Epson 386/33 PLUS User Manual

Your computer uses the read/write heads in a disk drive to

store and retrieve data on a disk. To write to a disk, the

computer spins it in the drive to position the disk so that the

area where the data is to be written is under the read/write

head. A diskette has an exposed area where the read/write

head can access it.

Because data is stored magnetically, you can retrieve it, record

over it, and erase it just as you play, record, and erase music on

a cassette tape.

The following list describes the four types of diskette drives

you can use in your computer and which diskettes to use with

them:

1.44MB drive-Use 3½-inch, double-sided, highdensity,

135 TPI (tracks per inch), 1.44MB diskettes. These diskettes

contain 80 tracks per side, 18 sectors per track, and hold up

to 1.44MB of information (approximately 600 pages of text).

MB stands for megabyte, which equals 1024KB (or

1,048,576 bytes). KB stands for kilobyte, which equals

1024 bytes. Each byte represents a single character, such

as A, $, or 3.

1.2MB drive-Use 5¼-inch, double-sided, high-density, 96

TPI, 1.2MB diskettes. These diskettes contain 80 tracks per

side, 15 sectors per track, and hold up to 1.2MB of

information (approximately 500 pages of text).