#Magnavox CD-ROM
6 messages in this thread
Hello everyone,
Has anyone got any experience with the external Magnavox CD? Its the one
thats 680ms/150kb drive that looks like a CD player. I was considering
getting one for my young children along with a SoundBlaster Pro so they
could use it for educational & games. I'm sure I would be using it too.
The question I have is this; is the drive real slow compared to other
drives at 350-380ms and does it effect performance? Would it be good for
kids in the respect that it does not require a disk caddy? Is there a lot
of overall difference between this drive and say the Sony 535? Is there any
information on Compuserve that compares different CD ROM drives?
Is there anyone willing to tackle these questions? Am I crazy for wanting a
CD ROM? Am I just crazy? Don't answer that last question I think I know the
answer.
Thanks in advance,
James
James:
I think your sanity is confirmed by merely asking the question. Mine is
certainly in question: I stopped asking some time back!
I am not familiar with the Magnavox model you mentioned, but the seek time
you mentioned is relatively slow compared to the rest of the market these
days. As for caddies: Even tho they are a bit of a pain, the fact is CD's
are not indestructible, and caddies help protect your investment in the
discs. They may be a challenge for young kids with small hands, but
virtually all new drives use them.
You might try downloading VNDRS.TXT in Lib #14 – it has a good list of MPC
upgrade vendors and some recent published prices which you may now be able
to beat. For your $500, there are some excellent deals out there!
Good Luck! – Rich Bowers
Rich, Thanks a bunch for the info. I think I will shy from the Magnavox
and go with a cady system, and yes I believe my sanity is in question!
Thanks again, James
I bought one of the Magnavox CDD461's about three months ago and have been
very pleased with it, although I bought mine for looking at reference works
— mostly straight text on CD — and so, wasn't horribly concerned about
the speed issue or MPC compatability. Heckuva deal at $299 and I'd buy
another one again in a minute.
However, if you're buying a drive for kids' educational programs and games,
speed IS an issue and I doubt that you'll be happy with the slower
Maganavox at 680ms. The newer Multimedia PC standards call for a _minimum_
of 500ms in order to get video clips to play properly.
(For just a little more money, have you looked at the new Phillips CD-I
boxes? I saw one the other evening at a local electronics store with a
small mob of adults around it, playing Sesame Street! A better game
machine than either a PC or a Ninetendo and it'll keep the little beasties
off your keyboard!)
–Bill
Bill,
Thanks a bunch for your reply. You have told me what I need to know to make
a decision. I think I will go with a faster CD drive. I have seen the
Philips CD-I and it is very interesting. I am also thinking about the
future and a CD drive would also allow me to get an encyclopedia for the
kids in school when they need it as well as other software when it comes
out. I like the flexibility and power of my computer to handle all of this
plus good sound (I plan on getting a sound card) and word processing etc.
Thanks again.
James
James:
If you want to plan for the future and have maximum flexibility for your
investment, you might want to wait and see about the new drives coming this
fall or early next year that will give you Photo-CD compatibility, along
with multi-speed data transfer for (hopefully!) reasonable prices. This
next generation will do two things: 1) make available highly capable
hardware, and 2) generate some fire sales for the last generation, in case
you feel you don't need all those features (and there are some good deals
out there even now!).
Good luck!
Rich Bowers