CompUSA $35 Mom and Pop $9 - Ultra ATA EIDE cable ?

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Videofreak

I went shopping for a new EIDE Ultra ATA cable. You know blue on one
end black on the other. First I noticed that CompUSA is pushing the
round cables. God those really suck. To use them you need to have
your devices spread apart as opposed to right next to each other
because the rounded cables are not nearly as flexible as the flat
ones. Anyway I say that CompUSA was selling their for $35 friggin'
dollars. I went across the street to mom and pop and found the same
brand type for $9. While I realize that mom and pop have to compete
with the big guys, one would think the store with the better buying
power would sell it cheaper. Obviously not in this case.

Perhaps it was something I missed? 40pin and 80pin are two entirely
different connectors right? I mean an eighty pin won't fit in a 40pin
will it?

My DVD drive says it needs EIDI DVD cable and of course there is no
cable called a "DVD cable" that I have ever seen. Its always been an
EIDE cable.

Videofreak
"And then, the earth being small, mankind will
migrate into space, and will cross the airless
Sahara's which separate planet from planet and
sun from sun. The earth will become a holy land
which will be visited by pilgrims from all quarters
of the universe."
 
I went shopping for a new EIDE Ultra ATA cable. You know blue on one
end black on the other.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it was something I missed? 40pin and 80pin are two entirely
different connectors right? I mean an eighty pin won't fit in a 40pin
will it?
Click to expand...

Ive used both types on HDs and dvd /cd drives.

Yeah I noticed the price thing but then they are in business to make a
profit so they do what they think thye can getaway with and its hard
to complain when there are so many other sources for most people.

Where Im at unfortunately there arent that many sources. Ive still
found a source or two so it doesnt bug me that much.

In the past all the big chains were notorious for totally sucking.
When people said they bought something at computer city or Compusa - I
laughed and immediately saw them as totally uninformed morons,
suckers. Then with the internet hype - and all that free or low cost
subsidized shipping and deals - and office max and others starting to
do rebate deals - COMUSA and computer city actually had very good
deals during sales. Some of their stuff is also very competitively
priced in general while alot of the generic stuff you usually find for
cheap cost an arm and a leg I guess to make up for low margins on the
other stuff. They have buying power but they alo have way bigger
overhead. The one near me is huge and they make up for it also with
services like classes.

All the cables there make you laugh - try pricing a USB cord - $1-3 at
many mom and pop places , it was $20-30 at the compusa, office max and
depot near me.
 
Videofreak said:
Perhaps it was something I missed? 40pin and 80pin are two entirely
different connectors right? I mean an eighty pin won't fit in a 40pin
will it?
Click to expand...

It isn't 40 pin and 80 pin. They are all 40 pin, and will all fit into the
same socket, it's just that some of the ribbon cables have 80 conductors
(wires), with an earth between each signal wire. For speeds of ATA66 and
above you need the 80 wire cables as the intermediate earths minimise
cross-talk between the signal cables and allow better data integrity. If you
try running an ATA100 drive and controller using a 40 wire cable you won't
get full speed, they have a sensor to tell them the number of wires and
therefore the maximum safe data speed and will default to ATA33.
 
I went shopping for a new EIDE Ultra ATA cable. You know blue on one
end black on the other. First I noticed that CompUSA is pushing the
round cables. God those really suck. To use them you need to have
your devices spread apart as opposed to right next to each other
because the rounded cables are not nearly as flexible as the flat
ones. Anyway I say that CompUSA was selling their for $35 friggin'
dollars. I went across the street to mom and pop and found the same
brand type for $9. While I realize that mom and pop have to compete
with the big guys, one would think the store with the better buying
power would sell it cheaper. Obviously not in this case.
Click to expand...

The last time I went to CompUSA they wanted $80 for a DVI cable. I
went on the Internet and got a DVI cable for $29.

Adam
 
Videofreak said:
Perhaps it was something I missed? 40pin and 80pin are two entirely
different connectors right? I mean an eighty pin won't fit in a 40pin
will it?
Click to expand...


It's 80 wire not 80 pin. And yes comp USA is REALLY high on stuff like
cables etc. They sell stuff like a printer cheap and then try to charge
$30 for the cable for it!
My DVD drive says it needs EIDI DVD cable and of course there is no
cable called a "DVD cable" that I have ever seen. Its always been an
EIDE cable.
Click to expand...

CD's and DVD's work fine with the older 40 wire cables. only
ATA66-ata100-ata133 hard drives need the 80 wire cables.
 
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Thaknks for the response all. All good info.

Videofreak


Videofreak
"And then, the earth being small, mankind will
migrate into space, and will cross the airless
Sahara's which separate planet from planet and
sun from sun. The earth will become a holy land
which will be visited by pilgrims from all quarters
of the universe."
Click to expand...

"And then, the earth being small, mankind will
migrate into space, and will cross the airless
Sahara's which separate planet from planet and
sun from sun. The earth will become a holy land
which will be visited by pilgrims from all quarters
of the universe."
 
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