The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Storage Device Proves So Useful It’s Hard to Find
Rarely does a single computer device perform several tasks well, but Iomega’s new Zip Drive is an exception. It can be used to backup files, transfer files from one PC to another, and store software and data that you need to keep around but don’t need on your hard disk. It’s so useful, in fact, that Iomega can’t seem to make enough of them; some versions are very hard to find right now.
Having a Zip Drive is like having an extra hard drive on your PC, except it’s portable and removable. The $200 device lets you save data to a 100-megabyte removable disk ($19.95 each) that’s small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. Once installed, it functions like an extra hard disk, accessible from any MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2 or Macintosh program. Iomega ((800) 777-6654) says that it can transfer data at up to 20 megabytes per minute, but your actual speed may be lower and will vary depending on the type of computer you’re using and how you connect the drive.
There are two versions of the Zip Drive. One connects to an IBM PC via a standard parallel port. The other plugs into the SCSI port on either a Macintosh or an IBM compatible PC. (All Macs have SCSI ports and all IBM compatibles have parallel ports, and some IBM compatible PCs also have a SCSI port. Iomega also sells a SCSI adapter for $50.)
The SCSI version is about 30% faster, but the advantage to parallel is that you’ll be able to use it with virtually any IBM compatible PC, including notebook systems.
I tested the parallel port version, and it was very easy to install and use. I plugged it into the machine’s printer port and plugged the printer into the pass-through connector on the Zip Drive. The Windows software took only a few minutes to install. Once I had it running, I was able to copy files back and forth between the Zip Drive and my hard disk, and even install some Windows programs directly on the Zip Drive. They ran OK, but were a bit slower than if run from the hard drive.
It took about three minutes to copy 12 megabytes of data from the hard drive to the Zip Drive. That’s far below Iomega’s “20 megabyte per minute” transfer rate claim, though the company admits that actual performance varies.
Backing up my data isn’t exactly my idea of a fun activity, so the only way I’m going to do it on a frequent basis is if it’s fast and easy. The Zip Drive makes the process painless, mainly because--unlike a tape backup system--it appears to the computer like a regular disk drive.
The Zip Drive is also very useful for moving large files from one computer to another. I developed a Power Point presentation that required a file that was too large to fit on a single floppy disk, and the Zip Drive made it easy to move it to another machine. The drive weighs only a pound and is small enough to fit easily into a briefcase, and the disk itself is only slightly larger than a standard floppy disk.
The drive is a great way to carry around a large presentation or any other set of data that you need to access on other machines. Again, the performance may be a bit slower than a regular hard drive but it’s likely to be satisfactory.
The Zip Drive is also a good way to store programs that you plan to use only on occasion.
The Zip Drive isn’t the first removable or portable data storage system. Iomega also makes the Bernoulli removable drives and Syquest offers a full range of removable drives for both Macs and PCs. Some of these drives have a higher capacity and faster performance than the Zip Drive but they come at a much higher cost--typically about $500 for the drive and between $50 and $100 per data cartridge, depending on capacity.
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