February 04 - February 11

VST Zip Drive 250Mb FireWire by Alessandro Cancian Until some years ago, one of the problems I most frequently encountered in my job was the inability to store files on normal floppy disks. The introduction of the first Zip drives were what saved me; I cant do without them any more. Last month I had an opportunity to test one of VST Technologies latest jewels: Zip Drive 250Mb FireWire. Its terrific! How many times did you try to install a new peripheral in your system, only to succeed after much cursing and sweating? Well, the installation of the VST Zip FireWire was so simple that even a child could have done it. After installing the software from the CD and rebooting, I connected the FireWire cable and my computer immediately recognized the Zip Drive. Many of you will probably think FireWire is an unfamiliar name, but rest assured that the implementation of this technology is nowadays one of the most interesting in the fields of development for the IT world, and apparently VST understood this. Thanks to FireWire capabilities, the Zip drive can be connected to the computer without needing power feed. No port number will be asked for (cfr. Interrupts or SCSI ID#), and thanks to Plug & Play your computer will automatically recognize the Zip drive, and will load the drivers it needs. The drive is PC- and Mac-compatible, provided the machine is equipped with a FireWire port; if its not standard complement, it can easily be added. The drives performance is good, definitely faster than a normal Zip on a parallel or USB port and comparable to the SCSI Zips I tested. Not needing power feed means it can easily be moved from one machine to another. Unfortunately for laptop users, one needs an AC power adapter. The slightly wavy shape of the external case is perfect if you plan to add other VST products, unless you want to use products of other brands. One of the drives most important characteristics is the possibility to share it among several computers, even unconnected. You only need to install the software and connect the drive via its two FireWire ports. A less positive note is the price, which I find frankly excessive. US$299.95 isnt exactly affordable for everyone, and even with all its pros the price/quality ratio remains a bit high. Yet, VSTs Zip 250 FireWire represents one of the best products from a technological point of view, especially suitable for people needing speed in data transfer and handiness of use. For further information you can visit the site www.vsttech.com.

 

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