Iomega 31714 100 MB USB-Powered Zip Drive

by Iomega

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 8 x 2 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005U7RB
• Item model number: 31714
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #3 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > External Data Storage > External Zip Drives
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 25, 2002

Product Description

100MB USB External Zip Disk Drive

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressively fast., February 9, 2003

By 

S Smyth (Belfast, Co Antrim United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iomega 31714 100 MB USB-Powered Zip Drive (Personal Computers)

I got this drive to save on wasted CDs, which mount up, when loaded with lots of small incidentals. Not having used a ZIP drive before I was expecting something like a floppy disc performance on a larger scale, but was surprised at its almost hard drive read / write speed.

It's also good not to have to lug another power unit around with my laptop, as is the negligible demand on system resources unlike that of some portable CD burners. The 100MB capacity may appear paltry by today's standards, yet is sufficient for the majority of instances. The 100MB media is also easier on the pocket.

A disc can be electronically write protected, and read /write protected by using a password. This feature is not available for a CD unless the files are encrypted inside a .ZIP or some other kind of archive file, or an encrypted file, such as ABIcoder. So security is simplified with your ZIP drive.

By plugging the ZIP drive into a USB port it will be recognised as a removable drive, that can be read and written to by dragging and dropping in the normal fashion. Any Iomega features will not be available, for which you have to install the Iomega software.

My experience of this installation is as follows: When the installation is complete, choose the Reboot Later option, and manually restart your computer to finish. The Iomega auto option tends to hang the computer and things don't work out as expected. After re-booting, confirm - in windows - that the Send To drop down, displays the ZIP drive along with your floppy drive, etc. If not, the installation will need to be re-done.

So far I've installed the Iomega software onto a laptop running Win 98 SE and two desktops. One of the desktops - a Win 2000 machine - didn't like it, and will need to be sorted out, since something has gone amiss with the services detection. It works okay after the alert times out, after a couple of minutes, but is irksome. The other desktop, also a Win 2000 machine, installed okay. The problematic machine has been through the wars, so why a problem arose is impossible to say at present. So... if the straightforward removable drive option is sufficient, stick with that: especially if it's someone else's machine your plugging into.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars best 100mb zip drive model (isn't this the 5th model?!?!), August 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Iomega 31714 100 MB USB-Powered Zip Drive (Personal Computers)

Good price, great drive. Since it's usb powered, you don't have to drag around a power block with your laptop. I was going to buy the 250mb drive, but realized that most of the zip drives out there are 100mb anyway, and wouldn't read a 250mb zip disk. Out of all of the 100mb zip drive models I've used (the university I go to has different kinds of zip drives in their computer labs), this is my favorite.

...but it is kinda loud.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Iomega Zip 100 USB is great, January 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Iomega 31714 100 MB USB-Powered Zip Drive (Personal Computers)

After struggling for several months to get a CD-RW drive to work properly, I ordered the Iomega Zip 100 USB drive and it works great. Within 20 minutes of opening the box, I had the Zip drive copying files. The drive works very intuitively and is a breeze to use as compared to the CD-RW drive. The disks only hold 100 MB, but this is more than enough for the needs of my office. I also bought a 6-pack of the Zip disks, which should satisfy my needs for a long time. Try the Iomega Zip drive, you'll like it.