Cheap Iomega Zip 250 MB USB External Drive (PC/Mac) (Electronics) (Mac OS 9 and below) Price

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Customer Reviews of Iomega Zip 250 MB USB External Drive (PC/Mac)

avoid at all costs
This is what happaned when I tried to use this drive on an otherwise stable Windows 2000 system: <
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>The Iomega Tools installer demanded an immediate restart as soon as it completed. <
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>The system hung on restart and had to be power-cycled. <
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>A new item called 'active disk' appeared in the system tray on successful restart. There was nothing indicating it had anything to do with Iomega at all. <
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>The Iomega entry on the Programs menu had nothing in it but a couple of web links ('help' and 'update'). <
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>I was able to read a pre-recorded Zip disk with no problems, however, when I tried to eject the disk (using the right-click menu item), Windows flung a bunch of panicked popups, yelling at me for disconnecting hardware without going through the "safely disconnect hardware" interface -- it basically acted as though I'd unceremoniously yanked out the USB cable while the drive was still spinning. Then it vomited up one of those always-delightful "Unrecognized exception" error popups, and promptly hung. <
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>When I used this drive with an OSX system, every time I tried to eject a disk, the drive spun for over a minute before spitting out the disk. <
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>This is all mysterious. I never had these kinds of problems with the SCSI Zip drives. <
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>In any case, at $10 a pop, the Zip media format has been effectively eclipsed by writable CDs and DVDs.

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Easy to use and reliable but getting outdated
--I've used one of these for the last two years to back up files and store photos, and I can't recall a single technical problem with it. After reading some of the problems with other electronic gear rated on Amazon, I can't believe this device has been so reliable. When discussing burnable CD's, words like "coasters" or "frisbees" often arise, and reviewers often curse software editing, but I don't think I've ever lost a photo or a data file on a Zip (although you'd better not forget your password if you protect your files). We haven't dropped ours or sat on it, like some other reviewers have done with theirs, but it has done over 20,000 bumpy miles in a Recreational Vehicle and we live in a dusty climate, and the drive has always performed flawlessly. The Zip is also as simple to use as an anvil. We bought it because it editing photos was said to be easier than with a CD, and we weren't disappointed.
--I may, however, be shifting over to a CD in a short time as my photo collection has grown (I sure won't throw away my Zip but may limit its use to photo editing). For one thing, I'm not sure how long the format will last and I'm not sure I want a bin full of files without a backup system in case this one ever does break. The discs are far bulkier than a CD, and they are getting expensive. It's also pretty tough to share files or transfer data to another computer, unless the partner has a 250 Zip.
--I rate this product highly, but it has become somewhat outdated. I would recommend it as a very decent backup system for files and some photos, or as a photo-editing device, but if you have tons of photos you may want a CD or DVD. Hope this helps.

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Fast and reliable
I've got my Zip 250-USB running on a 1Ghz Pentium 3 with Windows ME and had no trouble getting it installed. Have not had any system locks, either. It's much faster than my old Zip 100 that ran on the parallel port, though the 250-USB reads Zip 100 disks with no problem (though slower than 250 disks). I'm using Iomega's Quik Sync back-up software and it's great to have it operating automatically in the background, without me having to remember to do it.

When I bought mine, the USB-powered version was not yet available, so mine uses an AC power adapter. The USB-powered version would be nice to have for running on my laptop.