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Originally released with a 1Gb capacity, Iomega's Jaz drive was designed for those who need more removable storage than its popular Zip system can offer. What normally takes at least five Zip disks can be squeezed onto one Jaz cartridge. December 1998 saw the arrival of the 2Gb version.
As with the Zip, the Jaz has been redesigned to provide a smaller and sleeker backup system. Finished in a smart grey, the Jaz is still a sizeable beast but now sports a more modern, curvaceous casing. Two SCSI interfaces sit at the rear with a power switch; disks slot in at the front as before. These can be thought of as little hard disks.
The 2Gb drive is backward compatible with 1Gb media. PC or Mac users without SCSI on their machines can connect the drive to a USB port using an additional adapter. Installing the hardware with either interface is straightforward.
Software, though, is another matter. After several frustrating system crashes, we discovered we had been supplied with version 2.2.1 of Iomega's drivers whereas version 2.5 had been released in June. Surely five months is enough time to update driver disks? Iomega's quality-control needs a good talking-to.
You can use the Jaz through Windows as you would any other drive, but the Iomega Tools installation provides programs to copy and search disks, as well as back up important files. New is the highly useful QuikSync 2, which will automatically back up specified files or folders whenever they are modified. All the utilities can be mastered in ten minutes.
The disks aren't cheap, but the convenience and capacity of the Jaz 2Gb make it ideal for any user backing up and transporting large data files. If you've outgrown your Zip, it's the perfect step up.
Contact
Iomega: 020 7365 9527, www.iomega-europe.com
See also:
All Flash Drives & Card Readers
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