unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) (01/16/90)
First note: I ONLY READ comp.sys.apple out of the newsgroups I
posted this to, so a posted reply of any kind will most likely be missed.
Even if you did reply to comp.sys.apple, most replies would probably not
be appropriate for discussion on that newsgroup. I felt that this kind of
general info IS appropriate to post once. So if you have replies
PLEASE MAIL THEM TO ME OR THEY WILL GO UNREAD.
Technical information for the "floptical" drives I have talked
about recently. Note that these are MAGNETIC media and not the read/write
CD technology, such as in the drive that the NeXT uses... These use a
laser to read a special calibration track. So these are
not SMALL drives as a few people have told me. For a 3.5" disk, 20
megabytes (formatted) seems like a lot to me. "Floptical" is a registered
trademark of Insite Peripherals. More info at the end of the list.
I am going to show this as two separate lists as there are many
statistics given for one drive that aren't given for the other drive, etc.. You
can check for yourself and compare the few statistics that are given for both
drives.
INSITE I325/I325VM
CAPACITY unformatted 25 megs
formatted 20.8 megs
Recording density 23980 BPI (RLL)
Transfer from DISK 1.6 Mbit/Sec
Buffer transfer rate 2 Mbyte/Sec
Average Seek time 65 msec
Settle time 15 msec
Motor start time 750 msec
# of read/write heads 2
Track density 1250 TPI
Cylinders 755
Tracks 1510
Rotational speed 720 rpm
Power dissipation 6 watt average
11
Data reliability <1 error unrecoverable error per 10 bits
6
Seek errors <1 error per 10 seeks
Drive dimensions H: 1.625" W: 4.0" D 5.91"
This one is SCSI, supporting the Common Command Set (CSC), soft
formatting, error checking and correction (ECC), and defect mapping.
In addition, the I325VM (variable mode) offers FULL READ AND WRITE DOWNWARD
COMPATIBILITY with current 3.5 inch 720 kB and 1.44 MB formatted
diskettes.. {NOTE: I DON'T KNOW ABOUT 800K disks such as the Macintosh and
Apple IIGS, etc., use.. I'll try to find out more info}
Brier Technology Flextra BR 3020
CAPACITY unformatted 25.0 meg
formatted 21.4 meg
CONFIGURATION
Number of disks 1
Data Surfaces 2
Data heads 2
Servo System T^3
Tracks per surface 516
Track density (TPI) 777
Track capacity (bytes typical) 20480
Blocks per drive (512 byte) 42080
Blocks per surface (512 byte) 21040
Blocks per track (typical 512 byte) 40
MEDIA (flexible diskette) 3.5"
PERFORMANCE
Actuator Linear voice coil motor
Seek time (includes setting)
Track to track (ms) 15
Average (ms) 35
Maximum (ms) 70
Average latency (ms) 41.6
Rotation speed (RPM) 720
Data transfer rate
To/From the media (megabits/sec) 2.2
To/from the buffer (megabytes/sec) 1.25
Start time 1 sec
Stop time 1 sec
READ/WRITE
Interface SCSI
Recording method BRLL
Recording density (BPI) 26000
COMPATIBILITY
the BR3225 (not BR3020) reads IBM formatted floppy disks
Dimensions
L: 5.75", W: 4.0", H: 1.625"
Weight: 1.6 pounds
Power requirements (*)
DC Input +12 volts DC
+5 volts DC
Power dissipation <9 watts (operational-seeking)
* Power management algorithms reduce power to an average of 2.0 watts
for typical applications.
Both of the companies that sent me information said that they weren't
selling directly to the public. Both of them, however, included information
on the OEM pricing. Brier's pricing is $475 each for quantities of 100.
Insite's pricing is $440 for quantities of 100 and they also have slightly
stepped up prices for smaller volumes so if I can't get together 100
people this will still be a very good deal.
Here are the companies' addresses:
Brier Technology Insite Peripherals
2363 Bering Drive 4433 Fortran Drive
San Jose, CA 95131 San Jose, CA 95134-2302
If anyone wants to try to get in on this deal to get one of these drives
cheaply, simply write me. My address is at the end of this posting. I have
NO affiliation with either of these companies, I'm just very intrigued by
this technology and want to try to get one of these drives at a reasonable
price. Forgive me for any typos in this article.. I tried very hard to type
in the data correctly, although I may have made an error somewhere.
--
If you want info about a 20 meg "floptical" drive mail me. YOU CAN ALSO
GET ONE FOR --$440-- (NEW **LOWER** PRICE!) BY MAILING ME. [WE HAVE TO GET
ENOUGH PEOPLE THOUGH..Slightly higher for less people but not much]
unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu APPLE II FOREVER APL24VR GS tips? Mail me.
unknown%darkside.com@ames.arpa Please use the former address for regular use.