Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: redrumloa on June 04, 2010, 01:12:06 AM

Title: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: redrumloa on June 04, 2010, 01:12:06 AM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120578853578

I tested it and it indeed works! Amiga HD floppy drives are fairly uncommon. Make an offer.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: amigadave on June 04, 2010, 02:09:48 AM
You don't remember when these came out?  I have one and if memory serves me they were manufactured and offered for sale right before or right after Gateway purchased the Amiga.  Gateway's competitor, Dell, was rumored to also be interested in purchasing the Amiga, but other than these slim external Dell branded Amiga HD floppy drives being made, I don't think there was any other evidence that Dell was really interested in the purchase.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: redrumloa on June 04, 2010, 02:22:04 AM
Quote from: amigadave;562747
You don't remember when these came out?  I have one and if memory serves me they were manufactured and offered for sale right before or right after Gateway purchased the Amiga.  Gateway's competitor, Dell, was rumored to also be interested in purchasing the Amiga, but other than these slim external Dell branded Amiga HD floppy drives being made, I don't think there was any other evidence that Dell was really interested in the purchase.

Wow, no I don't remember Dell selling HD Amiga floppy drives! I remember Dell showing a passing interest in the Amiga, but not releasing a product... I assumed this was a user modification.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: Vlabguy1 on June 04, 2010, 02:27:00 AM
Why is this weird?  I ordered one at the same time I ordered my A4000T from Anti Gravity oh way..way back..not knowing the 4000T does NOT have an external floppy connector :-(..

I returned it.

Rich
ny



Quote from: redrumloa;562733
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120578853578

I tested it and it indeed works! Amiga HD floppy drives are fairly uncommon. Make an offer.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: adolescent on June 04, 2010, 04:26:13 AM
These were Dell laptop drives.  Not made for the Amiga, but made to work.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: recidivist on June 04, 2010, 05:09:11 AM
I own something WEIRD?
Got mine  back in the 90s.Must have used it  at least once.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: Matt_H on June 04, 2010, 05:13:47 AM
I've seen several of these on eBay over the years, but I never remember seeing them advertised either directly or through a dealer. Strange.

I've already got plenty of external HD floppy drives; it's internal ones I'm after (I wish those FloppyFix adapters would be mass produced!). Hope this goes to a good home - very handy for Mac/DOS emulation.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: zipper on June 04, 2010, 05:14:22 AM
Nothing so weird, they just worked with Amiga. And were tested in AF or CU -but I'm not sure if under Dell brand. A good alternative to PowerComputing internal drives.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: amigadave on June 04, 2010, 06:53:04 AM
Quote from: Matt_H;562778
I've seen several of these on eBay over the years, but I never remember seeing them advertised either directly or through a dealer. Strange.

I've already got plenty of external HD floppy drives; it's internal ones I'm after (I wish those FloppyFix adapters would be mass produced!). Hope this goes to a good home - very handy for Mac/DOS emulation.

I am sure that some of them did get auctioned on eBay over the years, but I don't remember seeing any of them until this one.  I think Dell only manufactured one fairly small run of these and I don't know what the number was of how many they made.  I am trying to remember which Amiga dealer I bought mine from, but I am pretty sure they were available from many different dealers for a short time until they ran out of stock.

I agree that they are very handy for Mac/DOS emulation.  Being external makes them great for moving from one Amiga to another (except the A4000T, which does not have an external floppy port).
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: Tahoe on June 04, 2010, 07:10:20 AM
Dell never manufactured them in the first place. These are laptop drives (from Dell) adjusted to work on Amiga. Basically the cable acts as an adapter, they were sold under various retail names. They might as well have been branded HP/Gateway/Asus.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: varmfskii on June 04, 2010, 09:50:05 AM
I have one of these that I bought new when they came out, but while it has always worked fine for DD floppies, it has always been nearly useless with HD floppies (almost can never successfully format a disk, rarely able to read a file successfully of the disk etc.).
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: RussellB on June 04, 2010, 01:26:18 PM
The one I have has an Amitek brand on it.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: T3000 on June 04, 2010, 03:25:11 PM
I have one of these Dell drives for my A3000D. Nice and compact, sets on the ZIP drive. The cable connection does come loose on occasion. Picked it up many years back for $20 from a friend that was parting out his beefed up FrankenA500. I recall having problems with formating HD floppies, but think it was mostly the brand of HD floppies.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: amiga1260 on June 04, 2010, 04:55:34 PM
I have three of them. One has a problem with detecting HD disks. Most common with these drives are problem with the cable.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: Lizard on June 04, 2010, 06:04:20 PM
I also have one of these in my spare-parts cabinet.
But I don't recall having problems with it.
Title: Re: On eBay: Wierd External HD Dell Floppy drive for Amiga
Post by: rkauer on June 04, 2010, 07:41:26 PM
I have the original Dell drive. Can someone point me the way to convert the drive?