Acorn Launches Unit for 
Multimedia Expansion 

Embargo Release Date 20th January 1993 

Acorn Computers is launching its Multimedia Expansion Unit designed to add 
CD ROM expansion capability to any Acorn Archimedes computer system. 

Aimed primarily at the Education market, the Expansion Unit comprises the 
latest state-of-the-art Sony CD ROM drive in a case that not only 
complements the styling of the best selling A4000 and A5000 computers, but 
also features two expansion bays designed to house another CD ROM drive, a 
3=" magneto-optical drive, a tape streamer or a hard disc drive, making it 
suitable as a mass storage add-on for an Archimedes computer. 

Also housed in the Expansion Unit is a sophisticated audio mixer and pre-amp 
which allows any combination of three audio sources from either the housed 
drives or the main computer to be mixed together or switched individually. A 
third party power amplifier module is also available to fit inside the unit 
in order to power a pair of high quality loudspeakers. Alternatively the 
pre-amp output can directly drive a pair of headphones via a built-in volume 
control. 

The Sony CD ROM disc drive is a double speed device which can transfer data 
at 300 KBytes per second instead of the more usual device speed of 150 
KB/sec. It is typically faster than any other CD ROM device currently 
available and is ideally suited for applications needing fast data transfer, 
such as full motion video . 

The Multimedia Expansion Unit connects to an Archimedes computer through a 
standard SCSI podule which can be purchased at the same time as the unit. 
Two SCSI cards are available - a mini-podule to allow connection to an 
A3000/A3020 computer or a full sized podule for connecting inside an 
A400-series, A4000 or A5000 computer. 

The Acorn Multimedia Expansion Unit will be available for purchase in March 
1993. 

ENDS 

Further Information from Neil Gardner, Acorn Computers, Tel 0223 254254 

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