From memory, the (read) data transfer rate of my
SMO-S501-11 drive with 600MB
media is about 600K/sec; similar to a quad-speed CD-ROM.
Just FYI a drive and 3 disks is ending its auction in 18 hours on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=258125312
Last price was about $40