The first 3.5" erasable optical drive was announced recently by Pinnacle Micro Inc., which claims that the drive's average seek time is a mere 28 milliseconds, far below that offered by the 5.25" standard erasable optical disks. Each $129 disk will store 128 megabytes of information, less than the 650 megabytes that the 5.25" drives will hold. However, the list price on the drive is $2995, so street prices should be less than the $3500 or so that the 5.25" drives cost. Compared to a 105 megabyte Quantum hard disk, the Pinnacle erasable optical is still expensive at about $24 per megabyte, but adding additional disks lowers the price per megabyte significantly. For graphic designers who wish to store large 24-bit images or anyone who needs a large amount of storage, the Pinnacle 3.5" drive will provide it at a reasonable speed, unlike its 5.25" brethren.

Pinnacle Micro, Inc. -- 800/553-7070 -- 714/727-3300

Related articles:
MacWEEK -- 17-Apr-90, Vol. 4, #15, pg. 4
InfoWorld -- 23-Apr-90, Vol. 12, #17, pg. 6

Permanent article URL: http://db.tidbits.com/article/3919
This is a specially formatted version of this TidBITS article that removes colors, and optionally removes images; it's designed to minimize the use of ink and paper.
Unless otherwise noted, this article is copyright © 1990 TidBITS Publishing, Inc.. TidBITS is copyright © 2008 TidBITS Publishing Inc. Reuse governed by this Creative Commons License: http://www.tidbits.com/terms/.