers, they are the same. There are two types of floppys, ones that work, and ones that don't (unless you have a scsi?!?!). Bottom line though, if the performance of your floppy drive means that much to you, then you probably can get away with using a p133 or something of that ilk. Other than saving drivers, bios', etc, there really is no need for them in real world computing. The only real reason that computers are still using them today, is because they are so damn cheap, which goes back to my original comment to the original poster. You are not going to be disappointed nor overwhelmed no matter what Floppy you buy, so just go on priceline.com, look for a brand you trust, and buy it. The difference in cost is negligible, and so is any performance difference.

 

[Soccerman]

for those wondering how to reformat their 1.44 meg floppy disks to 32 meg ones, I don't know how, all I know is that you can do it somehow.

did any software come with your superdisk drives?

have you tried formatting a 1.44 meg floppy in windows, see if there are any extra options?

btw, I don't know for sure, but I think the first generation LS-120 drives didn't have this feature..

 

[Gustavus]

Soccerman
Both of my LS120 drives are the newer x2 drives running off of Promise Floppy MAX controllers. If there is a way to format 1.44Meg disks to larger capacity, it isn't obvious. The capacity of the disks are recognized and a format command formats them to the proper size. It may be possible hack the system to do what you say, but it is not obvious how. If you ever run across instructions on how to &quot;fool&quot; the LS120 into formating 1.44 disks to have larger capacity, please let me know; e-mail, PM or post on AnandTech.

 

[Geocross]

I pretty sure that technology is a ways away, sometime in '02 I've read. I don't think you'll be able to use the standard 1.44 floppys that are currently out.

 

[Nkcowboy]

Wow. Loads of replys in this thread!

 

[Floyd]

Here's a link to the Panasonic 32MB floppy...doesn't appear to be available yet.

 

[okydoky]

One thing I can't stand is a noisy floppy drive. My Mitsumi drives seem to be the most quiet drives I have used. And @ $9.00 each, Who would complain...

 

[skace]

I like to buy quality parts, even down to the floppy drive. So, I disagree that all floppies are the same.

At one time I had a cheap pale white floppy disk drive that I got for free because I didn't think it made a difference. That thing was terrible, seemed to read every disk twice before doing anything and sometimes couldn't even read disks. I finally went out and splurged ($25 or something...) and got a nice name brand one. It seems to read in half the time and diskettes that didn't work in the other one now work in this one.

The thing is, floppy disk drives are cheap so why not just get a good one and not have to worry later on? When your system is dead in the water your floppy disk drive may be the only thing to save you. Besides, even mousepads have levels of quality, so you can be sure their are good and bad floppy disk drives out there