The Road to SATA

No_Style · Jan 17, 2004, 12:38 AM

PATA is ok, but getting really old. When will the market really push out the S-ATA standard? It's so much smaller and such a space saver! I'm still using P-ATA, but when my system was acting up I was looking for possible upgrades just in case. I've noticed that HDDs have dropped in price and SATA drives are becoming more affordable. I read an article earliar this week talking about SATA and the market today. The author mentioned the "need" for SATA CD-ROMs even though CDROMs don't use the entire bandwidth of regular PATAs. I'm all for SATA, my next HDDs will be SATA (unless new industry standard just sweeps it away)~

So what am I rambling about? I want to know if anybody knows anything about SATA CD-ROMs and when PATA devices start biting the dust~... It's time for change! We have 64-Bit, we have PCI-Express and a new form factor (BTX) coming. Will SATA follow?

Judas · Jan 17, 2004, 06:12 AM

Totally agree... we have to get everything moved over to sata.... and i mean... even the damn floppy.... i'm getting a little tired of seeing the things we could be doing.. using.... and yet some things are just forced into being the stone age....

Logla · Jan 17, 2004, 02:35 PM

I agree!

I don't like having the big bulky connectors on boards. You would think as well with small form factor pcs starting to take off, there would be more interest in this from the manufacturers.

Judas · Jan 17, 2004, 05:16 PM

....well... they moved the Printers over to USB ports.. and what a difference... as you can now print.. and play a game at the same time.... (no massive resource hogs)..... floppy is the same way.... you usinga floppy.... it sucks a pile of resources..... just the way it's designed.... if i had my way.... floppies would be tossed altogether... and every machine should come with Mount rainer running CD-Roms....

No_Style · Jan 17, 2004, 05:25 PM

Backward compatibility is great. But where is the line between sufficient Backward Compatibility and excessive backward compatbility? I like how vendors like HP are phasing out Floppies altogether. Unfortunately, a lot of us techies know that floppies are very useful for troubleshooting and are still widely used in older systems like NT 4.0 based ones. On the topic of printers, I need a new one..sorta. I have this old Epson Stylus Color 2, but it's a resource hog like you've mentioned. I don't want a replacement until it's dead, but anything along the lines of DB-25 to USB converter would be great..if one exists.

swimtech · Jan 17, 2004, 05:42 PM

Floppies are great troubleshooting tools - thankfully we can boot from a USB external unit or a CD...

It is time to adopt the new techs, so that we all can do more, faster, with our computers. Although we still need to be able to effectively and efficiently fix them when they break.

BTW, IBM now issues bios updates using ISO images (exclusively for some models) and Apple has used boot CDs for diagnostics purposes for years now.

SATA is better, faster, cheaper - bring it on! We all win.

Gardinen · Jan 19, 2004, 01:22 PM

If you're a frequent OS installer, like me, and wanna use an external HD controller in 2000/XP, a floppy drive is essential. Since Windows simply won't accept anything else than floppy for installing the device drivers.

Judas · Jan 19, 2004, 09:43 PM

that's were Mt. Rainer tech comes in...

Jan 17, 2004, 12:38 AM	#1
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	The Road to SATA PATA is ok, but getting really old. When will the market really push out the S-ATA standard? It's so much smaller and such a space saver! I'm still using P-ATA, but when my system was acting up I was looking for possible upgrades just in case. I've noticed that HDDs have dropped in price and SATA drives are becoming more affordable. I read an article earliar this week talking about SATA and the market today. The author mentioned the "need" for SATA CD-ROMs even though CDROMs don't use the entire bandwidth of regular PATAs. I'm all for SATA, my next HDDs will be SATA (unless new industry standard just sweeps it away)~ So what am I rambling about? I want to know if anybody knows anything about SATA CD-ROMs and when PATA devices start biting the dust~... It's time for change! We have 64-Bit, we have PCI-Express and a new form factor (BTX) coming. Will SATA follow? __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Jan 17, 2004, 05:25 PM	Thread Starter #5
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	It's that damn backwards compatbility~ Backward compatibility is great. But where is the line between sufficient Backward Compatibility and excessive backward compatbility? I like how vendors like HP are phasing out Floppies altogether. Unfortunately, a lot of us techies know that floppies are very useful for troubleshooting and are still widely used in older systems like NT 4.0 based ones. On the topic of printers, I need a new one..sorta. I have this old Epson Stylus Color 2, but it's a resource hog like you've mentioned. I don't want a replacement until it's dead, but anything along the lines of DB-25 to USB converter would be great..if one exists. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Jan 17, 2004, 05:42 PM	#6
swimtech HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,040 Rep Power: 124 System Specs	Floppies are great troubleshooting tools - thankfully we can boot from a USB external unit or a CD... It is time to adopt the new techs, so that we all can do more, faster, with our computers. Although we still need to be able to effectively and efficiently fix them when they break. BTW, IBM now issues bios updates using ISO images (exclusively for some models) and Apple has used boot CDs for diagnostics purposes for years now. SATA is better, faster, cheaper - bring it on! We all win. __________________ It's not so much getting your way that matters or not - what matters is how you go about getting it.

Jan 17, 2004, 02:35 PM	#3
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	I agree! I don't like having the big bulky connectors on boards. You would think as well with small form factor pcs starting to take off, there would be more interest in this from the manufacturers.

Jan 19, 2004, 01:22 PM	#7
Gardinen DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Trollhättan, Sweden Posts: 512 Rep Power: 0	If you're a frequent OS installer, like me, and wanna use an external HD controller in 2000/XP, a floppy drive is essential. Since Windows simply won't accept anything else than floppy for installing the device drivers.