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So you have an iMac or B&W G3, and you totally love it - but
you need to buy a low-cost removable-media drive. What should you
get? With this criteria, you have three options: a Zip drive, a
SuperDisk (a.k.a. LS-120) drive, or a standard floppy drive.
Zip drives for USB Macs , such as the iMac and the
B&W G3, are made by Iomega <www.iomega.com>, who invented the
Zip ($129), and Microtech <www.microtech-pc.com> (their
drive is called the Mii SlimZip) ($199). Zip technology is the
fastest in the group, 3-15 times as fast as a SuperDisk or a
floppy.
A Zip disk is similar in design to a floppy except the
read/write heads slide in through the front of the disk and the
disks are a lot thicker. It stores 92MB when formatted.
Zip Drives are best for storing larger files, backing up, and
sending large files to service bureaus. The Iomega drive is
much cheaper, but the Microtech drive is a lot smaller and
(in my humble opinion) looks cooler.
USB SuperDisk drives are made by Imation
<www.imation.com>
($149) and Winstation <www.winstation.com> ($154).
SuperDisks use "Floptical" technology, which is almost exactly
identical to a floppy except that the disks have optical servo
tracks. These allow the read/write heads to be placed much more
precisely and boosts formatted capacity to 118MB. Since the drive
uses a standard floppy mechanism, it can also read and write PC and
Mac floppy disks.*
SuperDisk drives are best for the same uses as floppy drives
(below), as well as storing larger files and backing up. The
Imation drive is five bucks cheaper, but the Winstation drive can
be oriented in the space-saving vertical position.
Regular USB floppy disk drives are made by
VST <www.vsttech.com>,
Mactell <www.mactell.com>, Microtech
<www.microtech-pc.com>, and
Newer Technologies <www.newertech.com>. Each retails
for $99. These have the same capabilities as the internal Apple
SuperDrives (not to be confused with SuperDisk Drives).* As you
probably already know, the formatted capacity of high-density
floppy disks is 1.44MB.
These drives are best for using your old floppy disks and for
slowly transferring small files to and from other computers
that also have floppy drives. They are less expensive than a
SuperDisk drive. All of them perform equally.
Another option if you need more storage space or to back-up
files is FreeDrive <www.freedrive.com>, which gives
you 20 MB of Internet storage space for free. The speed of the
"disk" depends on your Internet connection speed.
I hope I have helped you decide what removable-media drive is
best for your needs (or that you don't need a removable-media
drive).
* Note: none of these drives support the Macintosh 800KB floppy
format. Also, compared with the Zip drive, they are considerably
slower.
Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05.
Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04.
Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
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Zip drives for USB Macs , such as the iMac and the
B&W G3, are made by Iomega <
USB SuperDisk drives are made by Imation
<
Regular USB floppy disk drives are made by
VST <
