Introduction

    Tired of all 1.44 MB floppies on which you can’t store your MP3s, documents, videos and other huge things? If so you surely have to buy a ZIP 250 drive! The disks used by this drive can contain the equivalent of 170 traditional floppies! Since the introduction of ZIP drives in 1996, Iomega has sold millions of products around the world and its ZIP format has became a kind of standard used by computer professionals as well as home users. Unlike the LS120 drives or the ghostly Sony HiFDD 200 MB drive, a ZIP 250 drive is already bundled with many computers: one more proof of its standardization. Iomega has recently added a new model to is line of ZIP 250 drives: the ZIP 250 USB Host Powered. This new ZIP drive that uses USB connection is slightly faster than the old parallel port model, and is intended to all of you who need to transfer, store or exchange files on the run, while using those large capacity ZIP disks of 250 MB. The main new feature of this model is that it doesn’t need any AC-Adapter! Here is our review of this great addition for every PC.

Features List

Here are the key features of the Iomega ZIP 250 USB Host Powered drive: 
 

• Ultra-thin, mobile design.
• Compatible with USB-enabled PC and Macintosh systems.
• Requires MacOS 8.1 or higher, or Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0.
• Hot plug and play, except Windows NT 4.0.
• Up to 900KB/sec transfer rate.
• Includes IomegaWare™ 2.8 with the latest software advancements from Iomega
• Compatible with both 100MB and 250MB Zip disks.
• Compatible with more than 150 million 100MB Zip disks shipped to date.
• Competitively price at $179.95 (estimated street price).

Setup

    Installing the Iomega ZIP 250 USB Host Powered on a Windows computer is really a child’s game: under Windows Me you simply have to plug the nice transparent USB cable from the ZIP to the computer. Then Windows will instantly recognize this new device and you can start using it right away without the need to install drivers. Indeed the ZIP 250 USB Host Powered drive is natively supported by Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 and XP. Under Windows 95b or Windows NT 4 you'll have to install specific drivers (provided with the drive) so the drive can be used.

First Look

First you have to know that the ZIP 250 USB drive is totally compatible with ZIP 100 disks while offering at the same time a higher reading speed for old ZIP disks: so you can continue to exchange ZIP disks with users that have Zip 100 drives. However note that ZIP 100 owners can’t read ZIP 250 floppies. The look of the new Iomega ZIP 250 USB model is wonderful and it seems that Iomega has adopted the ‘iMac’ like design since the whole shell of the product is blue transparent. The sides of the drive have got rubber part to better hold it while on the top of the drive a small transparent part allows you to read the name of the disk you have inserted. Iomega didn’t forget users on the go since the drive is very small: only 1cm of thickness and 15.3 ounces. Since this host-powered model doesn’t require an AC adapter anymore to operate, you can definitely bring the ZIP drive where you want by simply sliding it in your pocket! On the road, users will literally fall in love with this enhancement that’ll lighten their suitcase weight! If the drive is small, it remains very stable due to the four rubber pads stuck under the drive. Note that the stylish design of the ZIP 250 USB model features a big ZIP logo engraved under the top of the transparent shell. When you insert a ZIP disk into the drive the eject button will be lighten in green and when you read stuff on the drive the green light starts to blink in order for you to monitor ZIP activities.

Iomega ZIP 250 USB Host Powered (click to enlarge)

    Finally the latest neat thing of the Zip 250 USB Host Powered is the new design of the ZIP disks: indeed as you’ll see below, the disk provided with the drive is now rounded at the bottom with a small grip holder while the shell is all blue, making it much more stylish. These new high tech ZIP disks are soberly named “Titanium” and thankfully work perfectly with every ZIP 250 drive of the inception (from USB, FireWire, SCSI to parallel port ones!).

New Iomega Titanium ZIP 250 Disk (click to enlarge)