Old MFM drives, wha?

[scootermaster]

So, I remember taking 2 old MFM full-height hard drives from my lab like 15 years ago. I've been using them as bookends ever since. They're great for that!

Anyway, I look on ebay to perhaps pick up some more (although I doubt I'd actually buy any there, since they're heavy and shipping would be a bitch) and they're going for, like, HUNDREDS of dollars.

So, the question: Are these people idiots? Are they just figuring "hey, these are retro, so people will pay for them" or is there really some serious secondary market for drives that no one has used in god knows how long?

Am I crazy?

 

[snickersnack]

Over the past 5 years or so some wierdos started blindly buying up previously cheapy/ garbage old computer parts and listing them for hundreds of dollars. I don't know if random MFM drives fall in that category but I'd be highly suspicious. It might be interesting go into Ebay's advanced search and check for completed auctions to see if any of those drives are moving.

 

[scootermaster]

Over the past 5 years or so some wierdos started blindly buying up previously cheapy/ garbage old computer parts and listing them for hundreds of dollars. I don't know if random MFM drives fall in that category but I'd be highly suspicious. It might be interesting go into Ebay's advanced search and check for completed auctions to see if any of those drives are moving.

Some of these, apparently, have sold as BiN for over $100. A number have gone for over $50.

They're apparently working, and often say "low level formatted; tested with MS-DOS 5.0".

I can't believe people are serious with that. I can GUARANTEE you that there are literally hundreds of companies that had to pay eWaste companies to take these things away, and probably still do.

 

[piasabird]

Just price some DDR2 RAM.

 

[Steltek]

They may be buying them up as replacement parts for one-off or special purpose systems to keep them running. Some ancient software just won't run in a VM or on modern hardware.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Industrial equipment, other niche / specialized computers, $20,000 programs with license dongles tied to a specific XT / AT computer that only has an MFM controller.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Just price some DDR2 RAM.

DDR2 isn't too bad. You can get it around $10/GB new, and even though it hovers around that for used as well I just saw an ebay auction go for $25 shipped for 2x2GB.
It isn't that DDR2 has gone up, it's that DDR3 has crashed through the floor.

 

[mfenn]

Industrial equipment, other niche / specialized computers, $20,000 programs with license dongles tied to a specific XT / AT computer that only has an MFM controller.

They may be buying them up as replacement parts for one-off or special purpose systems to keep them running. Some ancient software just won't run in a VM or on modern hardware.

Yep, this is exactly the reason. A couple hundred bucks is a pittance to keep your $100,000 piece of industrial equipment going.