They're awfully expensive. Do they really perform all that much better than a high-end IDE hard drive?

It's a very individual thing. To some of us it's worth it to others not. I don't think it's worth it taking into account that you have to buy the SCSI card (unless you already have it) plus the HDD which isn't cheaper. I'd wait for Firewire to be more common among PC's, among other reasons because it's MUCH CHEAPER (both the card and the device). To me its not worth it. Get a 7200 rpm HDD and you'll be happy. Spend the money on something more important, e.g. a good Power Supply and Case!

U48

i wouldn't buy a scsi drive if i were you, but if you're a power user, get it. it's way too expansive. the best ide drive out there is almost as good as a best scsi drive. so why would you want to spend more money and getting the same performance?

Once upon a time if you wanted real speed you went for SCSI but now IDE has improved a fair deal and unless you want ultimate speed you'd better of getting a quality 7200rpm drive.