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CD-ROM drives were much more common than 5.25” floppy disk drives by 1994. Several games and multimedia applications required them.

by _mlbt 3y ago

hakfoo 3y ago
My family's first PC, they made a big point of getting both types of floppies; it was a 386SX, probably around 1992. By 1995, you didn't get a 5.25 drive; I can recall bolting one into the family's third PC (a P100 Packard Bell, the second one was a P75 they swapped out under warranty) because I had acquired a 286 "project machine" and wanted to be able to sneakernet it; I had an extra 5.25 drive but putting a 3.5" drive in the 286 would take several years and upgrades.
justsomehnguy 3y ago
Depends on where you was. In 1994 a 2x CD-ROM was a top notch. By the end of '95 you could buy a CD for $5 with the all 3D games, but Duke3D didn't yet came out. EDIT: my mind reminded me - Full Throttle and Lost Eden
brudgers 3y ago
The price hadn’t fallen to the point where they were in mid-range PC’s from big box/discount brands like Packard Bell. Those brands mainly sold behind the curve (e.g. the RAM spec in this machine). In 1994 a CD-ROM was still a bit premium. It would have made more business sense to put a floppy in one of the 5.25” bays for “compatibility.” And cost savings. Windows 95 made CD-ROM a standard feature…most Windows 3 sold on floppy. Multimedia capable PC’s went mainstream with Windows 95 and Packard Bell was what your father-in-law bought at Office Depot. Before that speakers and CD’s were the kind of thing added into a build.
- _mlbt 3y ago
  I agree about the CD-ROM drives, they were definitely only in higher end machines. However, by 1994 5.25” floppies were long obsolete. You would have had to go out of your way get one at that point, which means that yes, in 1994 a machine was far more likely to be purchased with a CD-ROM drive than a 5.25” floppy.
  - brudgers 3y ago
    Companies like Packard Bell put them in to lengthen the list on the features sticker and so all the front facing 5.25” bays would not be blank. It was marketing these PC’s based on selling at retail in big box stores. Mostly to people who were not engaged with tech enough to build their own machines or go to a builder. Anyway, people had legacy 5.25” disks past the millennium…at least I did and my last computer with a 5.25 floppy lasted almost to 2006. Only disposed of because I sold my house and moved out of state. I built it in 1996 with a 5.25” for those aforementioned legacy discs. That’s how it was on my street, but I didn’t live in Silicon Valley and didn’t work for big tech…I set up a sneaker net in 1997 where I worked.

CD-ROM drives were much more common than 5.25” floppy disk drives by 1994. Several games and multimedia applications required them.

by _mlbt 3y ago

CD-ROM drives were much more common than 5.25” floppy disk drives by 1994. Several games and multimedia applications required them.

hakfoo 3y ago

My family's first PC, they made a big point of getting both types of floppies; it was a 386SX, probably around 1992. By 1995, you didn't get a 5.25 drive; I can recall bolting one into the family's third PC (a P100 Packard Bell, the second one was a P75 they swapped out under warranty) because I had acquired a 286 "project machine" and wanted to be able to sneakernet it; I had an extra 5.25 drive but putting a 3.5" drive in the 286 would take several years and upgrades.

justsomehnguy 3y ago

Depends on where you was. In 1994 a 2x CD-ROM was a top notch. By the end of '95 you could buy a CD for $5 with the all 3D games, but Duke3D didn't yet came out. EDIT: my mind reminded me - Full Throttle and Lost Eden

brudgers 3y ago

The price hadn’t fallen to the point where they were in mid-range PC’s from big box/discount brands like Packard Bell. Those brands mainly sold behind the curve (e.g. the RAM spec in this machine). In 1994 a CD-ROM was still a bit premium. It would have made more business sense to put a floppy in one of the 5.25” bays for “compatibility.” And cost savings. Windows 95 made CD-ROM a standard feature…most Windows 3 sold on floppy. Multimedia capable PC’s went mainstream with Windows 95 and Packard Bell was what your father-in-law bought at Office Depot. Before that speakers and CD’s were the kind of thing added into a build.

_mlbt 3y ago
I agree about the CD-ROM drives, they were definitely only in higher end machines. However, by 1994 5.25” floppies were long obsolete. You would have had to go out of your way get one at that point, which means that yes, in 1994 a machine was far more likely to be purchased with a CD-ROM drive than a 5.25” floppy.
- brudgers 3y ago
  Companies like Packard Bell put them in to lengthen the list on the features sticker and so all the front facing 5.25” bays would not be blank. It was marketing these PC’s based on selling at retail in big box stores. Mostly to people who were not engaged with tech enough to build their own machines or go to a builder. Anyway, people had legacy 5.25” disks past the millennium…at least I did and my last computer with a 5.25 floppy lasted almost to 2006. Only disposed of because I sold my house and moved out of state. I built it in 1996 with a 5.25” for those aforementioned legacy discs. That’s how it was on my street, but I didn’t live in Silicon Valley and didn’t work for big tech…I set up a sneaker net in 1997 where I worked.