Least PC-Compatible MS-DOS machines?

Did it? Do you ahve the figures fdor the cost of the 2 devices (in 1-offs and in 'production' quantities)? If you're going to allow Apple (or whoever) to make their own drives, there is no reason why they couldn't have used a 1770 to directly drive a bit of ribbon cable to a special drive (presumably with inverted signal lines). That would at least have given a disk which was redable on other machines. Interestingly Amstrad, a British manufacutrer who were know nfor cheap machines and cutting every corner possible used the 1700 seires and provided '38 line drivers, etc. I do not believe tht Apple couldn't have done the same (maybe for a tirival price increase o nthe Mac, but if you're spending that sort of money o na machine that increase is lost in the noise...) In other words I do not beleive that cost was the primary motivation for using the IWM. -tony