Product: Imation LS-120 Drive (now discontinued)
Price: about C$120 (internal IDE); C$199 (Parallel for Windows); C$249 (USB for iMac)
Competitors (limited availability): Caleb UHD144; Sony HiFD, SuperDisk LS-240 from QPS
If you are like most computer users, you’re finding that the venerable floppy drive, with its 1.4 megabyte capacity, just isn’t big enough any more. Between the Internet and today’s graphics-rich computing environments, files frequently exceed the storage capacity of your disk drive. And, despite the fact that it is possible to split large files into smaller pieces to back them up onto multiple disks, anyone who’s done this will tell you this isn’t the ideal solution.
Naturally, there are a number of products that promise to fill the need for a low-cost, low hassle storage solution. One of the most intriguing is a technology that first appeared several years ago and is now known as the LS-120 drive. (Technically, the LS-120 is a laser/servo drive and is not a floptical device.)
Simply put, the LS-120 is a floppy drive that reads and writes to standard floppy disks, but can also write to special super-high capacity "laser/servo" diskettes containing up to 120 megabytes of data. Imagine: 120 million characters on a single floppy disk, or more than 80 times the capacity of a standard diskette. For even the most enthusiastic computer user, this provides virtually infinite storage on low-cost storage media. When your 120 megabytes are used up, just file it on the shelf and pop in another LS-120 diskette.
Naturally, this technology isn’t for everyone. Here are some facts and figures to help you decide if the LS-120 is right for your storage needs.
Speed: The LS-120 is about five times the speed of a standard floppy disk. While that’s a significant improvement, it’s not fast enough to use as a hard drive substitute, or for use as a drive to record digital audio or video files to. If you need these capabilities, you should consider a higher-performance (and higher cost) drive like the Iomega Jaz instead.
Interface: The Imation LS-120 drive is an external unit weighing about two pounds. Connecting to any PC’s parallel port, it is an easy way to exchange files between computers: just take the drive with you. The parallel interface allows it to be easily connected to virtually any PC – even a laptop unit. Actually, "easily" wasn't the word on our lips during a test on one PC, which had no IRQs free and two other devices already connected to the parallel port. The parallel drive not only didn't work, but it crashed Windows -- hard. Thus, we recommend a parallel model only for users without other parallel devices and a free IRQ or two.
For applications where an external drive and parallel interface is not needed, a slimline model called "a:drive" that connects via the ATAPI (IDE) interface is available from O.R. Technology, weighing in at a paltry 180 grams. Indeed, O.R. says this model was specifically designed to meet the needs of the mobile computing market where space is limited. Not surprisingly, portable computer manufacturers have expressed interest in the drive, including NEC, which has announced that its Versa 4000, 6000 and 6200 series portables will be eligible for LS-120 upgrades – probably by the time you read this.
However, ATAPI and parallel interfaced drives aren’t for everyone – (Mac users, for example). If you need an SCSI-based LS-120 drive, you’ll have to turn to Winstation Systems Corporation’s SLS-120 Disk Drive… or consider alternatives from Iomega (Zip or Jaz) or SyQuest (EZ-130, SyJet) instead.
However, we think that the LS-120’s floppy disk compatibility and wide industry support make it worth your consideration (with some caveats). Who knows, your next computer might not have a floppy drive at all, but be equipped, as some new PCs with a BIOS from American Megatrends International and Award Software are, with an LS-120 you can boot from instead. (Promise Technology also offers a controller card that allows existing PCs to install an LS-120 as the "A:" drive on existing PCs.) Long live the floppy!
Things to consider when choosing a storage device:
USB Products for iMac and PC
We tested a USB version of the SuperDisk on an Apple iMac with generally good results, although we did encounter a repeatable problem when attempting to read a 720K PC-formatted disk. Under Mac OS 8.5, this caused a complete lockup of the iMac, forcing us to cycle the power (or insert a paperclip into the computer's reset hole -- not too user-friendly, that part!). We encountered no problems reading or writing to 1.44MB disks or the 120MB laser-servo "superdisks." The USB drive's performance was comparable to that of the parallel version for the PC -- about 300K per second. We copied a 4MB file to the USB drive in just under 15 seconds; copying a similar file to a parallel connected PC drive took about 14 seconds.
Although Imation says iMac 120MB disks will not be readable or writable on PC SuperDisk drives, there are third-party drivers (MacDrive 98, etc.) that can help in this regard. iMacInTouch reports that some Macintosh software doesn't recognize the USB drive, however. For example, multi-disk installers may fail because they don't eject the first disk (unlike Windows, the MacOS disables the drive's eject button), and Connectix's Virtual PC 2.0 can't access the drive at all.
The Suggested Retail Price listed for the USB drive for the iMac is $179US @ 1.6% exchange today =$286.40. At the so-called minimum advertised price in the US, the iMac SuperDisk USB Drive is $149US @ 1.6% exchange today =$238.40. We expect to see the drives priced at about $249 in Canada, at least initially. The SuperDisk Parallel Port drive's SRP is between $169.99 and $189.99. A $70 rebate offer is included.
Imation techs have confirmed that the difference between the iMac and PC version of the USB SuperDisk is "simply a question of software drivers." Imation says the iMac USB floppy will begin shipping in Canada on October 14, 1998. Imation has not yet committed to shipping a USB drive for the PC. The company says "A PC-compatible USB SuperDisk drive should be available by the first part of 1999 -- perhaps from Imation or another supplier." As of May, 1999, we have not yet seen such a unit. However, there are Win 95 (rev B and C) and Win98 drivers for using a USB SuperDisk drive on the PC. You can find them at www.winstation.com/Download.html.
Update: Our inability to format 1.44MB floppy disks with the LS-120 and Windows NT 4.0 turned out to be caused by Windows NT Service Pack 3. If you are having difficulty formatting an LS-120 disk under Windows NT, Imation suggests replacing your ATAPI.SYS file with an earlier version and rebooting your system. Says an Imation technical support rep, "Check the date of your ATAPI.SYS file, we know that those dated 8-8-96 are functional and those dated 10-14-96, or newer may have problems. The Atapi.sys file may be found in your c:\winnt\system32 dir. and even one level lower in the c:\winnt\system32\drivers dir. You should make a backup copy of your existing ATAPI.SYS file and then copy the old 8-8-96 to both directories. You can also find the atapi.sys file located in the (NT) dir. of our ftp site... ftp.usaent.com/pub/nt
For more LS-120 info:
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