7.5 Our Picks
Here
are the high-capacity FDD we recommend:
None . There's
seldom reason to install a high-capacity FDD in a general-purpose
system. For inexpensive archiving and backing up, or for transferring
moderately large files between non-networked systems, a Plextor
PlexWriter CD-RW drive with Ahead Software's Nero
Burning ROM software is a much superior solution in every
respectcost, performance, and reliability. For
moderate-capacity removable storage with drive letter access, we
recommend a Plextor PlexWriter CD-RW drive with Ahead
Software's InCD software, which makes a CD-RW disc
look like a giant floppy. See Chapter 11 for more
information about CD-RW drives and software.
Zip250 Drive or LS-120 SuperDisk Drive,
according to specific requirements . About the only good
reason to install a high-capacity FDD is to transfer moderately large
files between systems that are not networked and cannot read (or
read/write) CDs. For example, you may have a notebook computer that
has a SuperDisk installed but does not have a CD writer or a network
card. In that situation, installing a SuperDisk on your desktop
system may be the simplest way to exchange files between the systems.
Or you may need to exchange large graphics files with a prepress
graphics house that accepts only Zip disks, in which case installing
a Zip250 Drive provides both reasonably high capacity and
compatibility with the relatively large installed base of Zip100 and
Zip250 drives.In general, the internal ATAPI models of either the Zip Drive or the
SuperDisk Drive provide high performance, the fewest compatibility
problems, and the lowest cost. However, if your application requires
an external driveperhaps because you need to move the drive
from machine to machineconsider your choice of interface
carefully per the guidelines listed earlier in the chapter. For more
information, see http://www.mke.panasonic.co.jp/en/device/storage/superdisk/lkm_fc34_5l
(SuperDisk).
For updated recommendations, visit http://www.hardwareguys.com/picks/fddl.