CompuServe Thread

Robert, the 7205 works quite well with the MME. The 7205 has an 8K buffer and theoretically the MPC standard requires a 64K buffer, however in real life I and others have had no troubles playing Multimedia disks on the 7205. I presently use a SB Pro sound card with the 7205 and have full functionality. That is also how I qualified for the MME from Creative Labs for $49.95. In the past the only way to get the MME is from an authorized MPC upgrade kit vendor, but I read in the 1/20/92 Infoworld that the MME is available directly from IBM, since Microsoft still is not releasing the MME directly to the public. Nelson Ford is very much an evangelist for the PAS/MV MPC kit, but I and others have proven his statements about the 7205 incapability to play Multimedia titles to be incorrect. His statements about the limited selection of drives for the proprietary SCSI port on the SB Pro has to be examined also. As I understand it, the Matsushita drive that is bundled with the Creative Labs MPC upgrade kit is a real barn burner. It is a very new design, while the Sony 541 that is bundled with the MV MPC upgrade kit has been around for 2 years at least. Its 64K buffer is its only reason it is capable of meeting the MPC standard. You also cannot daisy-chain any other SCSI devices off the PAS card unless you purchase updated device drivers from Trantor. There is another hidden cost. The PAS is not SB compatible unless you use software emulation drivers. I'm not sure if PAS will provide them free for the asking or whether you must purchase them also. I understand that games like Wing Commander II will puke unless you run them on real SoundBlaster hardware. If you haven't bought a sound card yet, you might want to hold off purchasing until the rumor that Creative Labs is redesigning the SCSI port on the SB Pro to be a standard SCSI port is fleshed out by mid-year. Cheers, Keith