Iomega begins to ship 750 MB Zip
Aug 18, 2002 at 09:25:00 GMT
Iomega has announced the new 750 MB Zip Drive and Disk. The new drive is USB 2.0 (and 1.x) compatible with a maximum transfer rate of 7.5 MB/sec (USB 2.0), a Firewire native drive is due later this year. Iomega claim that the 7.5 MB/sec speed is equivilent to a 50x50x50 CD-RW drive, the advantage of course is that Zip disks act just like mini hard drives and don't need to be re-formatted to be re-written (unlike CD-RW). The new USB 2.0 750 MB Zip Drive should retail for $179.95, the 750 MB disk will be priced at $12.49 (in an 8 pack) which works out at 1.6 cents/MB.
Iomega Zip 750 Drive specifications
 |
| Performance (with a 750 MB disk) | |
| Seek time (avg.) | 29 ms |
| Maximum sustained transfer rate |
USB 2.0: 7.5 MB/sec USB 1.1: 0.8 MB/sec |
| Rotational speed | 3676 RPM |
| Reliability | |
| Error rate | <1 error in 3,000,000,000,000 bits |
| Disk life | 5 years of heavy use |
| Disk shelf life | 10 years (est.) |
| Drive MTBF | 100,000 hours |
| Drive service life | 5 years |
| Environment | |
| Temperature | Operating: 10° to 50.5°
C Shipping: -40° to 60° C |
| Relative humidity | Operating: 20 to 80% non-condensing |
| Vibration | Operating: 0.7G (5-17 Hz); 0.25G
(17-225 Hz) Non-Operating: 1.2G (7-28 Hz); 2G (28-62 Hz); 5G (62-225 Hz) |
| Shock | Operational: 7.5G, ½ sine
wave for 11 ms Non-Operational: 10.0G for 11 ms |
| Drop shock | Drop Shock: 200G (2 ms); 100G (11 ms) |
| Physical | |
| Dimensions | 175 x 110 x 21 mm |
| Weight | 180 g |
| Interface | USB 2.0 (compatible with USB 1.x) |
| General | |
| Compatibility | 750 MB Zip disk - read / write 250 MB Zip disk - read / write 100 MB Zip disk - read only |
| Hot plug and play | Yes |
| USB certified | Yes |
Press Release:
Iomega Announces the New Zip® 750MB Drive
SAN DIEGO, August 15, 2002- Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in reliable portable data storage, today announced it is now shipping for worldwide availability the new Zip® 750MB USB 2.0 drive, the third generation of the company's award-winning removable storage solution for small business, home, and enterprise users.
The new Iomega Zip 750MB drive triples the capacity and more than doubles the maximum transfer rate of the popular Zip 250MB drive, and comes complete with advanced new software to protect and secure critical files at home, in the workplace, and on the road. The new Zip 750MB drive is available now with a high-speed USB 2.0 interface and in fall 2002 as a native FireWire® drive.
750MB Capacity
"The new Iomega Zip 750MB drive builds on the Zip heritage of easy-to-use, durable storage by offering superb software, triple the capacity and exceptional speed," said Werner Heid, president and CEO, Iomega Corporation. "For a long time we've been hearing from users who depend on their Zip drives but have been asking us for more capacity. The Zip 750MB drive meets that need and gives the user considerably greater performance."
50x50x50x Speed
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). Unlike conventional CD-RW drives, Iomega's latest Zip drive delivers the same great performance regardless of whether the drive is reading, writing, or rewriting to a 750MB Zip disk.
Convenience & Durability
All Zip disks are pre-formatted, protected by a rigid plastic shell, and offer shirt-pocket convenience. Zip disks are durable and can easily shrug off the bangs, bumps and scratches that can ruin CD-R and CD-RW discs. And, because Zip disks are inherently rewritable, users don't have to stock one type of disk for write-once operations and another type for rewritable operations. The same Zip disk does it all with superior rewritable performance and durability. The Zip drive's simple drag-and-drop file management also eliminates the setup and disc-closing processes required to burn CD-R discs.
Compatibility
Since the Zip drive was introduced in March 1995, Iomega has shipped more than 48 million drives and 300 million disks, making the Zip platform one of the most popular and successful computer peripherals ever released. The new Zip 750MB drive is supported by both MacOS® and Windows. Iomega's new Zip 750MB drive is also backwards compatible with Zip 250MB disks (read and write) and 100MB disks (read only).
"Backward compatibility is important to existing users of 250MB and 100MB Zip disks, as well as to service bureaus and OEMs," said Tim Dammon, product general manager, front office storage, Iomega Corporation. "This capability lets home and business users standardize on the Zip 750MB platform without losing access to their library of existing Zip disks."
"Lockable" Disk for maximum security
Like every Zip solution, the new Zip 750MB drive offers password protection in firmware and ZIP disk serialization that allows the user to "lock" the Zip 750MB disk. This unique feature, only available in ZIP solutions, makes Iomega Zip disks the ideal portable storage product for truly protecting highly confidential information. .
Software
Included with each Zip 750MB drive are Iomega® Automatic Backup and Iomega® Sync software, easy-to-use software for comprehensive file management tasks. Iomega Automatic Backup provides the choice of scheduled or on-the-fly automatic backup of any designated folder or drive, and supports the protection of multiple revisions. Iomega Sync provides sophisticated synchronization of folders or drives across multiple PCs.
"The powerful software bundled with the new Zip 750MB drive enhances the value for existing Zip drive owners when they migrate to the new drive," Dammon added. "At the same time, a whole new generation of home and business users are going to experience the dependable, easy-to-use features and benefits of the Iomega Zip drive."
Availability
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).
New Zip Disk Pricing
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)