CompuServe Messages

Perhaps saying that the 2S isn't "fully MPC compatible" is a little strong. I'd say it's pretty much on the ragged edge of full compatibility though. At least on my system, animation and motion video on some (not all) CDs tended to have frequent pauses and poor video/audio synchronization. This was in spite of using as much buffering as possible on this 386-20 system. Yes, it IS a reliable product and is perfectly adequate for applications not involving motion video. However, when I can buy the 5S for $209, the $170-$200 price being charged for the 2S is not all that terrific anymore when you consider the differences between the two drives: o – the 5S interface is 16-bit, the 2S interface is 8-bit o – the 5S has more DMA and IRQ choices available o – the 5S has a 32K onboard buffer, the 2S buffer is ~2K. o – the 5S access time is 350ms vs. the 800ms access time for the 2S. o – the 5S is PhotoCD compatible and I DO think that many users are going to care very much about that in the near future. PhotoCD is going to become a very popular technology IMHO. The 5S on my system has been able to handle animation and motion video smoothly, with no jerkiness or pauses, with products like MPC Battle Chess, King's Quest V, and the AVI clips on the latest Nautilus disc. The 2S could play these but with some pauses and jerkiness. Using a cache like CD Speedway or SpeedCache+ helps the 2S somewhat but caching doesn't appear to be necessary with the 5S, although it does speed things up when the same data is being accessed repeatedly in products like Street Atlas and Map Expert. regards, Tom