Looks like Sony stepped on their d*ck with the release of HiFD. Coming back for redesign already.
Got my Clik! drive yesterday. Very nice, although I'd rather have USB then pp. Now have every Iomega product....
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Sony Recalls, Revamps HiFD Drive
(Hardware New, 15 Jan)
Sony next month (Feb) expects to ship an improved version of HiFD, which it pulled from retail shelves last quarter due to technical problems.
Sony recalled the removable storage drives because of a design flaw, a
company spokesman said. The angle of the drive's head caused it to
occasionally hit the HiFD media, resulting in data errors, and Sony wants to rework head placement and upgrade some components before shipping a new drive, he explained.
Sony sold fewer than 100 HiFD units through CompUSA its only retail partner at the time, the spokesman said. He added that Sony contacted consumers who purchased the drive after they registered the product. "We are telling them if they have problems with the drive they can send it in for an exchange or a full refund," he said.
The HiFD drive uses 200MB removable media and also reads standard floppy disks. The drive, initially slated to ship early in 1998, was released in November. Sony partner FujiFilm, which is developing HiFD media, said it is ready to supply accessories when Sony releases the updated drive.
The Sony spokesman said the first drive to ship will be a external parallel port unit, which is expected to carry a $199 suggested retail price. The company also plans to release internal IDE and USB models.
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