Need Recommendation on Ext. Floppy Disk Drive ..

I have a TEAC USB 3.5" floppy drive on windows 7 unit and it works just fine. It was just plug and play, windows 7 found the correct driver and I now have copied about 200 old floppies that I found in storage. I was surprised that not one of the floppies, though some are really old, had any problem being read by the TEAC and copying to flash drive for editing and then to CD. I think I will leave them on flash drive as well. I go mine from Amazon and I think it was about $12.00 with shipping of about $6.00. Since it came from another place it could not be bundled by Amazon for free shipping. Ordered on a Saturday and got it on a Thursday. Bat-a-Bing...it does the job. Oh, and it writes to the floppies as well, so I will move a bunch of "junk" files to Floppy just to free up Hard drive space.

i agree copy/transfer

BTW FYI a floppy disc IS digital media
its just happens to be 'outdated' digital media
but its more reliable than 'optical' media aka DVD/CD
it just doesn't hold as much data

downtheroad wrote:
Get the cheapest one you can find and use it to transfer the floppy disk stuff one time to digital media...like thumb drive, or hard disk.

I did mine on a friend's old computer that still had a floppy drive.

The mechanics and electronics on a floppy drive are not very complex and since you will not be using this very often just about anyone that you find will do. If there are poor reviews on one that you see keep looking for another but the least expensive one should be as good as any other. Floppies are so small that you are not going to find a lot on those disks. Once you read them, copy them to a CD. You may be able to get a computer store to copy them for you and avoid the need to buy the drive at all.

Most ANY external 3.5 floppy will "do the job" but the fact of the matter is pretty much all MAJOR manufacturers of 3.5 floppy drives two or three yrs ago have ceased making them.

So what you are buying in a name brand may or may not have a name brand drive INSIDE the case. Right now most floppy drives are imported from China...

RoadXYZ wrote:

rk911 wrote:

RoadXYZ wrote:
Have been looking at Floppy Disk Readers for some 3.5 inch floppy disks which I un-earthed in storage ..

Can anyone suggest/recommend a specific brand ?

Walmart has a (I believe) brand called Sabrent, and of course the reviews are mixed ... in going thru boxes I found some 3.5 inch floppy disks with the director so I know what they are and would like to print some of the files for photo albums.

Anyone have a recommendation either on a brand or a place to buy ?

just bought this one from amazon. paired it with another item and got the free shipping. i'm very happy with my purchase.

Yes that is the one DH & I were looking at this morning ... also Walmart has one which can be sent to the store ... will have to looking into pairing it with another item for free shipping .. Thank you

I was a bit wary of ordering the TEAC from amazon based on some of the reviews bit took a chance and am glad I did. it is NOT labeled TEAC on the drive but when I hooked it up and checked in Windows Explorer it came up as a TEAC drive. it read my old floppies just fine.

rk911 wrote:

RoadXYZ wrote:
Have been looking at Floppy Disk Readers for some 3.5 inch floppy disks which I un-earthed in storage ..

Can anyone suggest/recommend a specific brand ?

Walmart has a (I believe) brand called Sabrent, and of course the reviews are mixed ... in going thru boxes I found some 3.5 inch floppy disks with the director so I know what they are and would like to print some of the files for photo albums.

Anyone have a recommendation either on a brand or a place to buy ?

just bought this one from amazon. paired it with another item and got the free shipping. i'm very happy with my purchase.

Yes that is the one DH & I were looking at this morning ... also Walmart has one which can be sent to the store ... will have to looking into pairing it with another item for free shipping .. Thank you

I use the floppy drive in my Sony Mavica camera.

RoadXYZ wrote:
Have been looking at Floppy Disk Readers for some 3.5 inch floppy disks which I un-earthed in storage ..

Can anyone suggest/recommend a specific brand ?

Walmart has a (I believe) brand called Sabrent, and of course the reviews are mixed ... in going thru boxes I found some 3.5 inch floppy disks with the director so I know what they are and would like to print some of the files for photo albums.

Anyone have a recommendation either on a brand or a place to buy ?

just bought this one from amazon. paired it with another item and got the free shipping. i'm very happy with my purchase.

Just a thought...does your computer have the program to read the old disk... it's been awhile since the 3.5 disk drive was the thing. Just thinking...good luck.

I have had good luck with Matsumi products. I do not have one of these but!
Mitsumi