The old Apple drives seem to be pretty reliable, especially the ones with 300 in their name. I've got four 300e drives and all of them work perfectly. I also have one of the original Apple SCSI models (the one that fits underneath a Classic/Plus/SE); it too works great.
My first CD-ROM drive was a Power User brand from Mac Warehouse. It came with the usual bundle fare--Grolier's Encyclopedia and The Animals. The can't miss title that prompted the purchase was A.D.A.M. The Inside Story, which I still have today. The drive was purchased in December 1994 and died exactly five years after that. I replaced it with a NEC 3-speed drive that I no longer have (mostly because it required FWB CD-ROM Toolkit 2.0 to run and my Toolkit 2.0 master floppy failed).
I found my first Apple CD-ROM drive, the original model, at a yard sale in 2001 for $5. The guy threw in a brand new SCSI cable with it. He also had a few old Macs (I believe they were Pluses) and ImageWriters, which I would have bought if I had brought more money with me that day (I was en route to the zoo when I told my mom to stop after spotting a Mac in the corner of my eye). I got a call from a friend the next month. He told me that he had an LC II he wanted to unload and gave me the first of my four 300es with it. I have decided I like the 300e best out of all the external drives.
The Power User had a Toshiba mechanism inside of it. I know the 300es use Matsushita units (it's the same company as Panasonic/Technics). Does anyone know what the original Apple CD drive uses?
My first CD-ROM drive was a Power User brand from Mac Warehouse. It came with the usual bundle fare--Grolier's Encyclopedia and The Animals. The can't miss title that prompted the purchase was A.D.A.M. The Inside Story, which I still have today. The drive was purchased in December 1994 and died exactly five years after that. I replaced it with a NEC 3-speed drive that I no longer have (mostly because it required FWB CD-ROM Toolkit 2.0 to run and my Toolkit 2.0 master floppy failed).
I found my first Apple CD-ROM drive, the original model, at a yard sale in 2001 for $5. The guy threw in a brand new SCSI cable with it. He also had a few old Macs (I believe they were Pluses) and ImageWriters, which I would have bought if I had brought more money with me that day (I was en route to the zoo when I told my mom to stop after spotting a Mac in the corner of my eye). I got a call from a friend the next month. He told me that he had an LC II he wanted to unload and gave me the first of my four 300es with it. I have decided I like the 300e best out of all the external drives.
The Power User had a Toshiba mechanism inside of it. I know the 300es use Matsushita units (it's the same company as Panasonic/Technics). Does anyone know what the original Apple CD drive uses?