Over the past year we've been recommending CD-RW (ReWritable) drives for use in backing up and archiving files, exchanging files, maintaining digital photo albums, serving as 650 MB removable drives, and so on. However, recordable/rewritable CD discs aren't the only removable media game in town although they are the cheapest on a media cost (per MB) basis. Shown here in media-size order (excluding tape drives) along with drive and media cost (cents/MB):
Drive Capacity Media Cost
------------------------ -------- ----------
Traditional floppy 1.4 MB 28.0 cents
Iomega Clik! PC Card 40.0 MB 35.0
Iomega Notebook Zip 100 100.0 MB 13.0
Iomega Zip 100 100.0 MB 13.0
Imation SuperDisk LS-120 120.0 MB 7.5
Sony HiFD 200.0 MB 7.5
Iomega Zip 250 250.0 MB 7.2
CD-R/RW 650.0 MB 0.3-0.6(1)
Iomega Jaz(2) 2.0 GB 6.3
Castlewood Orb 2.2 GB 1.3
Notes:
(1) 0.3 cents/MB for CD-R, 0.6 cents/MB for
CD-RW.
(2) Jaz 1 GB version is no longer manufactured,
but is still supported.
(3) Cost, portability, interface, and throughput
are the other criteria for choosing a drive,
but a technology-wide discussion is beyond
the scope of this article.
Be aware that you may, in such a drive's lifespan, spend as much or more on media as you did on the drive itself. With that in mind, look at the table and see how relatively expensive the traditional floppy is when compared with other removable media. All this analysis got me yearning for an Iomega Zip 250 USB external drive.
Pros: affordable ($180 street; the bundle I bought included one 250 MB Zip disk which is an $18 value), excellent cost/MB ratio so you won't go broke every time you need a new disk ($18/disk), the external USB version is portable to any PC (or Mac) with a free USB port, it's relatively fast (0.9 MB/second), hot- swappable, supports Plug and Play, comes bundled with plenty of software, and is equally compatible with USB-ready Macs and PCs.
Cons: none on the unit but software help is thin, more on this in a moment.
I bought one.
I needed the drive, in addition to my existing Acer CD-RW drive, in order to accommodate our clients who use Zip drives and are more comfortable with Zips than CDs. I had a choice between the Zip 100 or the Zip 250 drive. Although a 250 MB Zip disk can't be written to or read from by a Zip 100 drive, a Zip 250 drive is backward compatible. Meaning, you can shove a 100 MB Zip disk into a Zip 250 drive and it will write to it (albeit more slowly than to a 250 MB disk) and read from it.
This USB device was quick and painless to install. The drive itself is a deep blue color with gray accents, ergonomically designed to fit right into your hand when you grab its sides, a sleek 0.75" thick by 6.75" long by 4.5" wide, weighs only 9 ounces, and can be mounted vertically on the provided stand. It's quite svelte. Folks, notice the size and weight on this unit: only 9 ounces and three-quarters of an inch thick! Even when you add the power brick and USB cable you're still under a pound: 15.3 ounces... perfect for TNPC road warriors. There's an optional PCMCIA card/cable bundle that eliminates the need for the power supply ($39.95 list).
The drive's printed documentation, including the Quick Install pamphlet, is well done. Other device manufacturers, take note. I don't think it would be possible to make a mistake during setup if you follow their instructions. You can optionally install the user's manual from CD, and I suggest you do so (the "Zip Tips" section is useful reading for anyone new to Zip drives). A second pamphlet, printed on hard-to-miss orange paper and labeled "Read me first!" contains useful tips on getting software updates and a list of USB do's and don'ts. (Windows NT 4.0 users, I STRONGLY recommend you read this pamphlet before proceeding.)
I LOVE this drive, but I'm quite not so ebullient about the bundled software. Here's a run-down.
These tools can be accessed via the traditional Start menu or desktop icon techniques, or via IomegaWare's user interface that's configured to start whenever you start Windows (you can turn this off). I'm reviewing IomegaWare version 2.2.1 here.
IomegaWare's interface offers all these tools plus access to help files and allows you to Open, Explore, Find, Eject, Format, Protect, and examine the Properties of any Zip drive. You can also perform these operations from inside Windows Explorer.
Iomega QuikSync will automatically back up the contents of one
folder to a Zip drive. You can set how often the folder is to be
checked for any changes, and whether a file--once changed--is to
be backed up to the Zip drive on top of itself or with
incrementing filenames, like Testing.(1).doc and Testing.(2).doc.
Too bad it's limited to a single folder in the bundled version.
You can upgrade to QuikSync 2, a version that does support
multiple source folders, but it'll cost you $19.95. Download a
free 30-day evaluation copy at:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/317/tr.cgi?zip1
Another annoyance: QuikSync's "Browse for folder" interface doesn't display backup source folders in alphabetical order.
Iomega 1-Step Backup is designed as a quick way to select multiple folders to back up. You can name/save backup jobs, turn compression on/off, select files from a traditional "check box for each folder" tree view, and turn password protection on/off. There is a comparable 1-Step Restore tool.
A full-featured backup tool is called Iomega Backup The Works, or just The Works for short. In addition to 1-Step's features, The Works supports a backup scheduler, full user control over all backup types (full, archive, incremental, differential), restore and compare, and a Librarian. The Librarian may be a useful tool but the documentation on it is limited to two sentences, "The Librarian catalogs all the backups according to volume and file name. If you don't know what disk your file is on, the information in the Librarian will be extremely valuable."
Iomega Copy Machine is a Wizard that lets you copy a Zip disk to a second Zip disk even if you only have one Zip drive.
I find the Iomega Zip 250 USB external drive a pleasure to use, but the documentation for the bundled software is disappointingly thin.
A recently-released IomegaWare upgrade to version 2.5 is
available at:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/317/tr.cgi?zip2
Amazon currently has this drive/bundle for $179.95:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/317/tr.cgi?zip3
