#$199 Mitsumi at BDalt.
7 messages in this thread
Anyone,
I've just been to B.Dalton's Software Etc. store and saw a Mitsumi CD
drive for $199. Does anyone know if this is a good buy, and if I'd be
limited in certain applications by its possible lack of compatibility or
functions. Chris
Chris,
You need to check the model number of the Mitsumi drive. If it's the
CRMC-LU002S, it'll do fine for still photos and music but won't be
satisfactory for animation and motion video or PhotoCD applications. If
it's the CRMC-LU005S, it's fully MPC and multisession PhotoCD capable and a
terrific value at that price.
regards,
Tom
Thanks Tom, I'll check that out. Chris
Your repeated representation that the 2s is not "fully MPC compatible"
leaves muych to be desired. The product IS fully MPC compatible and handles
animation and motion video adequately. I challenge you to find a more
reliable product "for the money" on the market. While it is not
multisession photocd compatible, how many users care about that? By itself
it is a terrific value for the money Frank Harris Computron, Ltd.
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
Hello,
Could you tell me where you purchased the Mitsumi (5S) for $209.00?
Many thanks,
Kwang-Wu
Is this a special BDaltons? The ones here in south miami(those still
standing) only sell books, mags…. no software or hardware…. is there
some with computer hardware sections?
Charles Ludwig