>Ref: Super floopy, Manufacturer Mitsumi of Japan is touting this 3.5" 128 MB
drive as suitable for notebooks because of its small size. The drive
based on magnetic head technology, will also be compatible with 1.44
and 720KB 3.5 inch floppies. Mitsumi might take advantage of its position
as a major supplier of CD-ROM drives to push a CD-ROM/Super floopy
combination to system builders. The JPN company has already squeezed
portotype "super floppy" drives into 15mm high format, and, potentially, the
two technologies could be combined in the same unit. Still to be assigned
a name, Mitsumi expects the first drive to be available in the second quarter
of the year, at a volume price of US$130.
Best RGDS<lt
We'll see when it comes out, what the specs are, and what the price
is. Very late to the game. Vapor is always scarier than reality, just like
the LS120, just like th ez.
ken<
--------------
Ken, I agree. Although this is the first time I heard of this "new" drive,
the hints "3.5 in drive, small size, compatible with 1.44 and 720 KB
floppies" tell me that it is probably a souped up version of the current
3.5-floppy drives. Therefore, its main characteristics may be low price
and low performance/speed. I wouldn't be surprised if the speed is
far slower than that of the LS120. But we have to wait and see.
By trying to provide backward compatibility, the manufacturer of this
"new" drive showed a lack of understanding of consumer needs
and future data storage trends, a la Syquest.
It's a well known fact that the current 3.5-in floppy can hold far more
data than its current 1.44 capacity, but the drive technology is the
limiting factor in terms of speed and data access.
In terms of magnetic media, I am not aware of any removable technology
that can offer better price/performance than the Zip drive/disk technology
(proprietary Bernouilli technology). When the Zip gets down to $99, no
existing removable technologies can compete with it and profit, IMO.
I have one question, though, the above statement said that this new drive
will be available in second quarter. Second quarter is about over, how
come we haven't hear or seen anything about this before?
Nice to see you back posting.
Young Nguyen |
