Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!glen
From: glen@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Glen Rosendale)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Rewriteable Optical Disks
Summary: Interestiny technology but buy a hard disk
Message-ID: <8623@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 7 Jan 89 09:15:28 GMT
References: <2817@zaphod.UUCP>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: glen@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Glen Rosendale)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 57

In article 28391 (30 Dec 88 17:27:00 GMT) Gary Berg writes:

>Has anyone heard about a 600 MB rewritable optical disk drive for the Mac? I
>heard rumor around town that a local company is introducing one at Macworld
>but when I called then they didn't have a comment. Their only reaction was
>'We will be introducing all new products at Macworld'. I thought that there
>were only WORM drives on the market. Is this something real new or are there
>already units on the market? If anyone has any information I would like to
>know because I have just purchased a Mac and was looking a buying a hard
>drive but if I can get a removable 600 meg optical disk for a good price I
>would rather go that way.

>Thanks 

>Gary

>(P.S. The company that I talked to was MACsetra International)

On page 77 of the February '89 MacUser there's an ad for the "REO-650", an
erasable/removable optical disk drive.  The company is:

	Pinnacle Micro, Inc.,
	15265 Alton Parkway
	Irvine, CA  92718
	(714) 727-3300
	outside CA: (800) 553-7070

This is the first ad I've seen for a Macintosh Magneto-Optic device, but it
seems likely that we'll start seeing more in the near future.  No price was
mentioned, but from what I've seen elsewhere it seems the $4000 range is
about what it'll be.  It's certainly a new technology, and an interesting
one at that, but right now you can get ~80MB of disk storage in the $1000
range, so although the "M/O" device (I used that term when I wrote a
research paper on the subject--here's my chance to toss it out and see if it
survives in the vernacular) is cheaper per MB it's still pretty pricey.
Access time is a lot slower as well.  For day-to-day use right now I'd still
go with a hard drive (I use a 60MB CMS in my Mac II and have had no problems
with it at all in the year I've had it; it cost me $799 and I consider it
well worth it).

I did see an interesting blurb the other day about a 25MB 3-1/2" floppy for the
Mac, of the "floptical" variety (I guess that term still hasn't been settled
yet?--i.e. optically tracked magnetic media w/ high density grooves), for about
$250 (OEM in quantity).  But I've disremembered the source of the rumor--does
anybody else know anything about this one?

disclaimers:
============
I have no connection with Pinnacle Micro, Inc.; in fact I'd never heard of
them before this ad.

My opinions are strictly my own, and to look at my record not necessarily that
noteworthy anyway.
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| Glen Rosendale	|    UC Berkeley	|  glen@cory.berkeley.edu     |
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