RE: Iomega Competition.
I posted this over on the Yahoo Iomega thread (in response to a message about Iomega competition). It was left mostly in jest, but there's a lot of truth in it, too. Thought some people here might enjoy it, too.
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Okay, let me close my eyes and try to imagine that I'm a customer at a computer store.
I'm stumbling around. Ooops, just bumped into something. Maybe I should open my eyes now. Oh, that's a pallet of parallel Zip drives I tripped over. Hey, that's the one that I've been hearing about on the TV. Looks pretty affordable. The store is selling them for $129.
Let's look around some more. Oh, here's the shelf with removable storage. Look at all of those Ditto Max tape drives. Who makes them? Iomega? Hey, that's the same company that makes Zip. I don't need a tape drive right now, but I'll keep that in mind for when I do.
There they are! The removable drives... I recognized the Iomega boxes. Now that I've seen a couple, they're easy to spot. There's the parallel Zip drives like I saw on the pallet when I walked into the store.
Hmmmm, what's this? Oh, a SCSI Zip. I bet that's faster. I'm not sure I want that though, because I only have SCSI on one of my computers. Plus I don't want to have to open the case. I'm Joe Consumer, don't you know.
Oh, what's this? It's a Zip Plus. It works with a parallel port OR a SCSI port. That sounds great! I can use it on my computer that has SCSI and also on my laptop and the kids' computer. I wonder what else it has that the Zip Classic doesn't? Looks, tons of software! Wow, a digital picture album, that would be nice. And an offline web browser utility. The kids use that Internet thing. Price? It's a little more than the Zip Classic, but it looks like it would be worth it.
I wonder what other drives I have to choose from? Oh, look, there's another one from Iomega. It's a Jaz 1GB. Hmmm, a little more than I need right now, but I'll keep it in mind for later. Oh, and there's a Jaz 2GB too. It seems like Iomega has just about everything.
Maybe I should look and see what else I can find. Superdisk? That sounds neat. Oh, look. It'll read 3 1/2" floppies, too. I wonder why I would need that, though? I hardly ever use them any more, and I already have a 3 1/2" floppy drive in all of my computers. Price? Wow, almost double the Zip Classic, but they have a $50 rebate and a $20 rebate. Seems like a hassle. I always forget to save my receipts. Besides, there are only a few of them here.
Here's another one. It's called a SyJet. Looks similar to the Jaz. More than I need right now.
Here's one called EZ230. Looks like a Zip, just a little bigger.
There's an empty space on the shelf. I wonder what that was? There's the label. SparQ. Hmmm... Guess they're out.
Maybe I should look at the cartridges for these drives? Where would they hide them? Oh, there they are, over by the floppies. Wow, there sure are a lot of Zip cartridges here. Looks like they're about $10-12 each if I buy a 6 or 10 pack. And there are the Jaz disks. Wow, the bigger cartridges cost quite a bit. Better stick with a small drive for now. Here are the EZ230 cartridges. They cost quite a bit more than Zip cartridges.
Time to make a decision. Which Zip should I get?
- Michael Coley
- wwol.com |
