i'm trying to figure out if this is a good deal at best buy or if i can do better. it's a 160 GB Seagate Barracuda ATA/100 (model ST3160023A-RK) w/ a 5 year warranty, $40 after MIR. i read a review that said performance factors put it kinda on the low side w/ comparable drives but I'm not doing anything that requires blazing performance, i just don't want it to be a piece of crap. how big a difference does the fact that it's only ATA/100 make?

thx

[Edited on September 3, 2005 at 10:11 PM. Reason : oh yeah, i checked ebay too, i prolly wouldn't do too much better there, after shipping]

9/3/2005 10:10:28 PM

the only difference ATA/100 makes is in what kind of cable you plug it into

even the highest end SCSI drives available right now couldn't saturate an ATA/100 channel (if they were ATA drives)

[Edited on September 3, 2005 at 10:12 PM. Reason : although it is getting close, with some of them biting into 90mb/sec territory]

9/3/2005 10:12:18 PM

i meant more ATA/100 vs ATA/133, i can't do SCSI or SATA anyways

and what's ur thought on price/performance. i just want to make sure i'm not getting a piece of crap, even if it's an inexpensive piece of crap

[Edited on September 3, 2005 at 10:23 PM. Reason : .]

9/3/2005 10:20:05 PM

ok if ATA vs SATA/SCSI doesn't make a difference

ATA/100 vs ATA/133 definitely won't

9/3/2005 10:56:49 PM

SHIT I JUST SAW SLICKDEALS HAD A 10% BEST BUY COUPON. I WANT MY $12.00

9/4/2005 1:03:07 AM

i just got circuit city to pricematch a WD 160GB to $100 - $80 MIR

i've been living in a 30GB world for 5 years, i'm pretty excited about this

9/4/2005 4:34:39 PM

$0.25/gb is a good rate to follow for now. Wait until the day after thanksgiving ... see how low it goes then.

9/4/2005 6:08:54 PM

yeah, i was pretty excited about $.25/gb. i'm even more excited about $.125/gb, seeing as i just got it for $20

9/4/2005 7:29:42 PM

I was able to con Best Buy into a 250gb Maxtor Ultra for $120. It made me happy. Add a $30 USB 2.0 external case from TigerDirect, and I've got one hell of a great (and cheap) external HD.

9/6/2005 7:38:09 AM