ABOUT PLEXTOR
Plextor is a subsidiary of the Shinano Kenshi Company (SKC), Ltd. SKC’s roots stretch
back to 1918, when it began to manufacture textiles in Japan’s northern prefecture of
Nagano. (Nagano, incidentally, will be the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics.) SKC’s
involvement in the electronics industry started in 1962, when it diversified into the
production of stepper motors for commercial audio products. SKC is now one of the
world’s largest manufacturers of small motors used in hard disks, floppy disks, tape
drives, copy machines, video cameras----and your Plextor CD-ROM drive.
Over the past decade, SKC has developed a reputation as an innovator in compact
disc and CD-ROM technology. In 1992 it was the second company to begin shipments
of double speed CD-ROM drives. In 1994, it was the first company to begin shipments
of half-height quad speed CD-ROM drives. In early 1995, SKC was the first company
to ship a six speed CD-ROM drive. In early 1996, they shipped the first professional
quality eight speed CD-ROM drive. SKC also is a leading manufacturer of compact
disc players used for industrial and commercial applications (e.g., background music
players for retail stores, restaurants, and shopping centers).
Plextor acts as SKC’s sales, service, and support arm throughout the world. In addition
to CD-ROM drives, Plextor also sells under its own label professional audio equipment
used by radio stations, high-speed printing presses, and a CD encoding system
developed by SKC that can pack up to eight hours of audio onto a single compact disc.
Plextor’s home office is in Tokyo. Plextor first opened an office in California’s Silicon
Valley in 1990. Rapid growth has required it to move twice since then to larger offices.
Plextor now occupies a 30,000 sq. ft. facility in Santa Clara, California, which is staffed
by sales, marketing, technical support, engineering, administrative, and shipping
personnel. Our European office (in Brussels) began operation in 1994.
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12PLEX OPERATION MANUAL
