Is IDE dead 2015

[ThinkPad560X]

I got a 20GB HDD out for my ThinkPad R31 and it uses IDE HDDs and was woundering if IDE is dead now since SATA has been out for awail now. I think SATA is better anyway and hated the pins as they would break or bend if swaping alot. But all of my ThinkPads except the 60 series use IDE. I bought an adapter for one of my ThinkPads SATA to IDE but it is too big to fit into the HDD bay. So are the older ThinkPads dead once their IDE drives die? I imagin IDE HDD is going to be hard to find that are good in a few years. I have some CF IDE SSD in some of them but CF isnt fast at all. The 701C, 755CD and some others still are running their original HDD with Windows 98 and want to upgrade them to a true SSD and test them with newer Windows.

[Saucey]

I was thinking about buying one of those HDD external docks and there are a few that have IDE connections right beside SATA.
I find it funny that not all 2.5" IDE drives are equal, the 770 takes a pretty thick drive, I believe the one in the 380Z is a bit smaller... But not the same size as 'normal' SATA drives you see in laptops (with the exception of 1.8" drives)

I think parts will be here for a good five years before they dry up. I'm sure there is a lot of stock, maybe not enough NOS OEM for IDE era computers, within ten years they may be dried up. Sources will only be from collectors then, and I bet it would be either a pretty penny or a good friend to get a part.

[jdrou]

Several manufacturers are still apparently making IDE/PATA drives so they will probably be available for quite a while. Problem is new drives cost far more than the equivalent SATA drive, often more than the laptop itself is worth now (aside from collector value). PATA SSDs seem to actually be cheaper than spinning drives now. Largest SSD seems to be 128GB though while you can get 320GB 5400rpm drive.

The "standard" thickness for 2.5" drives was 12.5mm before it dropped to 9.5mm so many older laptops will have this larger drive bay. There were also 17-19mm drives available at one time (probably with 3-4 platters).

[dr_st]

IDE is dead about circa 2008, I'd guess. But even though it's dead, there will continue being some demand, and therefore some supply, for a very long time. Just as said - be prepared to shell out more cash than they are worth. This is some of the price of getting attached to old junk.

[rkawakami]

Some "medium sized" 2.5" laptop IDE drives can still be had at a fairly low price. My definition for such drives is 80-120GB. Below 80GB is "small" and over 120GB is "large" in my book. Of course, at this point in their lives they will have some time on the clock. Since I almost exclusively buy used Seagate Momentus 5400 or 7200 RPM drives, I use SeaTools to diagnose/verify the drive upon receipt and find out how long they have been running. Here's a list of recent eBay purchases of 5400RPM drives with their Power On Hours where available (all prices include shipping):

$18 80GB POH 882
$13 40GB POH 25453
$23 100GB POH 9132
$25 160GB POH 205
$11 80GB POH 1045
$23 100GB
$23 100GB
$16 100GB POH 16589

So yeah, putting the 160GB drive in a T23 represents a major cost component of the entire system