[Coco] IDE internal 100mb ZIP drives

[Ray Watts]

  Mike,

I think you meant to address the question to maltedmedia, but it came 
directly to me.  I'll give you a little background that may answer most 
of your question(s).

I've been using 100mb SCSI ZIP drives, both internal and external, with 
my several CoCo systems ever since Mark came out with his SCSI drivers 
about  six years ago.  Not only do they make excellent HD backups, but 
they are also good for bulk storage of all your archives and 
distribution disks.  I have one cartridge I call "Warehouse" that is 
strictly archival and contains approx. 60mb.  All the .dsk images I 
download are also being stored in there.  My current plans are to 
implement them into HDB DOS operations also by partitioning my HD and 
several cartridges into the same size segments.

About a year ago, I purchased a USB 100mb ZIP drive from Doug Watts for 
$25.99.  Now I can transfer files from my Mac to my CoCo's directly 
without messing with all the floppy formatting problems we have been 
seeing here.  BTW - I format them on the Mac as PC disks before I 
transfer CoCo files and read them with the PCDOS utility.  An added 
benefit is that I can make immediate backups of new Mac apps and files. 
 That operation cuts down my system backups to every several months 
without the fear of losing anything.  So a ZIP drive can still be useful 
without having apply them to a full system backup.

I assume the reason the drives and cartridges are so cheap is that 
everyone is cleaning out inventory.  If you are interested, I would 
recommend buying now along with a liberal supply of disks.

Cheers,  Griz




KnudsenMJ at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 2/24/05 10:47:06 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
> rayanddoraleew at earthlink.net writes:
>
>     >BTW - Doug Watts is no relation to me, but I have had good luck
>     dealing
>     >with the company in the past.  Also check out the SCSI and IDE hard
>     >drives.  You might find what you are looking for at a good price.
>     100mb
>     >ZIP cartridges have been selling there for just over $3.00 each, too.
>
> Wow!  I guess ZIP disks are considered obsolete in these CD_RW days, 
> and are being blown at fire sale prices.  Last time I bought some, 
> they were $12 or $25 apiece -- but it's been a while since I've bought 
> any at Staples.
>  
> I know that ZIP upgraded to 250 MB drives and disks, same physical 
> size, so that may be part of it.
>  
> I also noticed that after I "upgraded" my Norton Utilities, the Rescue 
> function no longer supports making a ZIP disk backup.  So Norton must 
> have written off ZIP too.
>  
> Too bad, those are my major backup medium on my PC.  Much easier to 
> use than CD-RW, which I can do but use only to make music disks.
> Anyone know the current status of ZIP disks?  --Mike K.
>