Leading Notebook Makers Endorse LS-120 Drives
techweb.com
(04/03/98; 11:16 a.m. EST)
By Gregory Quick, Computer Retail Week
The SuperDisk LS-120 drive got a major boost this week when several major notebook manufacturers unveiled models that offer it as an optional drive or as an upgrade to existing portable computers.
Backed by Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, Acer America, and others, the drive is fast becoming a popular alternative storage solution in the notebook market. "The drive is a natural for the notebook market because backward compatibility is key when you have limited real estate," said Doug Olson, business development manager for Imation, a company that makes media for the drives.
The LS-120 drives have the same form factor as existing 1.44-megabyte floppy drives and are backwardly compatible with that format. The drives use approximately the same power consumption and provides 120 MB of storage capacity, he said.
Many of the announcements were made Thursday to coincide with Intel's unveiling of its Pentium II chip for notebooks and the accompanying support from third-party original equipment manufacturers.
Hewlett-Packard debuted the OmniBook 7100, a 266-MHz Pentium II notebook with a 14.1-inch color screen. The drive is available as an option, but the Palo Alto, Calif., company has not released final pricing on the notebook or the drive. HP is waiting to name a final price when it ships the system next month. The company estimates the OmniBook 7100 will sell for less than $5,000.
Houston-based Compaq will offer the SuperDisk LS-120 Drive as an option with the Compaq Armada 7800, 7300, and 7700 families. The drive will have an expected street price of $225.
Acer America will feature the drive as an option to its newly released Acer TravelMate 7364TE, a 266-MHz Pentium II notebook. Hitachi's newly announced VisionBook Pro 7330 and 7550 will also offer the SuperDisk LS-120 as an option. Pricing is expected to be completed when the systems ship next month.
Also see:
SuperDisk Does Super Duty
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