Iomega Predator CD-RW drive - Hi-Speed USB overview and full product specs on CNET. Extensions loaded except for the Iomega Driver; disk cache was set to 256K. The IIci's hard drive and the SyQuest were formatted with Silverlining 5.54/23; the Zip was formatted using Iomega Tools 4.2. Note that specific results will vary a bit from machine to machine due to CPU speed, system configuration, specific architecture, etc. Iomega Predator CD-RW Drive Model CDRW9602EXT-B in EUC with Power Cord. $44.50 +$15.95 shipping. Make Offer - Iomega Predator CD-RW Drive Model CDRW9602EXT-B in EUC with Power Cord. Iomega CD-RW Rewritable Drive External 48x24x48x No Cords.
Having completed a hard look at the company’s product lines, Iomega Corp. has discontinued its Jaz removable-storage drive.
The cancellation eliminates one of the mainstays of the removable-storage pioneer, which was the first company to capture the hearts of investors during the technology upsurge of the late 1990’s. Iomega instead will focus its product efforts on the Zip drive and external CD-RW lines.
The company will also continue to sell 1-Gbyte and 2-Gbyte Jaz disks for existing Jaz owners.
In its fourth-quarter results that the Roy, Utah-based company reported on January 18, Iomega found that fourth-quarter 2001 Jaz revenue decreased $25.7 million to $11.5 million, versus fourth-quarter 2000 revenue of $37.2 million. “The year-over-year decrease in Jaz revenues and (profit margin) is a result of the company’s decision to discontinue the Jaz product line,” the company said.
The elimination of the Jaz was not unexpected. In an interview last June, newly-appointed CEO Werner Heid said the company would take a “good hard look” at each individual product line, eliminating such lines where necessary.
In November, 2.3-Gbyte magneto-optical products began shipping, according to a respresentative of the Optical Storage Trade Association (OSTA), based in Santa Barbara, Calif. The technology was developed by both Sony Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd., but supported by companies including Hitachi Maxell, Ltd., Konica Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Olympus Optical Co., Ltd., Teijin Limited, and RiTEK Corporation. Disks sell for about $30, while the format boasts a data transfer rate of up to 8 Mbytes/s.
“Iomega just discontinued its Jaz product, which was a close competitor of Fujitsu’s Magneto-Optical technology in the past,” the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to ExtremeTech. “Consequently, this announcement will impact Fujitsu’s customer base by increasing customer demand – a timely issue that impacts the entire removable storage industry.”
Recently, Iomega announced its first USB 2.0-enabled CD-RW drive, a version of its Predator line. The drive ships with the company’s HotBurn software, which is designed to help streamline the CD-burning process. Burning a 60-minute CD-R with the new Predator drive takes less than four minutes; previous-generation USB 1.1 drives take about six times longer, the company found.
Iomega’s Predator 24x10x40 USB 2.0 CD-RW drive, priced at $229.95, is available now with Iomega HotBurn software at retail and inside catalogs, and will be available later this month online at www.iomega.com.
The Predator is an external CD-RW drive that is rated at 8x write, 4x rewrite, and 32x read. Up until now, the Predator hasn’t been able to burn or read at its full speeds — the PC card and USB interfaces are considerably slower than FireWire, and limited the drive to operating at 4x4x6 instead.
Iomega Senior Vice President Doug Collier said his company is excited about offering FireWire for the Predator.
“We are delivering on the needs of Macintosh users and a growing population of PC users of FireWire connectivity with a cutting-edge portable CD-RW drive with speed performance far in excess of current USB connections,” said Collier.
Rather than integrating a single computer interface, the Predator utilizes interchangeable adapters. USB 1.1, FireWire and PC card are all now available. Iomega plans to support USB 2.0 as well.
Iomega Predator Drivers
The Predator ships with Mac software, including Adaptec/Roxio Toast CD mastering software, MusicMatch Jukebox and MGI PhotoSuite. System requirements call for a PowerPC G3-based Mac or better; Mac OS 8.6 – 9; CD-ROM drive or 740MB free space to copy CD data.
Iomega Predator Driver Update
The Predator CD-RW with FireWire adapter is now shipping and carries a suggested retail price of US$329.95. Users with other versions of the Predator wishing to replace their interfaces with a FireWire adapter will be able to later this month; the adapter kit costs $79.95.