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In article 1790@head-cfa.harvard.edu, kenter@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Almus Kenter) writes:
>
>
>	Radio shack is having a special sale on an internal
>        CD ROM reader for only 199.00. (reg 399.00)
>        what is the net wisdom on that unit? Is it really slow?
>        is it only for some perverse Tandy format.....?
>
>
>				--Almus

A while back PC magazine did a review on CD-ROMs.  They had a sidebar about the Tandy one.  The one they were talking about impressed them.  Basically it was about average in read time and I think it required its own driver card.  The only explanation they gave about the price was that you have to manually load the CD.  To load it you just press on the door and the whole unit pops out, then you lift the lid and set the CD inside.  They claimed that it reduced the cost by several hundred dollars since they 

could remove some motors, gearing, etc.  That's what I know.  I think I might go check that out.

Brad

	"A while back PC magazine did a review on CD-ROMs.  They had a
	sidebar about the Tandy one.  The one they were talking about
	impressed them.  Basically it was about average in read time
	..."

But absolutely abysmal in mean access time, rated at *900*
milliseconds!  What impressed PC Magazine was the low price -- CD-ROM
for the masses who don't need multimedia performance.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)

In article <1874@shaman.wv.tek.com>, andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner) writes:
>
> 	"A while back PC magazine did a review on CD-ROMs.  They had a
> 	sidebar about the Tandy one.  The one they were talking about
> 	impressed them.  Basically it was about average in read time
> 	..."
>
> But absolutely abysmal in mean access time, rated at *900*
> milliseconds!  What impressed PC Magazine was the low price -- CD-ROM
> for the masses who don't need multimedia performance.

But I thought it *was* capable of multimedia performance. According to one
definition of "multimedia", anyway. :-)

The access time may have been 900ms, but its data throughput was, I gather,
more than high enough to meet the MPC spec.

Lawrence D'Oliveiro                       fone: +64-7-856-2889
Computer Services Dept                     fax: +64-7-838-4066
University of Waikato            electric mail: ldo@waikato.ac.nz
Hamilton, New Zealand    37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+12:00

In comp.multimedia, kenter@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Almus Kenter) writes:



>	Radio shack is having a special sale on an internal
>        CD ROM reader for only 199.00. (reg 399.00)
>        what is the net wisdom on that unit? Is it really slow?
>        is it only for some perverse Tandy format.....?

>				--Almus

Isn't the Radio Shack unit a Mitsumi?  If so, it's the same drive thats
been appearing "on-sale" almost everywhere.  I think Software Etc. had these
at $199 and CompuAdd at $169  (last I heard...).  Access time is a bit
slow at 700ms, I dunno about thruput.  Multimedia PC spec (MPC-1) suggests
< 500ms access and >150 kb/sec thruput.  Slow access one could probably live
with but if it's less than 150 kb/sec thruput, "semi-smooth" motion in video
is out...

Another inexpensive drive I saw recently was in DAK at $199, access was very
slow, but thruput was OK...  Heard DAK went bankrupt though, dunno if they
still sell stuff or not.  Anyone know?  I haven't seen a catalog in several
months...

- Galen -

In article <1992Oct6.165611.2477@news.eng.convex.com> harper@convex.com (David Harper) writes:
>In article <17270009@hpgrla.gr.hp.com> galenr@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Galen Raben) writes:
>>Another inexpensive drive I saw recently was in DAK at $199, access was very
>>slow, but thruput was OK...  Heard DAK went bankrupt though, dunno if they
>>still sell stuff or not.  Anyone know?  I haven't seen a catalog in several
>>months...
>
	They still do business. I just ordered the above drive from them for
219.90 for a freind of mine. I still can't afford one though. We also went by
our local Radio-Shack to find this CD-ROM drive for $199 and no go. They had one
for $419, but no $199. Is this only available in certain areas? I don't suppose
anyone has got a CD-rom lying around that they'd like to sell on credit? 8-)

Oh well...
John


--
 ____________   _------_  |||IBM & |      EE majors Do it Best 8-)
  --------\\ ] ~-______-~ |||Atari |~~~~~~~~~John D. Zitterkopf~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     (~~~~~\\|_(__ ~~    / | \Rules!jdz1@ra.MsState.edu  jdz1@MsState.bitnet
      \______| (        /  |  \    |AOL: zitt@aol.com  jdz1@isis.MsState.edu 

In article <17270009@hpgrla.gr.hp.com> galenr@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Galen Raben) writes:
>In comp.multimedia, kenter@head-cfa.harvard.edu (Almus Kenter) writes:
>slow, but thruput was OK...  Heard DAK went bankrupt though, dunno if they
I just got a catalog from them a few days ago thanking folks for placing
orders and allowing them to stay afloat for a while longer.  DAK's open
letter on the front of the catalog explains the whole thing, and the fact
that they're not out of the woods yet... FYI

In comp.multimedia, jdz1@Ra.MsState.Edu (John D. Zitterkopf) writes:

>In article <1992Oct6.165611.2477@news.eng.convex.com> harper@convex.com (David Harper) writes:
>>In article <17270009@hpgrla.gr.hp.com> galenr@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (Galen Raben) writes:
>>>Another inexpensive drive I saw recently was in DAK at $199, access was very
>>>slow, but thruput was OK...  Heard DAK went bankrupt though, dunno if they
>>>still sell stuff or not.  Anyone know?  I haven't seen a catalog in several
>>>months...
>>
>	They still do business. I just ordered the above drive from them for
>219.90 for a freind of mine. I still can't afford one though. We also went by
>our local Radio-Shack to find this CD-ROM drive for $199 and no go. They had one
>for $419, but no $199. Is this only available in certain areas? I don't suppose
>anyone has got a CD-rom lying around that they'd like to sell on credit? 8-)

Wondered about DAK, thanks for the info...  I guess I need to call them.
Dunno about the Radio Shack drive, it was in last months flyer (at least here
in the Denver area).  I haven't looked in the Rat Shack flyer I got last week.
>Oh well...
>John
I'll second that!!!  :-)
- Galen -