Just as slim and holds more data.

Just as slim, holds even more data.

I have been a user of Iomega products for several years, and for the most part, I’ve been very happy with their products. I purchased the 750 MB Zip USB recently, and am extremely satisfied with its design, performance, and features. My first Iomega product was the 100 MB parallel port Zip Drive, which I was happy with. However, with the clunky power cord and the hassle of slow data transfer via the parallel printer port connection, I considered two products from them, the 100 MB USB port drive, and the 250 MB USB powered Zip Drive. However, I also picked up the Iomega Predator CDR/CDRW external unit earlier this year, and I was disappointed with its performance. I took a chance at picking up the new 750 MB USB Zip recently, primarily to see how it performed compared to the CDR/CDRW unit, and to see if it actually can hold more data than a CD/R or CD/RW.


Information on the 750 MB Iomega USB Powered Zip Drive.

Company: Iomega
System Requirements:
For PC Users:
Pentium 100 Mhz Processor or higher
Built in USB controller.
Windows 95/98/ME/NT or higher(software upgrades for XP available at the website for download)
Minimum of 16 MB free hard drive space(more is required for the additional software packages)
32 MB RAM
At least a 4 x CD-ROM for software installation.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or above or Netscape 4.5 or above for HTML user manual instructions.
Extra Hard Drive Space for the additional software(Adobe Active Share, Iomega Quicksync, Photosuite III, Iomega Tools, etc.
For Mac Users:
· Apple iMac™ or Power Macintosh® computer with built-in USB connection
· Mac OS 8.5.1 through 9.X
· Must meet minimum RAM required for your specific operating system
· 30MB hard drive space recommended
· 2X CD-ROM drive or higher for software installation
· To use Iomega software and user's manual: Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™ 4.0 or Netscape™ Navigator™ 4.5 or higher
Hard drive space: Iomega Quik Sync 2 software (30-day trial version) (8MB), Adobe® ActiveShare™ (40MB), MusicMatch™ Jukebox (30MB), and Iomega Backup 4.1 (10MB), PhotoSuite III software (54MB), Iomega Tools.

Cost: $179.99

Other features:

“Blazing Fast” 50x50x50 write/rewrite//read speed.
Secure Scratch resistant, password protected storae that can fit in your pocket.
Drag and drop automatic backup.
Reads All Zip Disks.

Comes with Drive, USB Cable, Power cord, “Start Here First Welcome Kit”, including Iomega Auto Backup and Iomega Sync Software., and Quick Install Guide.

Review/Highlights.

The 750 MB Zip Drive is a rival to CD-R’s and CD/RW’s in terms of storage space. With 750 MB of data, it holds 50 MB more than the typical Verbatum CD-R’s, and 100 MB more than the typical CD/RW’s. Remember the days when the 1.44 MB floppy diskettes were sufficient to store your files? Those days are long ago, and before all of the MP3 files, MPG files, AVI files, downloadable free demonstration games, home movies, and digital everything that was over 1.44 MB in size. Then came larger storage capabilities on a diskette form, that is the 100 MB Zip diskette. So much more was possible now, and one could back up a lot more data and “stuff”. However, as convenient as 100 MB diskettes were, there seemed to be a need for and even bigger diskette, and Iomega put out the 250 MB USB Powered Zip Drive, along with the 250 MB capacity diskettes, last year. This year, I had a bad experience with an external CD/RW unit, and came across this unit, the 750 MB Zip Drive, and thought I would give it whirl. I liked it, and use it every day.


What I like about it:

Data storage.

The 750 MB Zip Drive's diskettes can hold almost as much data as the entire hard drive of my first Pentium computer that I purchased in 1995! The trend towards smaller units holding more storage, and becoming faster and more effecient in the computer technology world is certainly a truism. The amount of data you can store rivals and exceeds most CD/R's and CD/RW's on the market today.

Portability.

I love the fact that the 750 MB Zip Drive is slim, and portable, and the power cable is nothing much to to worry about, since it isn’t a big and clunky power plug that used to characterize the older 100 MB Iomega Zip Drives (both parallel port and USB drives). It is a small, slim unit, and is barely larger than the diskettes that come with it. It is portable, as a result of its small size, and if I have a presentation or a paper or something I am working on, I can take it along with my notebook computer with no further problems, the USB port capability is great for this. The fact that there is not an extra power cable to keep track of, and make your “wired life” a literal truth, is also such a nice feature of this unit.


Speed.

With a 50x50x50 read/write speed, he data transfer from the 750 MB USB Zip to and from the computer is fast, fast, fast! For instance, if you compare the older, parallel port Zip drives with the USB drives, there is no comparison! Take a 5 MB MP3 file, for instance. If I “raced” the same file access on two equal computers, but one with the USB powered 250 MB Zip Drive, and the other the Parallel Port Drive, it plays in seconds rather than taking a whole minute, or two, to load up and play! Data transfer is super, and to the capacity, of the USB driver you have, the faster the better.

Ease of Use.

This baby is easy, just install the software and plug and play, and you’re ready to save your data, music, movie, picture, word, and other files onto your 750 MB Zip Diskettes.

Compatibility with older Zip Diskettes.

The older 100 MB Zip Diskettes work in the new 750 MB Zip Drive, so if you are just upgrading to a new unit, there is no need to worry about losing your data or transferring it from 100 MB format to 250 MB format, because it will play and read both.

Software Packages.

There are some nifty software that comes with this unit on the installation CD. I have used photo suite III and like it a lot. I haven’t yet tried the other stuff here, like Adobe Share It, and the other stuff, but it looks like these are nice additives I can play with and try later. It also has the “Active Disk” software titles, including Microsoft Reader, which is kind of a nice program in and of itself.

What I don’t like.

The only things I don’t like are the fact that the 750 MB diskettes are very costly, and that the 750 MB diskettes won’t play in the older 100 MB Zip Drives or the 250 MB Zip Drive. I also don’t like the fact that you cannot write to a 250 MB Zip diskette, or a 100 MB diskette, although you can read them on this drive. The power cord, even though it isn’t bulky, is something I am not fond of, since I was used to the 250 MB USB powered zip drive.

All in all, the 750 MB Iomega Zip Drive is one of my favorite computer auxiliaries. You can back up and save lots of data, music files, pictures, photos, web pages, and more on it. It is not too expensive, is handy, portable, easy to use, slim, and downright fun to use!