backpack bantam
Micro Solutions Inc.
$349, Windows 3.x and Windows 95
Phone 800-890-7227 or www.micro-solutions.com
With virtually all software now sold on CD-ROMs instead of floppy disks, the lack of a CD-ROM drive has vexed millions who have older desktop PCs and millions more whose bargain laptops lack CD capacity.
DeKalb-based Micro Solutions’ backpack line of portable data storage gizmos targets that market with this sleek little black box holding both a parallel port CD-ROM drive and Windows-compatible sound. The bantam hooks into the same port that takes the cable to the printer. You then plug the printer into the back of the bantam.
For those who tote their laptops about, the aptly named bantam weighs in at a pound and a half (23 oz.) counting the drive, a very small power supply and the supplied connecting cable.
In tests the device seemed to move data as fast as 8x CD-ROMs hard-wired in other computers, confirming Micro Solutions’ claim of transfer rates of 1200 kilobytes per second.
The big disappointment with the product is that it does not work with DOS-based software, most particularly games, using the SoundBlaster, AdLib and ProAudio Spectrum sound standards, which means this product fails to serve those who want to upgrade older computers to play CD-ROM based games.
Short of gaming, however, the bantam is a featherweight powerhouse.
