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From: mcohen@umbc5.umbc.edu (Mr. Mark Cohen; HONORS COL (U))
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.sys.mac.programmer,rec.audio
Subject: Re: DAT backup for MAC?
Message-ID: <1991May13.133231.24117@umbc3.umbc.edu>
Date: 13 May 91 13:32:31 GMT
References: <789@david.UUCP> <23192@well.sf.ca.us> <27BDB6B4.17437@orion.oac.uci.edu>
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In article <27BDB6B4.17437@orion.oac.uci.edu> bdugan@teri.bio.uci.edu (Bill Dugan) writes:
>In article <23192@well.sf.ca.us> mingo@well.sf.ca.us (Charles Hawkins Mingo) writes:
>>[...] 
>>	It's a bit like how you can't use a conventional CD player to play
>>CD-ROM's.  You need a hardware interface to the deck's controller.
>
>I have always wondered why CD-ROM drives are so expensive when compared to
>the consumer audio CD players.  CD-ROM drives use the same mechanism, don;t
>need D/A converters, and all they really need is a SCSI card on-board.
>Am I spouting mixed-up untruth, or should CD-ROM drives cost $200?
>
>bill


You aren't too far from some of the lower-end type prices for CD-ROM's.
If you take a look in the nearest DAK catalog, you will see that you can
get the CD-ROM plus 6 full CD's for around $700.  (I don't have the catalog
with me, but it's around there.)  I figure that a great deal of that
is for the software (hey, lot's of people put lots of time into digitizing
that stuff!!), but of course they advertise that as free discs from buying
the CD-ROM.  The only cost of the drive that you missed is the actual
board for the computer and cable to hook it in (figure almost $100 for
that).  So, yes, CD-ROM's should be maybe $300-$400, but you can find
the exact same thing for thousands more if you try hard enough.  I got
one of the CD-ROM's from DAK and I love it.

      (out about $700 but worth it),
                                    Mark

        MCOHEN@UMBC5.UMBC.EDU