Geartest.com Iomega Zip 100 removable disk drive real world review [2]

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Iomega Zip 100 drive [2]

Installing the Zip drive is a snap. Once you've connected the cables and power, simply pop the included 3½" installation disk into your computer's floppy drive, run the setup application, and a wizard guides you through the setup and registration.

The setup program installs all necessary drivers, and even edits the system initialization file that runs when you start your computer, so your Zip drive is instantly recognized by your system upon startup.

Geartest.com installed the Zip drive on no less than four PCs, and found no fault with the installation process or performance.

Once you reboot your computer your Zip drive is ready to go, and you have the option of installing the suite of Zip Tools bundled with the drive.

Iomega says the tools help you "organize, move, protect, track, ... locate" and manage your disks and files. True to their word, all programs function smoothly and are easy to operate.

The tools include Iomega's "1-Step Backup" utility, Iomega Copy Machine (a Zip disk duplication program), and a Zip disk read/write protection program, including password lock, among other applications.

The storage media used in the Zip -- proprietary Zip disks, slightly larger and bulkier than 1.44 MB floppy disks -- are durable and convenient to carry. Gone are the days of lugging a heavy external hard drive to a business associate's office to transfer large files, always at the risk of damaging or misaligning the drive's delicate workings. Instead, you can simply drop a Zip disk or two in a pocket, backpack or briefcase and have instant access to those fat files you once had to split across multiple floppy disks or risk your hard drive to transport.

If your friend doesn't have a Zip drive, no problem. You can put yours in the same backpack or briefcase in which you stowed your Zip disks, run the Iomega Guest software (included on a floppy disk bundled with the drive) on your friend's computer, and in about a minute you're ready for action. In our testing, we found the Zip drive to be extremely versatile in its application and mobility.

Music lovers will be glad to learn that about 20 CD-quality MP3 files fit on a single Zip disk, although we recommend copying the MP3s to a hard drive or portable MP3 player like the Rio for playback. Geartest.com found the Zip drive was unable to transfer MP3 data at a rate sufficient for sustained streaming playback without resulting in prolonged notes or brief pauses.

We also saved and retrieved other types of data, using the Zip drive as both a backup and primary drive. One to two dozen publication-quality image scans fit on a single disk (subject to the size of the area scanned) and were easily retrieveable, as were hundreds of Word documents, thousands of Web-quality images, graphics and HTML documents, ... etc. All files were safely stored, backed up and retrieved on multiple Zip disks without a single instance of a problem despite heavy use since testing began.

Interoperability with a variety of brand name and custom built desktop and laptop computers was flawless.

The Zip drive and its software bundle are a well-designed, well-thought out package, but the product does have its flaws.

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