Toshiba Launches three new CD-ROM Drives with 12.7 mm Height Average 10-time Rotational Speed and 41.5 mm Height 12-time Rotational Speed

14 October, 1996


TOKYO -- Toshiba Corporation today announced worldwide introduction of three new CD-ROM drives, one for the notebook market and two for desktop computers.

XM-1502B is a super-slim drive offering an average 10-time rotational speed. It is only 12.7mm thick, can read an average of 1,500 kilobytes of data a second, and achieves a low average power consumption of 2.7W. The enhanced performance of this compact, high speed drive brings to portable computers a level of CD-ROM performance previously limited to desktop PCs.

XM-5701B with a SCSI interface, and XM-5702B with a ATAPI interface are for desktop PCs. Both are 41.5mm thick, offer a maximum 12-time rotational speed, and features a fast data transfer rate of 1,800 kilobytes per second, providing desktop PCs with increased levels of performance.

The CD-ROM drive market is enjoying considerable growth, with a 25% surge to over 40 million units worldwide predicted for this fiscal year. Trends are to higher transfer rate and to models that achieve the slim lines required for incorporation in ever-smaller portable PCs -- without any loss of performance. Toshiba now brings state-of-the-art performance to a high-speed drive small and light enough to be incorporated in the portable PCs. The XM-1502B average 10- time rotational speed drive is only 12.7(h) x 128(w) x 129(d) mm and weights only 290 grams. The XM-5702B and XM-5701B provides users with a greater responsiveness and faster data downloads by achieving a seek time of only 115 milliseconds and an access time of 125 milliseconds.

XM-1502B's high level of performance results from applying a combination of constant angular velocity (CAV) and Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) to data reads. It also uses a motor driver IC control heat generation, which cuts average power consumption to only 2.7W. The new drive incorporates a newly developed motor and pick-up especially designed for super-slim CD-ROM drives.

The enhanced performance of XM-5701B and XM-5702B result from accelerating operation of the digital signal processor used for digital servo control, improved error correction capabilities, and an improved pick-up head and motor designed for high-speed data access. They also incorporate Toshiba's proven performance-improving digital servo system and variable speed playback, which starts to read data before the disc speed reaches any specific rotational rate. The power-saving standby mode of the XM-5702B cuts power consumption to only half that of earlier models. The XM-5701 drives, supporting Fast SCSI, are capable of synchronous burst transfer at 10 megabytes per second, double the speed of SCSI II.

Sales of XM-1502B will start from today, with samples priced at 60,000 yen in Japan. Sampling of XM-5701B and XM-5702B will also start from today in Japan. Samples of the ATAPI type will be made available at 50,000 yen, while the SCSI type will be 60,000 yen.


Specifications

XM-1502B
XM-5701B
XM-5702B


Information in the press releases, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the press announcement,but is subject to change without prior notice.