cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) (12/21/90)
The following is offered for information only. Since NeXT and Sun seem to be totally committed to CD-ROM technology, it would appear obvious that CD-ROM is a very strongly emerging technology. I offer this in the spirit that what is hot, well made and cheap is of benefit to us all. I have no affiliation with NEC whatsoever, and the following is in no way intended as an endorsement of any commercial product. taken from the Jan 15, '91 issue of PC Magazine, page 209 with out permission... NEC Technologies Intersect CDR-35 Portable CD-ROM drive povides [...] mega-storage capabilities at a cost of only $599. The CDR-35 squeezes a fully functional CD-ROM reader into a tiny 2.5- by 5.5- by 8.5-inch (HWD), 2.2-pound package. One of the first portable CD-ROM readers on the market, the CDR-35 reads both 5-inch and 3-inch CD-ROMS. [...] Hooked to a [...] computer via a SCSI interface, a CD running in the CDR-35 provides the traveller with up to 540MB of data. [...] And when you're done with work, you can not only play audio CDs on the CDR-35 but also get pause, repeat, and seek-to-track controls that most other CD-ROM players don't have. NEC Technologies 1255 Michael Dr. Wood Dale, IL 60191 708.860.9500 -- _-_-_-_-_ -_-_-_-_-Chuck Herrick <cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu> The opinions expressed herein are mine and are in no way attributed to any of the many people for whom I work. Who they are is irrelevant.
wln@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (William L Nussbaum) (12/21/90)
In article <11004@helios.TAMU.EDU> cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) writes: >The following is offered for information only. Since NeXT and Sun seem to be totally >committed to CD-ROM technology, it would appear obvious that CD-ROM is a >very strongly emerging technology. I offer this in the spirit that what is hot, well made and >cheap is of benefit to us all. I have no affiliation with NEC whatsoever, and >the following is in no way intended as an endorsement of any commercial product. No! The NEC CDR-35 seems to be one of the most poorly behaved CD-ROM drives around. A friend has one, and though neither he nor I has a NeXT (or access to a NeXT, for that matter), it has rarely even worked on his Mac IIci (the first one didn't -- it worked on his [I think it was a Plus or SE, but I'm not sure] but stopped working when he got his IIci; the second one (which was sent to replace his first one after NEC couldn't figure out what was wrong only works with a bizarre, unorthodox combination of terminators, chain organization, and other devices. And it didn't like my IIcx much either, sad-mac-ing once or twice before we got it to work, again with unusual termination, startup sequence, etc. From what I've been able to tell, it's not the bargain it seems. | William Lee Nussbaum, Jr. | wln@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony) (12/22/90)
In article <1990Dec21.082856.6183@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> wln@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (William L Nussbaum) writes: >In article <11004@helios.TAMU.EDU> cnh5730@calvin.tamu.edu (Chuck Herrick) writes: >>The following is offered for information only. Since NeXT and Sun seem to be totally >>committed to CD-ROM technology, it would appear obvious that CD-ROM is a >>very strongly emerging technology. I offer this in the spirit that what is hot, well made and >>cheap is of benefit to us all. I have no affiliation with NEC whatsoever, and >>the following is in no way intended as an endorsement of any commercial product. > >No! The NEC CDR-35 seems to be one of the most poorly behaved CD-ROM >drives around. A friend has one, and though neither he nor I has a NeXT >(or access to a NeXT, for that matter), it has rarely even worked on his >Mac IIci (the first one didn't -- it worked on his [I think it was a Plus >or SE, but I'm not sure] but stopped working when he got his IIci; the Well, it might as well be the case that Apples non-standard SCSI-bus hit you guys. I have heared quite some stories on the non standard behavior of the Mac SCSI bus. Does anyone have better info on this? I really wonder if the NEC drive is doomed or the Mac SCSI bus. Considering that NeXT will only offer internal drives and that I could need another CD-player that is portable, the NEC option sounds not too bad, if it works that is... Ronald ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." G.B. Shaw | rca@cs.brown.edu or antony@browncog.bitnet
minich@d.cs.okstate.edu (Robert Minich) (12/23/90)
[The names have been deleted to protect no one] |>No! The NEC CDR-35 seems to be one of the most poorly behaved CD-ROM |>drives around. A friend has one, and though neither he nor I has a NeXT |>(or access to a NeXT, for that matter), it has rarely even worked on his |>Mac IIci (the first one didn't -- it worked on his [I think it was a Plus |>or SE, but I'm not sure] but stopped working when he got his IIci; the | | Well, it might as well be the case that Apples non-standard SCSI-bus | hit you guys. | I have heared [sic] quite some stories on the non standard behavior of | the Mac SCSI bus. Does anyone have better info on this? I would be interested to hear some truth. Stories are often cute but more often are uninformative. | I really wonder if the NEC drive is doomed or the Mac SCSI bus. | Considering that NeXT will only offer internal drives and that I could | need another CD-player that is portable, the NEC option sounds not too | bad, if it works that is... First off, this NEC drive is not really designed as a CD ROM player. It's slow 1500ms avg seek time* is truly pitiful and a posting in one of the Mac groups sometime last spring pretty much declared the poor thing dead on the drawing board. Just having it connected to the SCSI bus was causing the flamers hard disk to slow to a crawl. If you are going to get a CD ROM and assuming you don't have the disk space to just copy a full CD onto a more reasonable device, spend your money a bit more wisely and buy the fastest model you can that otherwise meets your requirements. A really good one will have a 350-500ms access time and even that will make ODs look spiffy. Somehow, hooking one of these up to a NeXT would be like putting El Cheapo retreads on a formula one car. :-| I invite anyone who has had first hand experience with this drive to comment. Personally, the cited posting above is enough to steer me clear of even thinking about trying the thing out. If you want to, take a heap of salt and make sure there is some sort of money back guarantee! * From MacWorld, December 1989, apparently regurgitating NEC's data -- |_ /| | Robert Minich | |\'o.O' | Oklahoma State University| "I'm a newcomer here, but does the |=(___)= | minich@d.cs.okstate.edu | net ever lay any argument to rest?" | U | - Ackphtth | -- dan herrick