Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrcae!hubcap!gatech!ukma!rutgers!deimos!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!uxf.cso.uiuc.edu!thompson
From: thompson@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Cheap diskettes - a bargain?
Message-ID: <46700087@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 19 Nov 88 00:23:00 GMT
References: <32406@bbn.COM>
Lines: 66
Nf-ID: #R:bbn.COM:32406:uxf.cso.uiuc.edu:46700087:000:3612
Nf-From: uxf.cso.uiuc.edu!thompson    Nov 18 18:23:00 1988


In article <32406@bbn.COM>, levin@bbn.com (Joel B Levin) writes:
> I just got a flyer in the mail from MEI/Micro Center of Columbus,
> Ohio.  They are advertising 3.5" diskettes at $.85 each (in lots of
> 25; shipping $.50 and labels at $1.50 for 50 -- this amounts to 50
> disks for $45 complete).  They claim diskettes are certified to meet
> or exceed ANSI standards and have "Lifetime Warranty".  My question:
> anyone heard of these guys or have any experience with them or their
> products?  This price is good till the end of December.

I have used MEI disks for a couple years now.  I started with 5 1/4
 generic disks, because they were cheap, and a friend recommended
 them.  After 300 disks bought (and 250 used), I've had only 5 problems
 (and these were ones which just wouldn't format).  Not bad for
 only 25 cents each.  I have been using some of these disks for years
 now without error (others I've given away, so have no data on their
 life).

I've been using their generic 3.5" disks (DS/DD) for about 13 months
 now, and gotten varying results.  The first batch (of 50) was pretty
 decent - I think I remember one bad one; the others have held up
 no problem.  The second batch of 50 was also pretty good - not an error
 among them (formatting), and only one write error on one since.
 The third batch of 50 was not so good - 6 didn't format, and 3
 have fried since (in the past two months).  I'm pretty wary of
 the whole batch, and treat them as volatile temp disks for transit
 and workdisks.  My last batch of fifty are great - no formatting
 errors and they've held up fine for a few weeks.  Plus, I trust
 them - they *look* good.  In fact, they look just like KAO's (the
 previous batches varied in color/texture of the disk - the
 horrible batch had smooth, rather then textured, casings and were
 stark white.  All other batches had textured casings and were grey
 or light brown; this last batch is Sony blue, like KAO's).

The occasional other items I've bought from them were of good quality
 (i.e., the disk cases for 3.95 ea. and the disk labels @ 1.50/50).
 Plus, they ship reasonably fast (within 5 days), the staff is
 always pleasant to talk to, they are open very late, they have
 a toll-free number, and shipping charges are reasonable.  I've
 bought boxed Sony from them, too, with 0 problem and been very
 satisfied with the service/price.

Let me just interject here that I use Sony for my archives, but for everyday
 use (and I have maybe 50 disks or so I use often, and I'm constantly
 loaning/selling/giving disks to friends), I see no reason to use disks
 which cost twice as much.  That's where I use my generics, and they work well.

I have just decided to return the 10 or so awful disks, hoping for
 a replacement (or refund, as they say, but I'll ask for a replacement).
 So, I haven't dealt with their return policy yet.  But they do have
 a "no questions asked" return policy (so they say).

The friend upon whose recommendation I first ordered from MEI has
 been ordering 5 1/4's from them for 6 years now with no major
 complaints - he still recommends them as a reliable source of 
 inexpensive diskettes.  And as he is in charge of a computer
 consortium, he's been able to recommend disks to dozens of
 people (at least), and has ordered over 1000 himself.  But then,
 those are the 5 1/4's.

- Mark Thompson                  "The University Neither Knows Nor
  erstwhile T.A.                  Wants To Know What I Am Saying."
  University of Illinois at U-C

  ARPANET: thompson@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu
  USMAILNET: 202 E Springfield #3B, Champaign IL 61820