Hello all,
I guess I will add to this. I have been reading this thread and I want to
say a couple of words.
First, $50 is reasonable considering the ammount of time he put into it. If
it bothers you, just don't buy it. Simple as that. The developer can
choose anything they want. That is business, and you have the right to not
buy it and say no.
Now, I would also like to say that I don't know if I will be purchasing
Pauls driver or not. $50 at this point in time might be more than I am
willing to spend, but that does not decrease the value of the driver one
bit. Linear is becoming more rare, and will probably phase out totally in
time, but it is still being made BUT is more expensive than the ATA
counterpart. It has been said you need a PC adapter, and yes you do for
compact flash, smart media or other type of "small" ata flash. BUT you can
still get standard size ata flash and at about the same price.
So you can advoid the cost of an adapter if you want to go that route. Or
if you want to use the flash in more than just your newton and you own say a
digital camera, then it would be to your advantage to get the adapter. All
depends on what you need, which does not mean that is what others will need.
We all have different needs and ideas.
Also on linear and ebay, yes you can get cards there and and at a cheaper
price. The downside is you don't know how much they have been used. If
they were used in a router then their write cycles are about used up and
won't last long. If they were only used in a newton and not for years and
years then will probably last quite a while in your newton.
I often get the smaller cards from ebay and to date have not had any
problems with them. But I make sure where they were used, and I keep
backups of all data on the card, just in case although the newton should
give you an error or two if it is starting to go. If you get an error make
a backup fast and don't trust that card especially if you get an error
again. The linear drivers are not perfect as Paul said, but if you keep
getting errors assume the card is dieing and backup the data and don't trust
it. Perhaps you could use it for packages but DON"T use it for data and
keep a backup just to be safe.
Now on the flip side, becuase linear cards eventually do die, and will be
phased out in time the ATA driver may not be "necessary" today but it will
be in the future for sure. And WELL worth the price. I will probably get
one (and I don't have a lot of money either) when I can, just becuase I want
the ability to use ATA when linear flash is no longer made and the supply
has finally dried up.
-Dan
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