#DAK\BSR\SONY CD-Rom
13 messages in this thread
Bryan,
I'm using the DAK/BSR/SONY drive in tests of multimedia apps, and I haven't
found a single area where it fails to work. It's a bit slow at times on
long animations and it takes a while for .WAV files to load, but I don't
have any other hardware to compare it with.
I've been working with the MMDK as well, and haven't found anything that
didn't work.
I suspect that the reason it doesn't meet the MPC specs has something to do
with its interface or buffer size, not in functionality. I can't be sure,
but I'd guess that you could be pretty comfortable with it.
George
George,
Thanks for your comments. We've had a lot of fun with Multimedia Beethoven
and MPC Battle Chess out here at the office. Drew's preparing some new
bundles which should be released within the next couple of months.
Our next (March) catalog will be very interesting, I promise!
Bryan/DAK
I have the DAK CDROM drive, a 386, and Windows 3. What else do I need to
purchase in order to run multimedia cdroms, such as Multimedia Beethoven?
Is DAK considering any type of package to add to your drive to be able to
use multimedia?
Ron,
Yes, we're looking at various multimedia hardwire items. All I needed to
run MPC applications was my Windows 3.1 beta and a SoundBlaster Pro. The
"MPC extensions" were not necessary.
My guess is that we'll be offering some kind of equivalent sound card
within the three months or so. Lots of interesting things in the works.
Bryan/DAK
You mentioned using a Windows 3.1 beta. Am I correct in assuming that
Windows 3.0 and Soundblaster pro won't be enough go give me multimedia. I
guess I'll wait a couple months until 3.1 is out. Then I'll eigher buy
SoundBlaster Pro or see what DAK is offering. (As I'm in no great hurry to
get multimedia, I might wait to see what DAK comes out with in the hopes
you bundle some CD ROM's with your sound card for those of us who bought
your drive.)
Ron,
If you have Windows 3.0 you'll have to install the multimedia extensions
plus the drivers included with the SoundBlaster Pro. The Windows 3.1
installation doesn't require the multimedia extensions.
I have a pile of MPC applications and hardware that I'm evaluating right
now. I'm sure there's no question we'll be offering some of these in the
future.
Bryan/DAK
Bryan –
Any chance you guys will start to carry the NEC CD-ROM drives
(particularily the 73M and 83M) that now meet the MPC standards? Now that
would be a great bundle, even if it did cost more than your current
offerings. I like DAK's concept on bundling the ROM disks with a player
purchase, but haven't found any of the players you offer to be all that
attractive (performance wise).
– Ron
Ron,
We're looking at a couple of additional CD drives. We're always looking
for "bigger and better stuff" in both computers and CD-ROM. You'll see some
examples in the March catalog.
We're also getting some new bundles ready. Stay tuned.
Bryan/DAK
Bryan,
Great! I can't wait. So far, I've bought everything you folks have offered
in the CD-ROM line. What's coming? A Multimedia upgrade kit? I hope
so…let's get Drew excited and come up with one of those terrific price
things for the Soundblaster Pro card!
George
George,
We'll have some interesting things in the April and May catalogs. I'll
post the information as soon as I can.
Bryan/DAK
George, I have a DAK external drive attached to an IBM PS/2 30/286 system
with 10MhZ 286, 4MB RAM, Windows 3.0, and DOS 5.0. I have found that CD-ROM
based titles that do text search & retrieval, still graphics, and audio
without animation work OK. However, titles from National Geographic
(Mammals and Presidents) which use animation and audio either work too
slowly to be usable or else do not play out at all. Especially the
sound/animation sequences of the Presidents package have proven to be
troublesome. Other CD-ROM drives/attachment features which are MPC
compliant are able to handle these products quite nicely on 8MhZ 8086 IBM
PS/2 model 25 systems.
I have discussed this problem with DAK technical support (I had to write to
them in order to make contact). They tell me that the problem is that the
Sony drive/attachment card package that DAK is selling does not have buffer
capability and therefore cannot sustain the data rate required to handle
these sequences.
Because of this, I have serious questions about the suitability of this
drive for multimedia applications that will be developed over the next few
years which will expect the CD-ROM drive to have 150KB or better sustained
data rate capability. A faster Intel processor will not solve this problem
if the CD-ROM drive and attachment feature is inherently not able to handle
this data rate.
There is nothing wrong with the DAK package as long as the buyer
understands its limitations. I think that it is a mistake to suggest to
buyers that it might be OK for software products which require MPC
compliant systems. The price is great but there are some important
performance limits that the buyer needs to understand.
James,
Hmm…you may well be right. But, I have had good success with the drive
and MM apps, including the Mammals thing. I don't have the presidents.
One thing that seems to help, and I can't explain why, is to change the /M:
parameter for MSCDEX from the default 8 to something like 20. Also, it's
important to get a copy of version 2.2 of MSCDEX.
I suspect that we'll all run into problems later with the buffer size as
more MM apps appear. I need to take that drive apart and see if there
isn't some way to upgrade the buffer memory. Wouldn't it be interesting if
there was an empty socket or something in there?
George
"I haven't found a single area where it fails to work. It's a bit slow at
times on long animations…"
If it does not properly play long animations, then by definition, you have
found a situation "where it fails to work" the way an MPC drive would.