IRVINE, Calif., October 14, 1996 -- Toshiba America Information
Systems, Inc., Disk Products Division (TAIS DPD), today introduced
two new 12-speed CD-ROM drives: the XM-5701B SCSI and the XM-5702B
ATAPI (enhanced IDE) drives. As a result, Toshiba becomes the first
manufacturer to offer a 12-speed drive with a SCSI-2 interface and
the only manufacturer to offer 12-speed CD-ROM drives in both
an ATAPI and SCSI-2 interface.
"An increasing majority of popular computer software applications,
from operating systems to education and accounting packages, are
being distributed on CD-ROM," said Jerry Higgins, vice president
CD-ROM marketing, TAIS DPD. Toshiba's 12-speed product offerings
provide dramatic time savings when installing this software.
Additionally, the access time to data located on a CD-ROM is also
quicker. "The XM-5701B and XM-5702B drives provide increased
performance while continuing the Toshiba tradition of developing
and manufacturing only the highest quality, most reliable CD-ROM
drives," said Higgins.
Toshiba designs its drives to provide optimum data access rates.
Both the new internal SCSI XM-5701B and ATAPI XM-5702B drives
feature fast 115ms average random seek and 125ms average random
access times.
Designed to provide the fastest possible access to data through
enhanced performance, the new XM-5701B and XM-5702B feature
sustained data transfer rates of 1,800KB/sec. The XM-5701B drive
is capable of synchronous burst transfers of 10MB/sec., while
the XM-5702B has a specified ATAPI burst rate of 13.3MB/s under
DMA multi-word Mode 1. This DMA mode reduces the burden on the
main CPU as well. Both drives have 256KB buffers for optimized
data transfer rates.
Toshiba designed its 12-speed SCSI CD-ROM drive with ease of
set-up and integration in mind. For easy set-up in the SCSI
environment, the XM-5701B drive comes complete with SCAM, or
"SCSI Configuration AutoMagically." When users connect the
XM-5701B drive through a SCSI port to a PC or Macintosh, SCAM
configures all aspects of the CD-ROM drive with the computer
through the SCSI connection automatically. The SCSI XM-5701B
also provides Plug-and-Play compatibility.
Both the XM-5701B and XM-5702B employ Toshiba's variable speed
playback system that significantly reduces random access times
by allowing the drive to read data upon seek completion before
the disk reaches a specific rotational speed of 1-, 4- or 12-times
the standard rotational speed.
Further contributing to the high-performance in both the SCSI
and ATAPI drive is Toshiba's digital servo control that offers
greater precision in tracking and head positioning. When
combined with the variable speed playback system, the digital
servo control feature greatly improves all aspects of the
XM-5701B and XM-5702B drives' performance.
Both the XM-5701B and XM-5702B drives are fully compatible with
a range of industry specifications supporting multimedia
applications. The drives offer MPC-3 compatibility, multi-session
Photo CD read capability and CD-EXTRA support. The drives read
CD-DA, CD-G, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-I Bridge, CD-I Ready and Video
CD disc formats; and adhere to Red book and Yellow book standards.
For audio playback only, the new drives can be used independent of
the computer system.
Known in the industry for providing the highest in quality and
reliability, Toshiba provides a high 100,000 hour MTBF with its
XM-5701B and XM-5702B CD-ROM drives. For user convenience, both
drives are designed with tray-loading disc mechanisms and an
emergency eject button as standard features. Plus, a media-removal
prevention function ensures that CDs cannot be ejected during
read operations. For integration and set-up flexibility, the
drives may be mounted horizontally or vertically.
The new SCSI XM-5701B and ATAPI XM-5702B are internal drives that
measure only 1.62(h) x 5.69(w) x 7.41(d) inches and weigh only
1.98 pounds. The drives' power consumption is a low 0.5 watts
standby and 6.9 watts average.
Suggested list prices for the drives are: $195 for the XM-5701B
SCSI and $165 for the XM-5702B ATAPI. The drives are available
now in sample quantities and will be in available in volume on
November 1, 1996.
Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with approximate annual sales of
$3 billion, TAIS is comprised of seven divisions which manufacture
and market a wide range of business and information-oriented
products in the United States. Products include portable computers,
disk drives, CD-ROM drives, plain paper copiers, facsimile systems,
digital key telephones and PBX systems, voice mail systems and
toner products.
TAIS is an independent operating company, owned by Toshiba
America Inc., a subsidiary of the $53.8 billion Toshiba
Corporation, the fifth largest computer and electronics
manufacturer, and the world's 36th largest corporation in terms
of sales. Toshiba Corporation is a world leader in high-technology
products with 173 major consolidated subsidiaries worldwide.
The TAIS Disk Products Division markets a wide range of
industry-standard Winchester and CD-ROM disk drives in the
United States. For additional product information, contact
Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Disk Products
Division, 9740 Irvine Blvd., Irvine, CA 92618; telephone
(714) 457-0777, or on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.toshiba.com.
