CHINON AMERICA SHIPS $199 QUAD SPEED CD-ROM DRIVE

630 KBps Drive Sets New Price/Performance Standards

June 20, 1995 -- (PC EXPO, NEW YORK) -- Chinon America officials say their
recently announced quad speed CD-ROM drive is now shipping and will sell
for an estimated industry-leading street price of $199 and will transfer
data at more than 630 KBps, about five percent faster than standard quad
speed drives. The introduction of this low-priced, high-performance drive
is expected to "make quad speed technology affordable to the masses,"
according to Scott Elrich, marketing manager. Most of the current crop of
quad speed drives retail for $300 - $400 while performing at the standard
quad speed benchmark of 600 KBps data transfer rate.

"Chinon has produced a second-generation quad speed drive of exceptional
quality, durability and performance that can successfully compete with the
lowest-priced quad speed drive on the market," Elrich explained .
"Second-generation quad speed components achieve a higher quality product
than first-generation technology, with the additional benefit of reducing
costs."

Chinon's CDS-545i boasts one of the highest reliability ratings of any quad
speed drive on the market, registering 50,000 hours power-on mean time
between failures (MTBF). The drive offers 630 KBps throughput, 230
millisecond (ms) average access time/185ms average seek time (utilizing a
proprietary technology which accelerates the disc to six times its normal
speed during search functions), a 128 KB data buffer, CD audio, CD-ROM XA,
MPC2 and multisession Photo CD compatibility.

The CDS-545i is one of the first quad speed drives to utilize ATAPI IDE (AT
Attachment Packet Interface Intelligent Drive Electronics), also known as
Enhanced IDE, in lieu of SCSI to connect the CD-ROM to the PC. Once the
exclusive domain of multimedia developers, engineers, and other PC owners
for whom money was no object, quad speed technology has only recently
developed into an emerging new standard for consumers.

Many analysts now predict that quad speed CD-ROM drives will overtake
double speed drives in total units shipped by the end of 1995. Quad speed
drives transfer data at roughly twice the speed of older, double speed
drives (which average 300 KBps). This advantage shows up in a number of
applications, including 3D modeling and rendering. "The next wave of
consumer CD-ROM entertainment titles will take advantage of the bandwidth
afforded by quad speed drives to fully render huge graphic information
databases in real time, immersing the viewer in a virtual world," added
David Cole, executive vice president of product development and support.
"The popularity of 3D rendered multimedia titles will dominate the market
and as a result quad speed drives will become the norm."

The CDS-545i also features a unique front-panel array of controls that can
be operated independently of the computer. This advanced set of controls
allows the user to open and close the CD-ROM tray, play, skip or stop a
program, random play and skip in reverse and autoscan. These commands are
particularly useful for playing music on the unit as a stand-alone CD
player without the inconvenience of audio play software. The CDS-545i also
utilizes a motorized loading tray, which does not require the use of a
separate CD caddy.

Chinon is a world leader in the manufacture of CD-ROM and floppy disk
drives. The company also manufactures multimedia hardware and software,
OEM printer components, electronic imaging and optical products. Chinon
America's Information Equipment Division, which began operations in 1985,
is a subsidiary of Chinon Industries, Japan.

Chinon America will be exhibiting its full line of products at PC Expo,
June 20-22, in the Jacob K. Javits Center, Booth #909. For more
information, contact Chinon America, 615 Hawaii Avenue, Torrance, CA
90503. Telephone: (800) 441-0222 or (310) 533-0274. Fax: (310) 533-1727.

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