When is a Zip Drive not a Zip Drive? When it's an Iomega ZipCD 650. As you might expect from Iomega, this internal EIDE drive is a well-balanced package, and one of the cheapest in this roundup. It's also quite a zippy burner for a 4X drive.
Setting up the drive is straightforward, but with a few oversights. Most notably, the printed documentation refers you to more detailed instructions, should you need them, on the installation CD. But if you don't have a working CD drive, you won't be able to read the files until after you install the new drive.
The ZipCD 650 comes with three software bundles. Easy CD Creator is one of the better CD-R packages, even the now-superseded Version 3.5 that comes with the Iomega drive. Adaptec's DirectCD lets you format disks in the udf file system. Io mega's QuikSync is an unusual kind of back up software that automatically backs up modified files on a schedule. It also lets you keep each revision available, so you can return to an earlier version of a document.
On the CD-RW and CD-R tests, however, this drive was above average, even taking top honors on the 400MB File Read and Directory Tree Read tests. Its speed on the Data CD Duplication test was among the fastest for 4X drives.
All told, the ZipCD 650 is a more than acceptable package. It lacks any standout features, but if you want a reliable package for CD duplication and keeping multiple generations of work in progress, consider it a strong candidate.
24X/4X/4X internal EIDE, US$210 street.
PC Magazine Rating: Average
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