baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (06/07/90)
I'm interested in getting a CD-ROM player in the near future, and from what I've heard, the two best are the Toshiba and the Apple players. The prices are fairly competitive, so I was wondering whether anyone had experiences (either good or bad) with either one. I've also heard that the Toshiba is significantly faster than the Apple player -- is this true, or just rumor? Post or email responses, and I'll summarize any that I get. I'm especially interested in the Toshiba player, since AGFA is running a special (their ad appeared in this week's MacWEEK): for $975 you get the Toshiba player plus a CD-ROM containing the entire Adobe Type Library and 260 AGFA fonts. You can then use any 20 of the fonts. To use more than the 20 you select initially, you call an 800 number and give them your credit card number -- they then give you a code which unlocks the font you want to buy. This seems like a really good deal, and it may be what convinces me to get the Toshiba player in the end. If anyone is interested, you can call AGFA at (800) 227-2780, ext. 700 for more info. -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." baumgart@esquire.dpw.com | cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Letterman
baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten) (06/12/90)
Here are the two responses I received (I'll summarize at the end): --- Response 1 --- Date: Fri, 8 Jun 90 16:41:01 PDT From: david@wilbur.coyote.trw.com (David Hull) To: baumgart@esquire.dpw.com Subject: Re: Toshiba vs. Apple CD-ROM Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware References: <2061@esquire.UUCP> In comp.sys.mac.hardware you write: >I'm especially interested in the Toshiba player, since AGFA is running >a special (their ad appeared in this week's MacWEEK): for $975 you get >the Toshiba player plus a CD-ROM containing the entire Adobe Type >Library and 260 AGFA fonts. You can then use any 20 of the fonts. To >use more than the 20 you select initially, you call an 800 number and >give them your credit card number -- they then give you a code which >unlocks the font you want to buy. I've noticed the AGFA ad in MacWEEK also. However, the Toshiba CD-ROM drive in the picture isn't the one that you've read the reviews about. The one I've seen reviewed is the Toshiba XM3201, which takes CDs in a CD caddy. The one in the picture has a sliding drawer like an audio CD player. I don't know if the mechanism is the same. The ad seems to imply "buy 20 fonts for $975 and get a free CD-ROM player." If that's the case then the fonts are no bargain. Twenty fonts would cost about $925 from Adobe (A package which contains four fonts costs $185), but the street price would be more like $650. With the AGFA CD-ROM you have no opportunity to get a discount on the fonts (unless AGFA offers one). Maya Computer has the Apple CD SC player advertised for $649. I think that it is equivalent to the Toshiba XM3201 (which they also carry, for $875). I'm intrigued by the AGFA offer, and plan to give them a call. If the mechanism is the same, then I consider the lack of a need for a CD caddy to be a feature. -David --- Response 2 --- Date: Thu, 7 Jun 90 12:38:44 PDT From: dplatt@coherent.com To: baumgart@esquire.dpw.com Subject: Re: Toshiba vs. Apple CD-ROM Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware In-Reply-To: <2061@esquire.UUCP> Organization: Coherent Thought Inc., Palo Alto CA In article <2061@esquire.UUCP> you write: > I'm interested in getting a CD-ROM player in the near future, and from > what I've heard, the two best are the Toshiba and the Apple players. Toshiba makes two players... the XM-3201 (a caddy-loading mechanism in a 5.25" form-factor, suitable for internal mounting in a PC, and sold in a Mac configuration mounted in such a case) and another model (a tray-loading drive built around an audio CD player chassis). The tray-loading drive is less expensive than the XM-3201, and is also somewhat slower... Toshiba's representative at the Systems/USA show this spring described it to me as an "entry-level" CD-ROM drive, for those who cannot justify buying the faster-but-more-expensive XM-3201. The drive which appears in AGFA's ad in MacWeek is the entry-level tray-loader, not the XM-3201. > The prices are fairly competitive, so I was wondering whether anyone > had experiences (either good or bad) with either one. I have an XM-3201, which I bought as a bare drive mechanism (the "PC" model, minus the AT-bus SCSI controller card normally shipped with it). I stuffed it into the spare half-height slot in an external SCSI box I'd put together some months previously (the other slot holds a Teac streaming tape drive). The combination works quite nicely. I like the XM-3201 a lot. It's quiet when operating, fast (as CD-ROM drives go), and it reads both CD-ROMs and plays audio CDs quite well. I bought a couple of extra caddies at MacWorld ($10 each from EduCorp), so I can keep a couple of frequently-used CD-ROMs loaded, and still have an extra caddy for audio CDs and infrequently-used CD-ROMs. The software driver (OEM'ed from Optical Media International) is trouble-free. It works fine with Apple's Foreign File Exchange software, so it can be used with ISO 9660 and High Sierra CD-ROMs. > I've also heard > that the Toshiba is significantly faster than the Apple player -- is > this true, or just rumor? The XM-3201 is perhaps the fastest CD-ROM drive available on the market today... it's certainly up there among the top few. Using a CD-ROM in this drive feels rather like using a gigantic, fast floppy disk... seeks are faster, overall, than with an 800k floppy, and large files read in more quickly. The drive definitely "feels" faster than the Apple CD-ROM drive I played with about 18 months ago. MacUser's tests a couple of months ago agree that the high-end Toshiba is faster than the Apple. > Post or email responses, and I'll summarize any that I get. > > I'm especially interested in the Toshiba player, since AGFA is running > a special (their ad appeared in this week's MacWEEK): for $975 you get > the Toshiba player plus a CD-ROM containing the entire Adobe Type > Library and 260 AGFA fonts. You can then use any 20 of the fonts. To > use more than the 20 you select initially, you call an 800 number and > give them your credit card number -- they then give you a code which > unlocks the font you want to buy. > > This seems like a really good deal, and it may be what convinces me to > get the Toshiba player in the end. If anyone is interested, you can > call AGFA at (800) 227-2780, ext. 700 for more info. It may be a good deal, or may not be. The player that AGFA is bundling with their CD-ROM has a list price of about $200 less than the XM-3201, I believe. If you're planning to use it only occasionally, it should do fine; if you're planning heavy use, you might want to spring for the faster (and perhaps more rugged) XM-3201. -- Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 493-8805 UUCP: ...!{ames,apple,uunet}!coherent!dplatt DOMAIN: dplatt@coherent.com INTERNET: coherent!dplatt@ames.arpa, ...@uunet.uu.net USNAIL: Coherent Thought Inc. 3350 West Bayshore #205 Palo Alto CA 94303 -- End of responses -- So the AGFA deal isn't as good as it first seemed -- the Toshiba mentioned in the ad isn't the same as the one that's been getting rave reviews. Also, the Toshiba XM-3201 is definitely faster than the Apple CD. I got the March 1990 issue of MacUser from a friend and read the review. They do indeed show that the Toshiba is the faster drive. However, it's not clear from the review just how much faster it is (my guess, looking at the graphs, is that it's about 20% to 25% faster). Whether that's worth the difference in price ($649 for the Apple vs. $875 for the Toshiba, as David Hull pointed out above) is another question, but now at least I have something more than just rumor to go on. Thanks again for the responses. -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." baumgart@esquire.dpw.com | cmcl2!esquire!baumgart | - David Letterman