Craig Crossman photo Craig Crossman
National Newspaper Computer Columnist

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REMOVABLE DRIVE IS APTLY NAMED

Removable media is usually defined as some type of non-fixed storage that can be easily added and removed to an existing computer. One of the earliest examples was the simple floppy disk. Since then I've seen and will probably continue to see all sorts of these devices and media come and go. The most popular continue to be Iomega's Zip and Jaz disks, their second generation incarnations holding an increased size of 250 megabytes and 2 gigabytes respectively. But these capacities still fall short of what's needed with today's 20 to 60 gigabyte and beyond capacity hard drives. And although there are several large capacity streaming tape formats that can accommodate the larger storage requirements, these tapes are still serial devices that need to be wound and rewound in order to access information.

Recognizing the need for even larger capacity removable disk media devices that provide random access to any information they contain, Iomega has introduced the Peerless removable storage solution. The Peerless drive stands vertically and conforms to Iomega's latest stylized drives. Peerless' transfer rate is up to 15 megabytes per second which is impressive for a removable drive. It also supports Iomega's newest modular connectivity standard so you can link it to your computer via FireWire, USB and SCSI standards. Two removable cartridge configurations are available. Depending on which you choose, a single cartridge has the capacity of storing either 10 or 20 gigabytes. With its high capacity and fast transfer rate, the Peerless makes it the ideal platform to be used as a hard drive backup or even off-line video storage. In fact, Iomega is already hinting about additional Peerless interfaces to become available that link the Peerless to satellite TV, home entertainment centers and even your car.

Don't get me wrong. There is still a large need for Zip, Jaz and even floppy disk capacities. But the time for devices such as the Peerless has come and quite frankly has been long overdue.

The Peerless drive with interface module retails for $249.95. Individual Peerless disks are $159.95 (10 GB) and $199.95 (20 GB). The base station bundled with an interface module and a 20 GB disk retails for $399.95. The base station bundled with an interface module and a 10 GB disk retails for $359.95.

www.iomega.com (800) MY-STUFF

Firewire Web Camera

Most of us are familiar with the small web cameras better known as a webcam. Webcams are nice except that bottlenecks such as the speed of an Internet connection can slow the images down to a crawl. A faster Internet connection can solve most video speed problems. But another bottleneck, the speed of the connection from the camera to your computer, can bring even the speediest Internet connection to a crawl. The PYRO Webcam from ADS is a quality color webcam with a difference. Housed in a smoky clear base and a pivoting stand that lets you properly angle the camera, it connects to your computer via the high speed Firewire interface. Firewire can be up to 30 times faster than USB which is how most other webcams connect to a computer. Because of the faster speed, the PYRO uses no compression to the images it sees and sends a high quality color image to your computer at 30 frames-per-second with a 640 by 480 resolution. The PYRO comes with software that lets you use it on any Windows based PC or any Macintosh with a Firewire connection. $169.

www.adstech.com
Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time.  Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

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