Iomega releases 750MB Zip Drive. Anyone still use ZIP???

[dman]

Linky

The new Iomega Zip 750MB Drive raises the speed bar with a transfer rate of up to 7.5 MB/sec (maximum), or 50x50x50x in CD-RW terms (with a USB 2.0 interface).

Ok, so it's a bit faster than CDRW but:

Zip 750MB disks, available in Kevlar blue, are $12.49 per disk (manufacturer's suggested retail price) in an 8-pack; Zip 250MB disks, available in grey, have a MSRP of $10.69 per disk in an 8-pack; and Zip 100MB disks, which are available in many colors to help people organize their files, are priced as low as $8.99 per disk in a 10-pack. (All pricing for U.S. only)

&

The new Iomega Zip 750MB USB 2.0 Drive is now available in the U.S. and worldwide for a suggested retail price of $179.95 (U.S. pricing only). The upcoming Zip 750MB FireWire® drive will debut in September at Apple Expo in Paris and be available worldwide this fall for a suggested retail price of $199.95 (U.S pricing only). An internal ATAPI version of the Zip 750MB drive will be available worldwide this fall for a suggested retail price of $149.95 (U.S. pricing only).

So you have to spend +/- 100x as much per disc (CDR) or maybe 25x (CDRW) and 2-4x as much for the drive just to get 750MB of storage thats a bit faster than CDRW. Then you need to bring the drive with you because how many folks are going to have this device. Really, what good is this? Maybe a few niche uses -- some folks will buy this but man, 750MB what a joke.

 

[mpitts]

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Sounds great.. If every computer manufactured for the past 10 years had a 750MB Zip drive in it. Oh, and the fact that the 750MB discs are 12.49, about 25x what you would pay for a blank CD nowadays.

 

[murphy55d]

No thank you.

 

[Parrotheader]

We were just talking about this around the proverbial waterfountain yesterday. Talk about a short burst of success. Their company's plan for success hinged on the fact that they had a good portable storage solution that was viable for about 1 year. Once CD-Rs became mainstream, I would assume all the employees at Iomega started looking through the Want Ads. We still have Zip disks in our most recent workstations, but hardly anybody uses them since we also have CD-Rs. In fact, I've disconnected my Zip drive entirely since it kept causing hardware conflicts with my CD-R.

 

[NFS4]

Zip is sh!t.

Never have and never will use it. I'll take CD-RW anyday over Zip.

 

[sharkeeper]

750 MB? After formatting and putting my bookmarks file on it, there may be enough room to save last year's quickbooks files on it!

Cheers!

 

[mcveigh]

I have an accounting client that still uses them because his clients bring them in.

nice thing about zip is that it's easy.
this accountant has many people also bring improperly burned cd's with their info.

 

[dman]

True, it is easier to drag/drop to zip disc than to muck with a CD Burner software package or use DirectCD crap.

Still, in that case, I'm thinking you can buy an external HDD w/ USB 2 or 1394 interface for $150-200 that'll hold a lot more data (80-160GB) and is also easy to copy files onto. It might not be quite as shock sensitive as the ZIP Disks, but, you can also use it as a backup to your regular PC w/o swapping disks every 2minutes for 2hrs while you backup your internal 40GB drive.

Heck by the time you buy media for the drive, you can buy a couple external usb/1394 harddiskdrives and be done with it.

They are SO behind the times.

 

[hoihtah]

damm....
why won't microsoft buy-out iomega?
they're continuing to make these stupid products.
please bill, save the company and some dignity of IOM stock owners.

damm.

-stock owner.

 

[Kadarin]

Back in '98 I bought a parallel port 100MB Zip, actually thinking it would be useful. Silly me... Now it's sitting on the floor gathering dust.

 

[FoBoT]

this product is AT LEAST two years too late

give me a break, what a piece of sh!t :disgust:

 

[UNCjigga]

I don't think Zip ever had a chance in the consumer market. Jaz is even less suitable. However, I also know that MANY graphic designers and mini-recording studio pros (think people who use Macs) are in love with Zip/Jaz. They will never put their work on CD-Rs for fear of losing their data to some random scratch. Iomega has done a great job marketing to these people. They will continue to stay in business since they pretty much own this niche market. The prices for Zip/Jaz drives and media are high because the businesses that rely on them can afford to spend that much.

 

[rh71]

While most of your points are valid (most everyone in this thread), the usefulness of the technology depends on a person's profession or intent. It is not a complete waste since many people still use Zip Drives, just maybe not amongst us "techie" folks. Iomega would not have pursued a 750MB version if the demand for it was NOT there at all.

 

[DnetMHZ]

why does Iomega even bother?.. much too little and much too late in my opinion.

FWIW

DnetMHZ

 

[Kanalua]

I still use zip to transfer files between home and school....all the comps at school carry zip disk drives, which makes it really convinient...

 

[Smaulz]

Originally posted by: uncJIGGA
I don't think Zip ever had a chance in the consumer market. Jaz is even less suitable. However, I also know that MANY graphic designers and mini-recording studio pros (think people who use Macs) are in love with Zip/Jaz. They will never put their work on CD-Rs for fear of losing their data to some random scratch. Iomega has done a great job marketing to these people. They will continue to stay in business since they pretty much own this niche market. The prices for Zip/Jaz drives and media are high because the businesses that rely on them can afford to spend that much.

'zactly what I was gonna say.

 

[mpitts]

Originally posted by: rh71
Iomega would not have pursued a 750MB version if the demand for it was NOT there at all.

Like all of the other fantastic products that they have put out. Does anyone here use a Clik or Peerless drive?

 

[yakko]

Originally posted by: mcveigh
I have an accounting client that still uses them because his clients bring them in.

nice thing about zip is that it's easy.
this accountant has many people also bring improperly burned cd's with their info.

My sister works in an accounting office and the clients there bring them in on Zip disks.


I still regret buying my Zip 250. The 100 was useful because blank CDs and CD-R drives were still expensive at the time.

 

[Xenon14]

I have an internal zip drive. (I never bought one, I just happened to have one so no flames, lol) The internal one is pretty darn fast. I used it once in my life to transfer some crucial files to my sister's comp (she has an external zip drive, biggest POS ever; took forever to transfer), when her cdrom/floppy weren't working and the LAN was down. But yeah... zip drives are useless.

 

[deerslayer]

Originally posted by: Kanalua
I still use zip to transfer files between home and school....all the comps at school carry zip disk drives, which makes it really convinient...

same here, other than that i don't use mine much