optical drive issues

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when choosing an optical drive, how can i be sure it will be compatable with my mobo, the mobo i am planning to buy has sata connectors for drives, i can not find a sata optical drive they all seem to ide, how will this plug into the mobo, if i buy a retail boxed drive does it come supplied with the leads i will need.

 

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Although you wish to use SATA hard disks you mother board should still come with IDE connectors on it.

As far as I'm aware you can't currently get SATA optical drives.

 

Hi fastrhino. I recently bought a Western Digital 80GB hard drive from Scan by the Reebok. It did not come with data cables. I bought a rounded IDE data cable, one of the 80-wire types, not the old ribbon style. It cost about £1.80 so is not a major outlay. Just ask if it comes with the cabling when you buy.

It should attach to one of the onboard IDE connectors. Just ensure the cable is connected to the board and the drive the right way or the drive will not work.

 

thanks dreams-in-infrared i guess this hardware stuff is not difficult, but it is new to me.

how do you find scan , i have heard they are very busy and you can queue for quite a while when you go in to make a purchase.

how are the staff in there.

 

This is a link to Scan

The staff there are friendly but it is often busy. It is best to visit during the week as weekends can be bedlam! Check the site for availability of the components you are looking for and jot down the product code. In the example HERE it is above the photo of the product, LN11746. This is what you need to tell them when you want to buy whatever you want.

When you first buy off them they take various details and add you to their customer database.

The place is run much like an I.T. version of Argos. You order the item, wait for it to be found in the warehouse area and then it is brought to you.

They often have deals too, 'offers of the week', 'even of the day'. A given memory stick could even be on price in the morning and £10 cheaper in the afternoon! So keep an eye out for price changes that work to your advantage.

There is also another place you could try out, though I have not been, DOS. It is out near Morris Green.

Good luck with your shopping.