LS120 or Zip driver?

[Pat L]

I Am "still" putting a system together for my brother...

He wanted some sort of high capacity backup storage solution. I looked into CDRW, but deemed it too complicated for him (a novice user). I've recently been looking into LS-120, zip-100, and the Sony HiFD systems.

I think I've eliminated the HiFD, as it seems somewhat new/expensive, and I can't find an internal IDE version (only external parrellel versions)

So now it is between the zip (100) which can be had for around $55 ~ $70, or the LS120 which looks to start at around $70 (via pricewatch.com) but doesn't require that I get a floppy drive (same price difference then).

I'm kind of leaning toward the LS120, as I've heard some "stories" about zip drives having some problem called the "click of death", where they just fail and take the data on the media with it. Is that story overblown?

It seems to come down to which is A: more reliable, B: faster, C: media expen$e (in that order).

I will probably get the same kind for my new system too, so we can transfer stuff as needed.

Any suggestions or comments welcomed.

[spdsk8r]

I have both a Zip drive (SCSI) and LS120 drive (IDE) the zip drive is nice, only because they're older and more people have them and the disks are slightly cheaper... but other than that, the LS120 is better.

1. because it's IDE and easier to set up
2. because it's more reliable
3. it's slightly faster (I think)
4. you get more storage
5. it's nice having only 1 drive instead of 2 (floppy & LS120 in one)

P.S. I got my drive (internal) for $50 at best buy $100 - $50 mail in rebate

[Pat L]

Thanks for the reply and helpful advice. I think I'll take it, and get two (one fer myself too).

Was in Best Buy the other day, but didn't look at their LS120 drives for prices.

How recently has someone seen that price ($100-$50rebate) at Best Buy I wonder?

Thanks again =)

[bighammer]

Staples has them often.
I also use LS120's in some of my machines and they are faster than Zips when master of a channel, that I know.
Reads to and boots my machines fine.

[donn]

I got mine free when i bought a western digital hd at circuit city. It also included a western digital rebate.

I have been told that the zip drive is faster. My only complaint is that the disks are so expensive. So far I only have the free disk that came with it. You would think they could sell them for less than $10 a piece.

You may want to check out the new zip 250mg drive also, although they would be more expensive.

donn