Re: [Thinkpad] 770 ED: hard disk to go in floppy drive slot.

[Jim McGhee:]

>Also, why would you need an extra
>drive caddy? Just use the one on the old laptop.

     I think I said before why I couldn't do this. The reason I want - need -
the second caddy (I assume that name is referring to the box I mentioned) is, as
I said, that I have to be able to use both drives at the same time. Not just
once - but repeatedly: if not permanently, then for a long transitional period
until I've adjusted everything to the new configuration. Even then, I might
want to keep using the old hard disk; seems pointless to waste it, when I
already have it.
     I guess I could consider a hard drive in an external, separate box which
you just connect to the laptop. But I would far prefer one that will go in the
floppy disk drive, which I probably won't use a lot other than for accessing
files I already have on floppy disks.

[Rob Bell:]

>The 770 most certainly does have an Ultrabay (called Ultrabay II, actually).

     I don't exactly know what an Ultrabay is, as against something else you
might have in place of it. Is the Ultrabay an obsolescent thing now, replaced
by something else? - or is it the latest thing, and still a current standard,
expect to remain around for a while?

>The 2nd HDD adapter accepts either 770-style or 755/760-style hard drive
caddies.

     So I have to get *two* extra devices besides the drive itself, do I? - the
caddy and the adapter?
     I think I'm going to have to find someone who can supply these to me in
person, and show me them. It would seem a bit risky to get them over the
Internet, because I might find I didn't get the right thing and it won't work.
     If this is the only way to do it, are there precise model numbers I can
check which I know to be correct, to ensure that what I buy sight unseen will do
what I want it to?
     I've asked around so much about this, and seem to keep hearing different
things, and it's all a very confusing maze to me. Understanding laptops and
getting accessories for them seems to be a far more complex matter than for
desktops.

                         Regards,
                          Michael Edwards.

P.S.
     I will have to be careful, regardless of whether I buy laptop things over
the Internet or in person.
     A couple of years ago, when this issue of a second hard disk came up, I
went to a dealer here in Melbourne (Australia) and bought a hard disk. So
complete was my ignorance that I didn't know about the box you need to put the
hard disk in, and I didn't know the hard disk he gave me would be useless to me
until I actually tried to see how to put it into the laptop - and then I saw
immediately it would not fit properly.
     I went back to the dealer and told him about this, and asked if he would
take it back and refund my money. He refused, saying it was my fault for not
being sure what I wanted before purchasing it. I responded that in the
beginning I had told him exactly what I wanted - a hard disk that would work in
my laptop, and I gave the model number, etc. - and that therefore he was at
fault for not supplying what I had asked for: something that would work with my
computer, which clearly what he had given me would not (without the box or
caddy, that is). He rejected this argument, though.
     I asked if he could sell me the caddy, too, so I could use the hard disk
after all; and he said he couldn't: it wasn't available. I am sure he knew
about the box in the beginning, and he was capitalizing on my ignorance of that,
and selling me something I couldn't use to make a quick buck. In the end, when
I was starting to think about going to the Ombudsman, citing the Trade Practices
Act, and what tribunals dealt in such disputes, he finally, with a very bad
grace, refunded my money - just to stop me pestering him, I think. And he told
me to get out of the shop, and never to come back, because he didn't want my
business any more.
     Well, what a rip-off snake-oil salesman he turned out to be; I'm sure he
knew what he was doing. I would be tempted to name the shop to warn other
Melbourne people who might be on the list away from it; but the owner probably
has deeper pockets than I do, and knows more lawyers, so I won't.
     The pity is that the people there sell laptop-related things I might want
to buy, and their knowledge would probably help me, too; but in fact I would
probably be banned from there in future if I did try to go back. If they hadn't
tried to rip me off, they might have got a bit of repeat business from me. But,
as things are now, I would never trust them again not to try and rip me off, not
to try to exploit my ignorance of certain technical points.
     I think that shonky kind of dealing is not only probably illegal; but it is
false economy in the long run.

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Received on Sat May 31 08:39:42 2003