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Article View: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Article #10590

Re: Floptical Drive

#10590
From: Steve Warren
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:54
30 lines
2170 bytes
In article <722312746.AA01621@csource.oz.au> Kenneth.Goh@f357.n633.z3.fidonet.org (Kenneth Goh) writes:
>CC>From: chuckc@fc.hp.com (Chuck Cairns)
>CC> Consider however that floptical is (I believe) much slower and has less
>CC> capacity than either a Bernoulli Drive or a Syquest/SyDos drive!  Both

>I don't believe it is slower. It (the floptical) uses a SCSI interface
>which enables it to actually read and write faster than the usual 1.44M
>drive. After all, it has to for it to be a competitive product - who
>wants a snail of a product!

Believe it.  Just because it has a SCSI interface does not mean that
the physical device is fast.  Lots of CD-ROMs are SCSI.  Does that
mean that they are fast?  No.

A floptical uses floppy disk technology, which means direct contact
between the media and the read-write head.  It only uses the optical
track for aliagnment precision.

Direct contact means that the disk cannot rotate at the high speeds
of Winchestor or Bernoulli technology drives.  The friction would
destroy the media at those speeds.

So you see, it is the physical design of the drive mechanism that
determines the maximum speed at which it can operate.  The interface
can restrict this speed, but it cannot give you faster access than
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Message-ID: <1992Nov23.155405.25867@news.eng.convex.com>
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!convex!convex!swarren
References: <722312746.AA01621@csource.oz.au>

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From: swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren)
Subject: Re: Floptical Drive
Sender: usenet@news.eng.convex.com (news access account)
Message-ID: <1992Nov23.155405.25867@news.eng.convex.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 15:54:05 GMT
References: <722312746.AA01621@csource.oz.au>
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Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.
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