Re: Read-speed of SCSI CD-rom players

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On 28 Dec 1998 09:42:45 GMT, buggie@ben16.unm.edu (stephen e buggie)
wrote:

>I've been shopping for a used low-cost SCSI external CD-rom player.  The
>main variable
>that affects price is speed: 1x, 2x, 6x, 32x etc.
>
>How important would this be for Apple IIgs or for Mac SE or Classic?  I'd
>expect that the main use would be for reading in the software.  But why
>would speed matter for that application?

Well, keep in mind that a single speed CD-ROM drive has a max data
transfer rate of 150 kB/s and that the fastest IIgs' SCSI cards that
are currently available can only transfer data at a maximum of 1 - 3
MB/s.  This means that having anything faster than a 6x CD-ROM drive
(900 kB/s) would be a bit of a waste.

You will notice a huge difference between using a single speed and a
six speed drive even on a IIgs.  This will mean much faster file
transfers from the CD-ROM drive no matter what you happen to be doing
with it now or in the future.

At present, unless my brother gives me his old single speed SCSI
CD-ROM drive, I'll be shopping for a 4x or 6x drive but wouldn't turn
down a 2x or 8x if the price were right.  :-)

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