Subject: REVIEW: Iomega Jaz Drive
From: [email-masked] (Jerry Heyman)
Date: 25 Apr 1996 15:38:57 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Iomega Jaz drive

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	1 gigabyte removable storage SCSI disk system.  Available in
both internal and external models.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	US Information -

	Name:		Iomega Corporation
	Address:	1821 West Iomega Way
			Roy, UT  84067
			USA

	Telephone:	1-800-456-5522 (Customer Service)
			1-800-697-8833 (Sales)
			1-801-629-7629 (Technical Support)

	FAX:		1-801-778-5763 (Automated FAX Help)

	European Information -

	Name:		Iomega Europe GmbH   (European Headquarters)
	Address:	Botzinger Strasse 48
			79111 Freiburg
			Germany

			Iomega Ireland       (European Customer Support)
			Fingal House
			Dublin Road, SWORDS
			Co Dublin, Ireland

	Telephone:	++353-1-8075-000   (Customer Service)
			++49 (0) 761-45040 (Headquarters)
			++353-1-8075-170   (Customer & Technical Support)

	FAX:		++353-1-8075-075

	E-mail:		Support via America Online and Microsoft Network
			Via the WWW at http://www.iomega.com

LIST PRICE

	$499 (US) for the internal version
	$599 (US) for the external version

	Both come with one disk when purchased.  Additional disks have
a suggested retail price of:

	$129 (US) for one 1G disk (~$100 per disk for package of 3)
	$69  (US) for one 540MB disk (~$60 per disk for a package of 5)

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		A SCSI controller and cbale.

	SOFTWARE
	
		None.

COPY PROTECTION

	None.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 3000/16, 2MB Chip / 8MB Fast (4MB in a DKB 3128)
	1 internal 880K floppy 
	1 external 880K floppy / 1 external HD 1.76MB AIR drive
	Quantum 52MB internal hard drive
	MultiFace III Card (2 serial / 1 parallel)
	A2410 Graphics Card (ULowell Card)
	US Logic 15" SVGA monitor

	in a PC tower (connected via the SCSI 25-pin port):

	105 MB Rodime internal hard drive
	4x Panasonic CD-ROM drive
	TEAC 600MB MT-2ST/F50B tape drive

	AmigaDOS 3.1
	MagicWorkbench 2.0
	Executive 1.3
	AsimWare's AmiCDFS 3.5
	ShapeShifter 3.4

INSTALLATION

	This is a SCSI device that fits into a 3.5" slot on the external
PC Tower that I have.  Fit in perfectly, and using the screws that Iomega 
supplied, the Jaz was installed in a matter of moments.

REVIEW

	As mentioned above the installation was almost trivial in that I
just opened the tower, put the Jaz in the 3.5" slot, and then attached 
the 50-pin ribbon cable and the power plug - at this point installation 
was complete.  I wound up having to undo the installation, because I didn't
know what SCSI id the Jaz was set to and whether or not there would be any
conflicts.  The factory setting is ID 4, and in my case that was not a 
conflict.

	Once installed, I rebooted the Amiga and attempted to run HDToolBox
on the drive.  Note that when HDToolBox goes out and queries the SCSI bus, 
the Jaz actually takes between 10 and 15 minutes to complete.  Posts on 
USENET comp.sys.amiga.hardware seem to imply that the Jaz device does a 
thorough check of all bad blocks each time you run HDToolBox.

	Once HDToolBox completed, I was able to add the Jaz without any
problems.  The drive originally comes configured in two (2) 500MB partitions.
Not thinking ahead when I did the original install, I deleted one of the 
500MB partitions and replaced it with a 100MB partition, but did not change
the second partition.  When I rebooted, AmigaDOS complained about not having
any mount information for that second partition.  I then started up HDToolBox
again (and waited again the 10-15 minutes), and deleted the second partition.

	I then created 4 100MB partitions, but did not create them all
contiguously.  The first 3 partitions are contiguous, but I then skipped 
100MB on the drive and then did the last partition.  This partition scheme 
does not appear to be optimal, as initial access to that last partition 
seem slower than the other accesses.

	Formatting the different partitions was fast - no more than 2
minutes for each 100MB partition.  I then copied the four partitions from 
my 105MB Rodime to the partitions on the Jaz and freed up the Rodime for 
ShapeShifter usage.

DOCUMENTATION

	Jaz is shipped in a padded box with four (4) distinct documents.

	Document #1 is the Installation Guide is a quad folded page with 
the 17 steps that Iomega believes are necessary to install the Jaz.  There 
are pictures and commentary for each step.  If you've previously installed 
SCSI devices, a quick scan should be enough to understand how to install.

	Document #2 is a one page sheet entitled "Important Information" 
which stresses that you only use their screws when installing the Jaz drive, 
and with a a big caution that states:

	"Do not over-tighten the mounting screws or use screws other than
	those included with the Jaz drive.  Over-tightening the screws or 
	using screws that are too long could damage your Jaz drive."

	Document #3 the User's Guide.  It is also a quad folded page.
It contains hardware specifications of the drive, and also the SCSI ID jumper
settings.  It also talks about troubleshooting and the fact that the drive 
sleep is settable via the Jaz Tools diskette shipped with the product - 
unfortunately, those tools are only for Windows/Mac.

	Document #4 is entitled "Jaz tips" and contains a list of common
sense things not to do with the Jaz drive.  Tips include: 'Never put anything
except Jaz disks into the Jaz drive as this could damage your drive'

LIKES

	Quick to install, and get up and running.  Having all the additional
disk space has allowed me to install things that I have wanted to put on my 
hard disk but didn't have the room.  The ability to change out the 1 Gig disks
is why I purchased the drive in the first place - this will allow me to run 
AmigaDOS, NetBSD, and possibly Linux without sacrificing disk space - or 
purchasing another hard drive to do so.  Right now those are only plans, I
haven't actually done so.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	As with Iomega's ZIP drive, software is included with the drive -
but only for Mac and Windows.  While this isn't a problem because of HDToolBox,
it would be nice if (and when) the Amiga becomes a viable alternative platform
that manufacturers take it into consideration.

	The Jaz has a hardware spindown after 30 minutes of inactivity. It
can be altered via a supplied program, but this program only works in a 
Windows or Mac environment.  Maybe Oregon Research (maker of Jaz Tools for 
Amiga) will be able to come up with something for the Jaz drive.  The 
spindown  can lead to problems when you try to access partitions after the 
spindown - some just aren't found.  The suggested work around is to get 
a hold of SCSIMounter from Aminet (disk/misc), and unmount then remount the 
partition.

	There are no terminating resisters in the device.  This means that
the Jaz should be placed somewhere in the middle of an existing chain of SCSI
devices.  Iomega does include a 50pin ribbon cable that is terminated if you 
wish to put the Jaz at the end of a SCSI chain.  I installed mine in the 
middle of the chain and have had absolutely no problems.

	Make sure to copy the serial number down off of the drive before
installing it.  The registration form requires it - and the only place that 
you'll find it is on the drive itself.  This lead to yet another removal and
installation of the Jaz.  This to me is something that the manufacturer 
(Iomega) could easily get around by making a peelable label - or by stamping 
the warranty card with.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	None that I know of at this time.  SyQuest (makers of the EZ135)
has shown what they call the SyJet (a 1.3G removable) at several trade shows,
but has not announced a shipping date.  Pictures of both the Jaz and the SyJet
can be found in issue #10 of Amiga Format (US Edition).

BUGS

	None that I am aware of.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	None.

	I own some shares in Iomega, so you will have to determine if this 
clouds my judgement.

WARRANTY

	The Jaz drive itself has a warranty period for 1 year; Jaz media 
limited lifetime, for as long as Purchaser owns it.

CONCLUSIONS

	The drive is everything that I have waited for - and have been
waiting since I first heard about it last September (9/95).  I have been 
pleasantly surprised at the ease in which I was able to make use of it on 
the Amiga, but had also felt that there would be few problems as it is a 
SCSI device.

	A rating would be at least 4 on a 5 scale.  The access time that
I experience isn't quite what I had been led to believe - meaning that the 
first time that you access a partition, it seems to take a bit longer than 
when I had the same partition installed on the Rodime.  This perceived lack
of speed may be caused by my enlargement of the partition by 4x (from 25MB
to 100MB).

	The drive is a wonder in engineering.  The actual drive mechanism
is the size of a 3.5" internal floppy drive, the drive itself can be held
in the palm of your hand.  A form fitted package is included for transferring
the drive from machine to machine as not to shake or drop the media.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1996 Jerrold Heyman.  All rights reserved.

	This review is freely distributable as long as it is not
altered in any way.

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