Re: Why a Zip Drive?

[Jon O'Brien <jobrien@ais.net>]

Richard Sarner wrote:
> While reading the posts about the Zip drives I came to wonder:
> Why did you choose a Zip drive rather a SyQuest? While the Zip is a fine
> drive, the SyQuest is (or claims to be) twice as fast and holds 35 meg
> more. I am thinking of buying a drive, and welcome any input to help me
> decide.

The Zip drive has a greater following than the EZ135.  For that reason, you'll see prices come down as 3rd party companies license Iomega's 
technology and develop cartridges (Kodak and Fuji).  I got a Zip drive from my girlfriend for my birthday about a month ago and it travels with 
me just about everywhere so I can speak highly of its durability (it lives in a plastic bag while in the car).  If marketing has anything to do 
with it, SyQuest is doomed- Iomega had a stranglehold on Comdex- you couldn't walk ten feet without seeing a system with either a Zip or Jaz 
drive hanging off of it.

The EZ135's biggest advantage is that it holds 35Mb more.  The speed difference is not all that noticable in real working conditions.  It still 
has SyQuest's clunky button-and-lever loading mechanism, the long spin up/down times, and is noisier.  My drive frequently travels between 
three different systems using hard drives by different manufacturers and the Zip is quieter than any of them.

It's like the old VHS vs. Beta debate.  Beta was better technology but the marketing was behind VHS.  The same is true of the IBM vs. Mac world 
(I work with both everyone so I can say that, please don't start a flame war!), too.  Ah, the evils of mass-marketing.

Jon