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Zip-Killer Superdisk Can Read Floppies

Hi-Val%squots LS-120 drive accepts 120MB and 3.5-inch floppies--and costs just $179

By Randy Legge, PCWorld   

The new, low price makes Hi-Val%squots product more competitive with another high-capacity floppy drive, Iomega%squots 100MB Zip drive, which typically sells for less than $150. The SuperDisk Drive%squots 120MB disks are sold separately for a suggested retail price of $19.99.

LS-120 units have been selling for between $200 and $300. The lowest price we%squotd seen until now was for O.R. Technology%squots a:drive, which has a street price of $199. Exabyte offers a drive for around $300 that can be easily removed from a PC. Again, disks are extra.

Analysts say high cost may account for poor sales of 120MB drives, which came on the market last year. Currently, the most popular high-capacity floppy drive, the Zip, outsells LS-120s by more than four to one. In addition to its lower price, the Zip offers faster reading speeds. But the Zip can only handle 100MB disks and can%squott read standard 3.5-inch floppy disks, a big consideration for those with a lot of information stored on the venerable disks.

%dquotThere%squots lots of technology competing for the next generation floppy,%dquot said Infotech analyst Ted Pine. %dquotZips got off to a very fast start because of some good marketing. They seem to have plateaued. With the correct strategy, LS-120 systems could take the lead.%dquot

Installing Hi-Val%squots SuperDisk Drive requires removing a computer%squots case. The device has an IDE/ATAPI interface and connects to the motherboard. The company says it will soon offer parallel-port and PC Card versions that will be easier to install. Compression software is bundled and doubles disk capacity from 120MB to 240MB.