Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: geoff@softy.softwords.bc.ca (Geoff Seeley) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: NEC MultiSpin 38 (CDR-38) CD-ROM drive Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 20 Feb 1994 23:28:11 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 217 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <2k8rmb$13o@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: geoff@softy.softwords.bc.ca (Geoff Seeley) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, CD-ROM, commercial PRODUCT NAME NEC MultiSpin 38 (CDR-38) CD-ROM drive BRIEF DESCRIPTION A portable SCSI-1 and SCSI-2 compatible CD-ROM drive. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: NEC Technologies, Inc. Address: 1255 Michael Drive, Wood Dale, IL 60191-1094 USA Telephone: (800) NEC-INFO (Information Services) (800) 366-0476 (FastFacts automated support/info) (508) 264-8000 (Technical Support) FAX: (508) 635-4666 (Technical Support) LIST PRICE List: approximately $399 (US). I paid $369.99 Canadian for mine. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE SCSI host adapter with a female DB-25 connector. SOFTWARE CD-ROM driver software. (Not included.) COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 3000, 25Mhz 2 Meg Chip RAM, 10 Meg Fast RAM Kickstart 40.55, Workbench 40.25 (Developer) WD33C93A-PL 00-08 SCSI Controller Chip AmiCDROM filesystem software, versions 1.7 and 1.8. INSTALLATION TURN OFF THE COMPUTER. Remove two shipping screws with a screwdriver or a coin. Plug the SCSI 25/50 cable (supplied) into the drive and the computer. Plug 120V 60Hz AC adapter (supplied) into the drive. Configure the DIP switches for your system setup. REVIEW After quickly unpacking the CDR-38 and connecting it to my machine, I configured the DIP switch settings for my setup. This is relatively easy as the switches are located on the bottom of the unit and are fully labeled as to their function. The switches allow you to set the SCSI ID of the unit, termination of the SCSI bus, normal or double speed mode, and choice of command set to use (SCSI-1 or SCSI-2). When I first attempted to boot up the machine, it froze solid when the Amiga was polling the CD-ROM drive to see if it was a boot device. I tried a few different combinations of the DIP switch settings but that didn't help the situation. Next, I tried swapping the supplied 25/50 SCSI cable with an old one I had been using. It worked! I suspect the NEC SCSI cable has a bad wire in it someplace, as further testing with the cable gave one or two successful boots. Using the old cable has produced no problems whatsoever. (I have since had the cable replaced and everything works as it should.) Inserting a disc into the drive is an easy task as the CDR-38 has a flip top lid and does not require the use of a CD caddy. Having used a caddy type drive in the past, I can safely say that the CDR-38 design is by far the less frustrating of the two. Even though the CDR-38's flip top has a small smoked plastic window on it, I found it hard to know when the disc had stopped spinning before attempting to change it. The window is useful only if you are able to look directly down on the top of the unit with sufficient lighting. I suspect that proper driver software that can "unmount" the disc would eliminate this problem by stopping the motor. After testing some regular CD-ROMs in the drive, I next tried out some regular audio CDs. I connected the drive's audio output up to my stereo system using a cable with a mini phono (1/8 inch) jack and two RCA type jacks for output. To control the playback functions, I used F. J. Reichert's "JukeBox" program (version 1.2530) which had no problems controlling the CDR-38. The CDR-38 also provides a volume control for the audio output from the drive which is a welcome feature. The audio output from the drive sounds crisp and clear, at least to my ears. The busy light on the top of the drive glows green when the drive is accessing a CD-ROM in double speed mode (300K/sec) and red when using normal speed mode (150K/sec). You can also force the drive to use normal speed mode via the DIP switches, but I cannot see a reason why somebody would want to do this. The CDR-38 also has a battery jack along the left side of the case for an optional battery pack sold by NEC. The manual claims that the battery pack will power the CDR-38 for 45 minutes before needing to be plugged into the wall. This option would be good for laptop users needing CD-ROM access while on the road. I was unable to test the PhotoCD support of the CDR-38; however, the drive does claim to support both single and multi-session PhotoCD discs. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS User Data Capacity 680M bytes/disc Total Number of Blocks 333K blocks/disc Data transfer rate 300K bytes/sec (MultiSpin mode) 150K bytes/sec (Normal mode) Memory Buffer 64K bytes Command Set SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 switchable Photo CD Compatibility Multisession/Single session Access Time 400 msec Dimensions 14.2 x 4.9 x 22.8 cm Weight 1.0kg DOCUMENTATION The drive comes with a rather small, 17-page manual that is just large enough to cover all the information you need. Included are sections on connecting the drive to your machine, caring for the drive, and trouble shooting sections for both Macintosh and PC users. (Sorry, no Amiga section) The manual gets the job done, but it assumes the user has some knowledge of SCSI (IDs, termination). A glossary or introductory section could have helped this. LIKES AND DISLIKES ('+' means like, '-' means dislike) + Caddyless design. + Volume control for headphones jack. + Two-color LED busy indicator. + SCSI 1 and SCSI 2 switchable operation. - No stereo RCA jacks. - No SCSI pass-through port. - Hard to tell if the disc is still spinning when opening the lid. - Power and Busy lights on top of case only. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS Before I purchased the CDR-38, I used an Apple CD-150 external SCSI drive on my A3000. Compared to the Apple drive, the NEC is smaller, faster, and easier to load due to the caddyless design. Triple speed drives seem to be the most predominant these days. However, this drive is plenty fast enough for me, even with the relatively slow average seek time of the drive. BUGS Other than the bad SCSI cable mentioned above, this drive has worked perfectly from day one. VENDOR SUPPORT I have not had to contact NEC support for anything yet. However, the manual lists toll-free support numbers as well as a BBS number for downloading the latest software drivers for PC users. WARRANTY 2 years, parts and labor (from the date of the purchase). Warranty applies to the first consumer purchaser only. CONCLUSIONS Overall, I'd give this drive a rating of 8.5 out of 10. Had I not had the bad cable initially, I would have given it 9.5. I'm very happy with this drive and I'm now starting to see the great potential of CD-ROMs and the technology that will follow. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1994 Geoff Seeley. All rights reserved. --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews