Cheap disks for Suns

[Ajay Shah]

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 at 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 at 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 at 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 at usc.edu