[G4] Re: AGP hard drive question

[Sean Collins]

Jay:

>Questions:
>
>What are my drive options?  Can I replace it with a regular ATA 
>drive (plug & play)?

Yes.  The G4 motherboard has a built-in ATA controller for 2 hard 
drives.  In your case, it has gone unused in favor of the SCSI 
controller & drive.

>  Or is there going to be a problem with this ultra SCSI cable inside?

No.  You can run SCSI and ATA drives simultaneously, but if your SCSI 
drive has died, it would be cheaper and easier to just remove it and 
the SCSI PCI card, and just put one or two ATA drives in it's place. 
The AGP controller can't handle a drive bigger that 128 GB though.

>How do I shop for best price on said drive (besides Froogle)?

Keep an eye on Dealmac:  <http://dealmac.com/>  and Techbargainns 
<http://www.techbargains.com/> for best prices on any day.

>What brand (Hitachi,Maxtor, etc)?

Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Maxtor, in that order.

>I don't need tons of space, but I'm sure I can't get any drives under 80gb.

Keep an eye out for those bargains.  I just put 2 x 128 GB Seagate 
drives in mine, for $30 each from Best Buy.

Sean