History (1992): JVC Demos Write-Once CD-ROM Pre-Mastering System

JVC Information Products Group (Huntington Beach, CA) released the Personal RomMaker system supporting the JVC XR-W1001 Write-Once CD-ROM drive.

It is a CD-ROM premastering and backup system for IBM PCs for service bureaus and integrators interested in producing their own CD-ROMs.

Operating on a 386 IBM-compatible PC with at least 1MB extended memory, the unit produces ISO-9660 or High-Sierra CD-ROM formatted output on CD-ROM write once media for generating limited numbers of copies or providing the transfer media to replication plants for high volume requirements.

The system comes with emulation capabilities that test the user application before it is mastered and replicated.

Additional capabilities include a form-driven interface for CD-ROM formatting, an optimization module to improve CD-ROM performance, and a backup system for archiving up to 580MB of user data on the WO CD-ROM media, or 1GB on a 4mm Data/DAT tape.

The Personal RomMaker with a Data/DAT drive retails for $7,000 and is available. The price includes the pre-mastering, validation and backup software, a SCSI interface card and a Data/ DAT drive. The Personal RomMaker with WO CD-ROM drive will be available 1992.

The retail price is expected to be $12,000 and will include the complete software system, dedicated 600MB, and the 5.25-inch WO CD-ROM drive.

A Macintosh version of RomMaker will also be available in 1992.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠48, published on January 1992.