FLOPPY DRIVE READS AND WRITES 120-MBYTE OR STANDARD 3.5-IN FLOPPIES

For over 15 years, disk drive start-ups have been trying to develop high capacity floppy disk drive technology. Iomega Corp. of Roy, Utah has been the most successful with its Zip drive debuted at Comdex Fall 1994 in Las Vegas, Nev.

This month another company, O.R. Technology of San Jose, Calif. introduced FD-3120A drive, an LS-120 drive that uses laser servo technology to reach a 120MB storage capacity. LS-120 technology places laser servo tracks (hence the “LS” designation) on each diskette that are both written and read by a laser system.

The stage is now set for a struggle between the Iomega Zip drive and the new floppy drive from O.R. Each has their advantages over the other. The Zip drive has been shipping and has an installed base, but is not backward compatible with existing floppy drives as is the O.R. unit.

The biggest advantage the O.R. drive has is that one major PC maker has already incorporated the drive in a high-end system. In March this year, Compaq Computer Corp. of Houston, Tex. debuted its Deskpro XL 6200 that contains the LS-120 drive.

Unique on the FD-3120A is that it is read/write compatible with standard floppy disks, thus providing a migration path for 200 million PC users. Thus, PC users wanting the high capacity of a Zip drive with the read/write compatibility of standard 3.5-in. floppies now can replace the floppy in their systems with the FD-3120A.

The FD-3120A provides 80 times the capacity and five times the speed of a standard 1.44 Mbyte floppy disk drive. Its slim, one-inch high form factor can be configured for use in standard PC drive bays, making it the ideal form, fit and function replacement for current floppy disk drives.

It incorporates an industry standard ATAPI IDE interface for easy connection in any personal computer. The LS-120 diskettes are the same size and shape as current 3.5-inch floppy disks and are manufactured by 3M Data Storage Products Division of St. Paul, Minn.

The FD-3120A evolved from conventional floppy technology; however, servo patterns are factory etched into each LS-120 diskette. The optical sensor in the drive allows the read/write head to be precisely positioned over the magnetic data tracks.

The optical sensor enables track densities of 2,490 data tracks per inch vs. the 135 tpi for a 1.44 Mbyte diskette, thus allowing the 120 Mbyte capacity. A “dual-gap” head allows the laser servo drive to read and write both conventional floppy disks and LS-120 disks.

Laser servo technology was developed jointly by O.R. Technology, Compaq Computer Corp., Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries Ltd. (MKE) and 3M Data Storage Products Division. The technology was originally developed for the 20-Mbyte Floptical drive debuted by Insite Peripherals Inc. of San Jose, Calif. ten years ago.

Insite was sold to Ocean Radio Group of Singapore in late 1993. The company began work on the 120-Mbyte drive shortly thereafter. The 1995 Disk/Trend Report on Removable Data Storage from Disk/Trend Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. speculated that the drive would debut in 1995.

The FD-3120A will be available from authorized distributors in June. It’s offered at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $210. LS-120 media from 3M is available now at an MSRP of $19.95.

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