BackPack Bantam - Jun/Jul '98

BackPack Bantam

Adding a CD-ROM to a notebook or desktop can be challenging. Portable drives for notebooks have been around for a long time, but most are cumbersome and bulky. Moreover, portable CD-ROM drives only provided the ability to read discs. If you wanted sound, additional hardware was required. Micro Solutions has addres-sed these concerns with its Backpack Bantam, a lightweight CD-ROM drive with sound. This device is light in your briefcase without putting a dent in your checkbook.

Micro Solutions is a leading provider of mass-storage devices using the parallel port including tape backup, CD-ROM and hard drives. This latest addition to their family of products is its most elegant and compact. The Backpack Bantam is easy to install because it uses the parallel port. Other portable CD-ROM drives require a SCSI adapter or PC-card which can be difficult to set up. Just plug the cable into your computer's parallel port and run the setup disk provided with the unit. The Backpack Bantam installs onto your hard drive and adds an applet to the Control Panel. Sound drivers for both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 are provided. Overall, the entire installation process only takes 15 to 20 minutes.

Although the unit is lightweight, its performance is not. Using an enhanced parallel port (EPP), you can transfer data at up to 1200 KB/sec. The Backpack Bantam supports standard, EPP and IEEE 1284 parallel ports for maximum performance. And you do not have to forego a printer since the Backpack Bantam provides a pass-through printer port. Also, if you have other Micro Solutions Backpack products, you can daisy-chain the devices off the pass-through port, something that other parallel port mass-storage products cannot do.

The Backpack Bantam weighs just 24 ounces, including its power supply. At just three ounces, the transformer is a small rectangle that plugs sideways into your electrical outlet. This arrangement avoids monopolizing two power outlets, a fault found in many power adapters. The drive unit is small (1 inch by 8.5 inches by 6 inches) and will fit easily in your briefcase. The Backpack Bantam cannot stand on its side and you should avoid placing anything heavy on top of it.

The Backpack Bantam's sound components include a headphone, a microphone, and line input and output jacks. It has an internal speaker that automatically disables when external speakers are attached. Both models provide an internal speaker, and the Backpack Bantam model without sound can still play audio CDs without any other hardware.

A CD-ROM drive is a necessity these days because most new software is provided on CDs. This certainly beats loading diskettes. If you need
to add a CD-ROM drive, the Backpack Bantam is easy and functional. Portable users will appreciate its light weight and sound features. Small office users can share the unit among several machines because it only requires a parallel port. The Backpack Bantam with sound is a bargain and provides everything you need to turn your old portable machine into a multimedia computer.

Micro Solutions
(800) 890-7227
www.micro-solutions.com
Windows 3.1/95

$299 without sound; $349 with sound

Reviewed by J. Michael Jimmerson, attorney, author and technology consultant with Altman Weil Inc., Chicago, Ill.

Jun/Jul '98 Issue

PROS
Compact, elegant design. Easy to get up and running.

CONS
Could be fragile.

VERDICT
If you need to add a CD-ROM drive and sound to your laptop computer, the Backpack Bantam is a cost-effective,
two-in-one solution to your problem.