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Non-Tech : Any info about Iomega (IOM)? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DR. IOMEGA who wrote (38704)	12/6/1997 1:33:00 PM
From: Spank	Respond to of 58324

More good news from DR IOMEGA: He's working overtime! drumming fingers 'till Sunday night... ;) -Spank

To: DR. IOMEGA who wrote (38704)	12/6/1997 10:51:00 PM
From: FuzzFace	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

Zip Plus review from Jan 1998 Windows Sources mag Overall the review is fair. They tested it and found it to be faster than the original SCSI ZIP in reading an 80MB folder (83 vs. 103 seconds), but slower in writing it (135 vs. 129 seconds). On the back of the the Zip Plus box it states: ZipPlus is up to 50X faster than a floppy drive ... in Windows 95* ... * However the maximum sustained transfer rate for the ZipPlus drive in SCSI mode and the standard Zip SCSI drive are identical. The maximum sustained transfer rate for the ZipPlus drive in parallel port mode and the standard Zip parallel port drive are identical. If reading and writing 80% of the capacity of the drive isn't a sustained test, I don't know what is. So SCSI-mode ZipPlus is about 20% faster reading, and 5% slower writing than SCSI Zip on Windows 95. The review follows. Window Sources January, 1998. Page 132. Hardware section. Storage More Zip For The Money The Zip drive is probably one of the most successful removable storage products of all time. Seemingly everywhere and bundled with most major computer systems, the Zip is now only slightly less ubiquitous than Spice Girls albums. To keep the ball rolling, Iomega introduces the Zip Plus. We tested a shipping version. If you're looking for some earth-shattering enhancements here, you're going to be disappointed. Not wanting to mess with a good thing (and subscribing to the industry adage, Compatibility is king), Iomega made myriad minor enhancements to the Zip Plus, while leaving its core capabilities unchanged. For starters, the Plus uses the same 100 MB media as its predecessor. Although not nearly as big as it once appeared and wholly unsuitable for backing up today's multigigabyte hard disks, the disks easily swallow most large multimedia files, such as video and sound files, and even entire web sites. Performance is also largely unchanged. The Zip's flexible media (which limits rotational speed) and lethargic 5-MBps SCSI interface ensure that the Zip drive lags well behind modern hard disks. The Plus includes a bit of cache memory and an algorithm, which improves the drive's read performance slightly over the original version's. We tested the drive by reading and writing an 80MB folder on a Zip drive connected to a Win95 machine. The Zip Plus read our test file in 1 minute 23 seconds, improving on the original Zip's 1 minute and 43 seconds. The Plus took a bit longer to write the file, though, scoring a 2 minutes 15 seconds to the original Zip's 2 minutes 9 seconds. We didn't run Business Disk WinMark 98 because it requires more than 100MB of capacity to run. Nevertheless, the enhancements Iomega did make are useful, if not overwhelming. Correcting an inexplicable omission in the original product, the Plus now has (Zounds!) an on-off switch (which you'll probably only use as an off switch, since the Plus powers up automatically when you insert a disk). Ironically, we found this to be a mixed blessing - accustomed to our original Zip being perpetually on, we often found ourselves needing to reboot our system to activate the Zip drive because it was switched off when the machine originally booted. The Zip Plus now includes an auto-detect feature, which determines whether the device is connected to a SCSI or parallel port (they both use the same 25-pin connection). This means one Zip Plus model works with both PC and MAC, SCSI and parallel port - a boon to users with cross-platform (or -port) needs. Iomega also jettisoned the large brick-type power supply, replacing it with one that is one-fourth the size and does not require a three-prong outlet. Unlike the original Zip, the Plus is now auto-terminating when connected to a SCSI port, though you still have to manually select the device ID (you get two choices, 5 and 6). Although the product is targeted primarily at Windows 95 users, we had no problems using it under NT. The Zip Plus also bundles a number of multimedia-related software applications, including complete versions of Adobe PhotoDeluxe and DataViz's WebBuddy (an offline Web-site viewer). The original Zip isn't going away. Iomega intends for the Plus to be a premium product and has set its price at $199 (the old Zip drive's price). Iomega will reduce the price of the original Zip to perhaps as low as $99. The Zip Plus is more flexible and convenient than its predecessor. Whether it's worth a 50% to 100% price premium over the original will depend on whether you can live with the original's idiosyncrasies. If you can't, you'll like the Plus; if you can, the good news is that a Zip drive may now be even cheaper. ---Joseph Moran IOMEGA ZIP PLUS PROs: Lots of ergonomic enhancements. CONs: At $199, it still costs what it did 3 years ago. The Zip Plus makes some incremental fine-tuning adjustments to the original, but the two biggies, performance and capacity remain unchanged. Company: Iomega Corp., Roy, UT Price: $199 Availability: Now OS Support: Win NT 4.0, WIN 95 Phone: 800-697-8833 URL: www.iomega.com End of review

To: DR. IOMEGA who wrote (38704)	12/7/1997 9:31:00 PM
From: Senthil Sankarappan	Respond to of 58324

>>I'll give you my two cents worth on Sunday night. Busy working overtime now! << WOW!! Good to know that you work overtime and don't have time to post. As an IOM investor, i would prefer you and other IOM employees to spend more time in your work rather than posting here. Long term stock performance depends on all the hard work of IOM employees. I know what it feels like to work for a winner company. But just a curious question from me and reply when you are absolutely free. How long have you been working at IOM and have you seen some tremendous improvement in the morality of the work force there. I just want to find out if everyone inside IOM think they are the Coca Cola of Removable drive market like some of the IOM investors feel? Thanks -senthil