Everybody has them: Whether it's a second home system, the second-floor office group, or data entry points on a shop floor, old systems just seem to stick around far beyond their expected usefulness. As these systems age, worn mechanical components and limited storage capacity become primary considerations for their retirement, but both issues are often resolved with the installation of a newer hard drive -- without breaking the bank.

There's great value to be had in the realm of Ultra-ATA. Excellent foresight in yesterday's bus technologies mean that today's low-budget Ultra-ATA drives provide every bit the transfer rate of their more modern Serial ATA counterparts. Additionally, with capacity several times that of the drives they replace, these ATA100/ATA133 models cost less than 50 cents per gigabyte. In honor of maintenance technicians from corporate offices to home-build novices, we bring you a look at two 160GB Parallel ATA drives, each priced under $80. Theoretically, the enterprising system builder can find tremendous value in these older drives -- let's see how we fare.