Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uwm.edu!uwvax!astroatc!vidiot!brown
From: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Compaq disks are non-standard?
Message-ID: <249@vidiot.UUCP>
Date: 24 Nov 89 16:53:11 GMT
References: <362@m1.cs.man.ac.uk>
Reply-To: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout
Lines: 24

In article <362@m1.cs.man.ac.uk> mario@r3.cs.man.ac.uk writes:
<I have been ringing around the micro dealers looking for some
<expansion disk for my Compaq 386/20e (currently has a 42Mb drive,
<supplied with the system), and was horrified when two of the dealers
<told me that the disk interface on Compaqs is non-standard, and that I
<must buy Compaq's own drives.  These are *expensive* (over twice the
<price per meg of most PC drives).
<
<Is this common knowledge?  (if so, why wasn't I told :-).)

Yes, it is common knowledge by now that Compaq uses modified ST-506.

<Is there any way out?

Yes, but maybe not in the U.K.  Here in the states there are now third party
manufacturers of drives for the Compaq.  I have a 100 MB hard drive in there
and another one on order.  The kit is put together by CMS, a place that puts
together various third party vendor stuff into usable kits.  I have no idea
if they have an outlet in the U.K.
-- 
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