Where can I buy 720k dd floppy disks?

Just a couple of questions. I need some good quality 720K dd floppy discs to use on my A1200. I have tried amigakit but they don't have any in stock. Does anyone know any reliable places still selling good quality ones? There are a few sellers on ebay selling new ones and some selling "refurbished" but will they be good?

If I buy new unformatted discs, how can I format them ready to use on the A1200? Is it better to buy formatted or unformatted ones?

Thanks for any help/advice.

[ajk]

New DD floppies are getting rare and/or expensive, larger batches (=sensible price per diskette) do come up on eBay every now and then though. But you can generally use HD ones just as well. If your A1200 is a late model, you may need to tape the other hole or disable the sensor in the drive. Older drives don't even have the sensor for high density so it won't be a problem.

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by Van Denhawk

If I buy new unformatted discs, how can I format them ready to use on the A1200?

Two ways to go about it:

- Click on the disk's icon in Workbench and select Format from the drop down menu.

- "format drive <drive> name <label>", add noicons to the end of that command if you don't want a Trashcan.

Originally Posted by Van Denhawk

Is it better to buy formatted or unformatted ones?

Makes no difference to Amiga users.

Originally Posted by ajk

But you can generally use HD ones just as well.

Not entirely true, they will work but they won't be as reliable.

[Boo Boo]

Who produces DD disks and why? Surley they arnt just made for the Amiga market and there cant be much call for floppys now days - Or are they new old stock or production is cheap, easy so doesnt matter.

[Mick]

http://www.smrsoftware.com sell them but given the rarity they are understandably not cheap, it's also a good idea to contact them about any international shipping costs as the checkout isn't very good. They posted USPS for me after I had contacted them and I saved a bucketload in P+P and got extra disks added to my order as a result.

[kipper2k]

here is a place on ebay. they are 1.44mb disks but if you cover the tab they will work fine as a 720k floppy.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/lot-of100-FUJIFIL...item43a569edd8

Thanks for the advice. Shipping costs from the US to the UK are more expensive than the disks themselves. I have found these new packs of 10 which seem expensive but it is about the price which the disks are selling these days.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=236635101316

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=236627770053

Has anyone used these brands? I might order a pack of either of these.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Van Denhawk

Thanks for the advice. Shipping costs from the US to the UK are more expensive than the disks themselves. I have found these new packs of 10 which seem expensive but it is about the price which the disks are selling these days.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=236635101316

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=236627770053

Has anyone used these brands? I might order a pack of either of these.

The dysan brand is OK, never heard of the other brand, i would imagine its just a rebranded disk made by one of the bigger manufacturers. The disks i linked to in my previous post are actually the cheapest i found and that includes Canadian Stores, it seems they all charge outrageous handling and shipping costs which don't make small purchases worthwhile.

I ordered 100 disks from the site i linked to and it works out at 52c (32pence) a piece including shipping costs so it was worth it. The ones you linked to are 3 times more expensive (not including shipping costs) so it may be worth investigating the cost of shipping. (might even be worthwhile reselling to people as a service if shipping from here worked out cheaper. (I wouldnt plan on making a profit)

BTW, if anyone needs something that is only available to people in Canada/US and you are in Europe, let me know and we can see if we can get it remailed

[TjLaZer]

You can get some new DSDD disks here for about 80 cents a disk.

http://www.smrsoftware.com/index.php?cPath=28_30

You do not want to use HD1.44 disks unless you have to, and if you do make backups. They do not work as well.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

You can get some new DSDD disks here for about 80 cents a disk.

http://www.smrsoftware.com/index.php?cPath=28_30

You do not want to use HD1.44 disks unless you have to, and if you do make backups. They do not work as well.

for 100 disks, they want $98.50 for delivery to Canada

Also, i have had luck copying games to HD disks where a regular Ds/DD disk will not work so i think it comes down to brands rather than format

[voxel]

Originally Posted by Van Denhawk

Just a couple of questions. I need some good quality 720K dd floppy discs to use on my A1200.
Thanks for any help/advice.

Well :-)

I have NEW Memorex DSDD floppy disks with stickers for Amiga (880Ko) or Atari (720Ko) in stock if you want :-)
9.95 Euro for 10 or 45 Euro for 50 + P&P (lowest possible I can depending of destination)

if interested send me a PM or email to voxel AT voxelamigashop DOT fr :-)

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Van Denhawk

Shipping costs from the US to the UK are more expensive than the disks themselves.

If you're referring to SMRSoftware that's why anyone outside the US needs to contact them like it says in their FAQ, their online store checkout system is absolutely rubbish with regards to international shipping rates.

I think I originally ordered 50 disks because the P+P was so expensive, I emailed them and they quoted me USPS at a massive saving, I ended up with 200 disks for near enough the same price.

The disks are black and come with no labels but I've not had a bad one yet.

Originally Posted by kipper2k

for 100 disks, they want $98.50 for delivery to Canada

As above.

[kipper2k]

i contacted SMRsoftware for their best prices, i'll let everyone know what total costs would be

[kipper2k]

Here is reply from SMRSoftware ref cost of shipping (to Canada...

Brian:
Thanks for writing. You are correct, the postal service offers very attractive rates that most of our Canadian customers prefer. The Postal service offers a "Flat Rate Box" that can hold up to 300 disks and provides the best rate for any order over 50 disks. For the 100 disk order, the rate is $27.95 USD. For the 200 disk order, the rate is the same, but you would probably want to add insurance for $4.50 ( a certain amount of insurance is provided automatically on this service based on weight. It is roughly adequate for the 5lb 100 disk order, but for the 10 lb order of 200 disks, the automatic insurance is only $92.)
We just had another 30,000 disks manufactured, so our stock is fresh.

edit... 200 disk order would work out about 87cents each

[Mick]

I just browsed through my archived emails.

When I originally went through the checkout it came to $147 for 50 disks including UPS delivery (I think P+P was $90 or something daft ), but after a few emails my order was changed to 200 disks and it came to $193 total (including $50 P+P via USPS). I figured I'd might as well get 200 disks than have to order some more later, I think he said up to 300 could be sent like that.

P.S. You might get stung by customs too.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by Mick

I just browsed through my archived emails.

When I originally went through the checkout it came to $147 for 50 disks including UPS delivery (I think P+P was $90 or something daft ), but after a few emails my order was changed to 200 disks and it came to $193 total (including $50 P+P via USPS). I figured I'd might as well get 200 disks than have to order some more later, I think he said up to 300 could be sent like that.

P.S. You might get stung by customs too.

yah, i think so, i think i'll use the other place i found and see what the DSHD disks are like. they work out to 52cents a disk including shipping and because i only ordered 100 they should probably sneak thru customs

[Skope]

Originally Posted by Boo Boo

Who produces DD disks and why? Surley they arnt just made for the Amiga market and there cant be much call for floppys now days - Or are they new old stock or production is cheap, easy so doesnt matter.

There's a variety of uses for that type of disk. People who use old samplers, keyboards, stitching machines and ofcourse older computers still use and need them. (:

[Hewitson]

A lot of industrial machines need them as well.

[paul2010]

If anyone in the UK wants some (not sure if he ships abroad), this guy seems to have a couple.

Only a small site, though, so I doubt he's got many.

http://www.dataserve-retro.co.uk/con...en-uk/d41.html

[kipper2k]

If you want these DD disks for writing IPF images then you don't really need to worry about using new DD disks, i have been able to use old DD and HD disks and still get perfect writes of ipf images so i dont think it is really a necessity.
Even for ADF images old floppies still work good

[diablothe2nd]

I'm necro posting in this thread as I've just recieved word from smrsoftware that the factory producing brand new DSDD disks will likely cease soon.

email is as follows:

Thanks for writing. When shipping internationally, we usually utilize the
post office. The US Post Office offers a "Priority Mail" service to other
countries which delivers in 6 - 10 days at a fairly economical price. For
disk shipments of 50 to 300 pieces, we use a special "Flat rate" box
provided by the post office, this service costs $47.95.

When shipping 50 disks, the insurance provided with this service is
adequate. For 100 disks, please add $5 for additional insurance. For 200
disks, please add $7.50 for additional insurance.

Since you mention that you might need more later, I should mention that our supplier has informed us that we might not be able to get these manufactured in the future. We have 12,000 disks at this time, but we may be unable to offer this product soon.

Our shopping cart only offers UPS Shipping. If you wish to order and ship
through the post office, please reply with your complete mailing address. I
will create a PayPal invoice for you. Upon payment of the invoice, we can
usually ship same day.

Scott

EDIT - i'm wondering if anyone in the UK would be interested in a joint purchase for a few thousand before they dry up

[diablothe2nd]

OK, I think i'll be good for 100 disks (£88 delivered if customs dont catch it), but if someone in the UK wants to team up for a joint effort to further bring down the delivery costs let me know. assuming the pricing structures for disks and postage here's what we could save:

ONE person buying for themselves 100 disks is £88 delivered or £105 if caught by customs)

if two of us buy 100 disks each, it'll be $107 each (£66 or £79.20 if caught by customs)

4 of us buying 100 each would be $75 each (£46 or £55 if caught by customs)


and so on.... these are brand new, not NOS... so should give at least another 20 years of life, they are also totally wiped and unformatted so no trace of FAT filesystems to give a complete fresh start to the disk.

any takers?


*numbers are just rounded examples... i can get exact figures when i know how many of us will go for it, including delivery costs from my place to all of you.

I welcome other more trusted folk here to take on the ordering and big delivery and redistribution if people wish, too.

[keitha1200]

Don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm but isn't that rather expensive?

At £46 which equals 46p per disk, (than there's postage on top). Also you would only have the sellers word that; the disks are new! for all you know, the disks could be old-new stock: i.e. sitting about in some warehouse for the last 10+ years or so. Just because the seller says their new: doesn't make them so.

I'm not meaning to sound negative towards your idea.

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by keitha1200

At £46 which equals 46p per disk

I've not managed to find DSDD cheaper... if you have please do share!

Originally Posted by keitha1200

I'm not meaning to sound negative towards your idea.

no problem, that's what forums are for... but please do show examples of your argument, as all i'm finding is used or NOS disk going for £1 per floppy or more being sold in the UK.

[MrCheese]

Originally Posted by diablothe2nd

I've not managed to find DSDD cheaper... if you have please do share!

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...products_id=85

£34.43 inc VAT for 100.

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by MrCheese

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...products_id=85

£34.43 inc VAT for 100.

well fu*k me, they didn't have those in stock yesterday

ok, forget i said anything!!! to amigakit i go

EDIT that's a bit of a bitch actually as i ordered Amiga Future from them yesterday too and i did check for disks! LOL

[diablothe2nd]

Nope they're not in stock... i can't add them to the cart.... shall give them a ring

[diablothe2nd]

Checked with Amigakit, that's an error on their website, they don't actually have them in stock.

and so, the hunt continues!

[MrCheese]

Originally Posted by diablothe2nd

Checked with Amigakit, that's an error on their website, they don't actually have them in stock.

and so, the hunt continues!

D'oh!

[I.Did]

Tony (airey36) always have disks

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400-Amiga-...ht_1131wt_1172

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by I.Did

Tony (airey36) always have disks

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400-Amiga-...ht_1131wt_1172

They're not new, but they'll do for that price!

ordered and paid for

[I.Did]

I ordered some 800+ yesterday

Bought some stuff in the past from and have no probs with Tony at all.

[diablothe2nd]

I think i've ordered parts or at least enquired with him at some point before. was quick to repsond so yeah, i agree.

I think the best bit is seeing what goodies are in there even though i'm only after blanks. Perhaps I'll find something the magazine rack hasn't got yet