Smart Storage
From high-speed hard drives to CD-RW to pocketable disks, today's storage options give you a place for everything.Melissa J. Perenson
Melissa J. Perenson is a PC World associate editor who regularly covers storage topics.
If your PC's hard drive is approaching its limit and a CD-RW drive doesn't meet all your storage needs, you are not alone. Nowadays, Windows XP eats up 1.5GB all by itself, and many garden-variety applications hog even more space. Add to that users' growing interest in creating, saving, and sharing lots of space-hogging digital files (photos, songs, presentations), and it's no wonder a crowd of storage products has arrived to meet demand.
Familiar standbys such as internal hard drives, CD-RW drives, and Iomega Zip drives have been joined by a range of surprisingly versatile lesser-known products that could help with your disk-space crunch, whether you need a format that's affordable, fast, vast, portable, or flexible.
Though sorting through the disparate options can seem daunting, it really boils down to three main categories: magnetic hard drives, optical drives, and miniature storage. Each type has its drawbacks as well as its advantages.
To help you weigh the trade-offs, we examined nine alternative storage products (in comparison with three conventional products). We looked at several external hard drives and a typical internal drive; we evaluated a number of optical drives (three that represent recordable DVD standards and one traditional CD-RW drive); and we surveyed a smattering of miniature products, throwing in an external Iomega Zip Drive for comparison.
Next-Generation Storage Options (chart)
| Hard drive | Price as tested (10/15/01) | Tested capacity1 | Cost per GB | Comparative transfer speed2 | Comments |
| Iomega Peerless FireWire Drive (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=455772) | $4003 | 20GB cartridge | $204 | 15 MBps | Iomega's compact hard drive cartridges travel easily, since the drive's electronics are housed in the base unit. Iomega sells its pricey cartridges in capacities of 10GB ($160) and 20GB ($200). |
| Maxtor Personal Storage 3000DV (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=456220) | $300 | 60GB | $5 | 28MBps | This external drive spins at 7200 rpm and is well suited for digital video and other applications that demand high performance, but it requires an IEEE 1394 interface. |
| Maxtor Personal Storage 3000LE (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=464023) | $200 | 40GB | $5 | 14MBps | The 5400-rpm 3000LE spins slightly slower than the 3000DV, but is both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 compatible. Installing a USB 2.0 card allows you to get performance comparable to IEEE 1394 speeds. |
| Baseline product Western Digital Caviar WD1000BB (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=466649) | $270 | 100GB | $2.70 | 53MBps | This fast 7200-rpm internal hard drive uses an Ultra DMA/100 interface and is a great choice for running applications and for primary storage. |
| Optical storage | |||||
| Hewlett-Packard DVD100i (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=468194) | $600 | 4.7GB DVD+RW | $3.405 | 3.3MBps for DVD+RW write at 2X6 | This internal drive can back up data or burn home movies twice as fast as drives that use other rewritable DVD formats. Its DVD+RW discs, however, are incompatible with some older DVD players.7 |
| LaCie FireWire DVD-R/RW+ CD-RW Combo Drive 4.7GB DVD-RW (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=453165) | $850 | 4.7GB DVD-RW | $4.265 | 2.6 MBps for DVD-RW write at 2X6 | LaCie's external drive is easy to install if your PC has an IEEE 1394 card. The write-once 4.7GB DVD-R media will work with most DVD players; its DVD-RW media is rewritable but not as widely compatible. |
| LaCie FireWire DVD-R/RW+ CD-RW Combo Drive 4.7GB DVD-R (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=453165) | $850 | 4.7GB DVD-R | $2.555 | 1.4 MBps for DVD-R write at 1X6 | LaCie's external drive is easy to install if your PC has an IEEE 1394 card. The write-once 4.7GB DVD-R media will work with most DVD players; its DVD-RW media is rewritable but not as widely compatible. |
| Panasonic LF-D321 4.7GB DVD-RAM | $600 | 4.7GB DVD-RAM | $5.325 | 2.8 MBps for DVD-RAM write at 2X6 | Panasonic's internal drive writes to 2.6GB and 4.7GB DVD-RAM and 4.7GB DVD-R media. It has a strong video software bundle, but some of the included utilities are difficult to master.7 |
| Panasonic LF-D321 4.7GB DVD-R | $600 | 4.7GB DVD-R | $2.555 | 1.4 MBps for DVD-R write at 1X6 | Panasonic's internal drive writes to 2.6GB and 4.7GB DVD-RAM and 4.7GB DVD-R media. It has a strong video software bundle, but some of the included utilities are difficult to master.7 |
| TDK 24/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter 700MB CD-R (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=448709) | $150 | 700MB CD-R | $0.805 | 3.3 MBps for CD-R write at 24X8 | CD-RW internal drives and their 700MB media are inexpensive. However, the media's storage capacity is rather small for digital video and for full hard drive backups. |
| Baseline product TDK 24/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter 650MB CD-RW (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=448709) | $150 | 650MB CD-RW | $3.295 | 1.5 MBps for CD-RW write at 10X8 | CD-RW internal drives and their 700MB media are inexpensive. However, the media's storage capacity is rather small for digital video and for full hard drive backups. |
| Miniature storage | |||||
| IBM 1GB Microdrive Travel Kit (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=368004) | $380 | 1GB | $380 | 4.2 MBps | With its CompactFlash II interface, IBM's miniature removable hard drive works with a variety of devices. Its moving internal parts make it less rugged than flash media, however.  |
| Microtech Zio 128MB CompactFlash Bundle (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=393786) | $1609 | 128MB CompactFlash card | $12504 | 800 KBps | The Zio external drive fits in your palm and plugs directly into front-mounted USB ports or into rear ports via a cable. Accepts CompactFlash I or II media cards in capacities ranging from 8MB to 1GB. |
| Trek USB ThumbDrive | $150 | 128MB | $1172 | 700 KBps | This rugged, petite, ultraportable device is great for transferring batches of files between systems with USB. Installation requires drivers. Other media capacities are available too. |
| Baseline product Iomega Zip 250MB USB Drive (http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_prodsummary.php?masterid=410656) | $150 | 250MB Zip disk | $675 | 900 KBps | This external drive writes to 250MB ($15) and 100MB ($10) disks. Write performance with the older 100MB media is poor, and the 250MB disks can't be used in 100MB Zip drives.  |
Hard Drives: Vast, Fast & Affordable
For desktop users, one of the most cost-effective ways to add storage is to simply buy another internal hard drive--provided your PC has an extra drive bay. Though the performance of a drive varies according to its rotational speed (usually 5400 or 7200 rotations per minute), interface (IDE, IEEE 1394, or USB), and use, in most cases hard drives will be the fastest storage option you can buy. Internal drives like Western Digital's $270, 100GB Caviar WD1000BB are the fastest and largest option of all the storage types we review here. The quick transfer speeds make internal hard drives ideal for housing applications and data. But since internal hard drives are fixed devices that are always connected, they are more vulnerable to data loss or disk failure from viruses, power surges, and bumps.
With an external hard drive, however, you can sidestep many of these dangers. Maxtor, for example, offers two external Personal Storage hard drives: The 3000DV holds 60GB and has an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface, while the 3000LE holds 40GB and connects via USB 2.0. To conduct an informal speed test of both drives, we cracked open the tower of our evaluation PC and installed the $129 DuoConnect USB 2.0/1394 combo card. (For about $50, you can buy a single-interface USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394 card.) Once our Windows 98 SE system recognized the drives, we were ready to size up their performance capabilities.
In our hands-on tests, we found that there was no real performance variance between Maxtor's IEEE 1394 and USB 2.0 external drives. The difference between using the 3000LE's USB 2.0 interface and its USB 1.1 interface, however, was more pronounced: With USB 1.1, it took about 10 minutes longer to complete our test than it did with USB 2.0. Should either of Maxtor's portable drives meet your buying criteria, be prepared to pay a premium--about twice as much per gigabyte as the internal Western Digital drive.
Choosing an Interface
Wondering which drive interface is better for you? If you use your system to store and edit digital video or if you have a digital video camera, choose the IEEE 1394 interface and the biggest-capacity hard drive you can afford. If you're just looking for faster performance, choose a USB 2.0 expansion card and a compatible hard drive, because this update of the common USB 1.1 standard can support USB 1.1 devices you already own.
Iomega's $400 Peerless 20GB FireWire Drive represents a unique but pricey alternative to other hard drives. It consists of a 20GB, pocket-size cartridge that snaps into an upright IEEE 1394 adapter and base (the 20GB USB 1.1 model costs $400; USB 2.0 versions are expected in early 2002). The IEEE 1394 model's two ports allow it to pass through data from your PC to another device (such as a camera or scanner) connected to the Peerless base.
One advantage of the Peerless system is that its cartridges are interchangeable among USB and IEEE 1394 bases. To protect your data from the bumps and jostles of travel, Iomega (like most external hard drive makers) integrates shock-protection hardware into the cartridges. The company offers two rather expensive cartridge capacities: a 10GB cartridge is $160; the 20GB unit is $200. If you can afford to buy extra cartridges (which only Iomega sells), your storage expandability is limitless. But remember that your portability will be limited to using the cartridges where you have a base unit.
Optical Drives: Roomy & Portable
Optical media, such as CD-RW and rewritable DVD discs, are easy to share and use for archiving data. Smaller in capacity than hard drives, optical drives and media offer flexibility. CD-RW drives such as TDK's $150 24/10/40 VeloCD ReWriter (see Top 10 CD-RW Drives) are popular for writing a sizable chunk of data to an inexpensive disc (in quantity, as low as 50 cents per 700MB CD-R disc and $2 per 650MB CD-RW disc), which most any CD-ROM drive can read. CD-R and CD-RW discs aren't ideal for storing video, though (only 1 hour of MPEG-1 or VHS-quality video fits on a CD).
When rewritable DVD was first proposed, it seemed likely to replace CD-RW as the rewritable format of choice. But DVD technology has become mired in a three-way standards war: DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW, and DVD+RW (see November 2001's "The DVD Dilemma"). Here's a look at drives integrating these standards.
The oldest rewritable-DVD standard is DVD-RAM. With media capable of enduring up to 100,000 rewrites, a DVD-RAM/R drive like Panasonic's $600 LF-D321 is great for backing up and archiving data. Media for this drive come in a range of sizes--2.6GB (about $20 for a single-sided disc), 4.7GB ($25 for a single-sided disc), and 9.4GB ($40 for a dual-sided disc)--and are available both as bare discs and in plastic cartridges that protect data from dust and thumbprints.
Since few standard DVD-ROM drives and DVD movie players can read DVD-RAM discs, this format is a poor choice if you intend to view movies on your TV. However, the Panasonic LF-D321 also supports the write-once DVD-R format, which is compatible with ordinary DVD players and drives. Panasonic's preproduction internal LF-D321 drive features superb video editing software (including Sonic's DVDit LE), as well as a set of functional but cryptic utilities intended to help users with installation and maintenance.
LaCie's external FireWire DVD-R/RW+CD-RW Combo Drive, dubbed SuperDrive, offers write-once DVD-R and rewritable DVD-RW abilities. Installation was easy: After plugging the drive into our IEEE 1394 port and loading the bundled software, we were ready to burn and edit data and video discs. This drive writes to relatively cheap 4.7GB discs (as low as $8 for a DVD-R and $15 for a DVD-RW). Each disc holds about 2 hours of MPEG-2 video. The drive's ability to create DVD-Rs, which most DVD drives and players can read, is a main attraction. (DVD-RW media, like DVD+RW media, isn't compatible with older drives and players.) At $850, though, this external model's portability will cost you. (Pioneer's internal DVR-A03 uses the same drive mechanism but costs only about $550.)
With the launch of Hewlett-Packard's $600 DVD100i, the newest DVD format, DVD+RW, arrived. HP's claimed data transfer rate of 3.3 MBps means that the DVD100i burns discs twice as fast as some DVD-RW drives do. In addition, it uses competitively priced media (as low as $15). But DVD+RW drives don't support DVD-R discs, which makes this drive less versatile than others. HP's write-once DVD+R format, intended for use with older drives and players, should debut in 2002. Taking all this into account, if it's speed you need, and you purchased your DVD drive or player after 2000, the DVD100i is a good option.
Still to come in 2002: LG Electronics is slated to launch a drive based on both the DVD-RAM and DVD-RW standards.
Miniature Storage: Small & Flexible
The trait that the products in this group share is not their format or mechanism, but their size. Though their data transfer speeds and storage capacity don't match those of other devices, these products do offer outstanding portability and have few cables or drivers to fuss with. Choices include Zip disks (see "Where Are They Now?"), micro hard drives, flash media cards, and all-in-one flash storage units. However, no single product will work with all your portable devices or meet every storage need. We examined several products that have evolved to meet specialized requirements.
For example, the $380, 1-inch-square IBM 1GB Microdrive Travel Kit plugs easily into a notebook (via its included PC Card adapter) or into a digital camera, an MP3 player, or a PDA that has a CompactFlash II slot (such as the Compaq IPaq Pocket PC). Even when we installed the driver on a 166-MHz Pentium laptop running Windows 95, the system recognized the Microdrive and assigned it a letter.
The Microdrive's biggest disadvantage is that it can't top the speeds and capacities of the latest notebook hard drives, or of 5GB PC Card hard drives such as Toshiba's $400 MK5002MPL. But the convenience of this palm-size unit--which can add storage to your notebook and other devices without requiring wires or bulky external adapters--makes the Microdrive a great choice for business travelers.
Flash storage is a fine alternative to hard drives like the Microdrive. The media lacks moving parts, so it's less prone to damage. Flash storage is available in the form of inexpensive cards (and devices to read them) or as nonupgradable, fixed-capacity flash media drives like Trek's finger-size 128MB ThumbDrive. The ultraportable unit plugs directly into your system's USB port (no adapter or cables are needed) and is perfect for toting a handful of files between the office and home.
Our Windows Me test system instantly recognized the drive and assigned it a drive letter, but you'll need drivers for it to work on a Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, or Mac OS system. The ThumbDrive allows you to easily transfer files in Windows Explorer, and you can even save files directly to the drive. Owing to its USB 1.1 interface, it transfers files slower than an internal hard drive does, but the $150 ThumbDrive's largest drawback is the premium you pay for its convenience. Still, this device is appealing if you regularly transport files between several systems. Keep your eye on it, though--it's so small, you might lose it in your bag or among the piles of papers on your desk.
A good compromise between fixed-size flash drives like the ThumbDrive and bulky, wired flash-media readers is Microtech's $160 Zio 128MB CompactFlash Bundle, which includes a 128MB CompactFlash card, the Zio card reader, and an extension cable. (Zio readers are made for the SmartMedia and MultiMediaCard formats too, but we favor CompactFlash for its higher capacities, hardier design, and wider range of compatible peripherals.)
With a PC Card adapter, CompactFlash cards can fit into a PC Card slot, allowing you to transfer images between a digital camera and a laptop without using the Zio. Since most desktop PCs don't have PC Card slots, the ultraportable, bell-shaped Zio reader offers another solution. It has a USB 1.1 connector on one side and a CompactFlash card slot on the other.
The USB connector works best with a notebook or with a desktop's front-mounted USB port; the included extension cable helps you plug the Zio into awkwardly placed USB ports, such as those on the back of PCs. Best of all, the Zio can read any CompactFlash- or CompactFlash II-compatible card, so if you fill one up you can simply buy another. SanDisk sells CompactFlash cards in sizes ranging from 64MB ($50) to 1GB ($800; due early in 2002).
Future Visions
In the coming months you can expect to see bigger storage capacities in smaller packages. In the second half of 2002, look for the next generation of hard drives: Serial ATA. Endorsed by Intel and AMD, this technology promises eventually to enable data transfer speeds as fast as 600 MBps.
Due in the first half of 2002, Calimetrics' MultiLevel Recording technology promises to triple a CD-R disc's capacity to 1.95GB, and to triple drives' CD-R recording speed as well. Drives equipped with MultiLevel will be compatible with existing CD media.
Last, expect a new DVD-based optical format, DataPlay, to launch in early 2002. This format packs 500MB of data onto a $5 to $10, 3-centimeter cartridge and will allow you to write and play back discs in devices like digital audio players.
Time Capsule: Where Are They Now?
Over the years, lots of removable storage products have come and gone. Here's a look at the fate of a few recent players, all of them proprietary formats.
- Iomega Zip: Since 1994, a total of 40 million Zip drives--most of them the 100MB version--have shipped, Iomega estimates. While Zip drives are price-competitive with CD-RW drives, Zip's lower-capacity media costs seven times as much as CD-RWs (250MB Zip disks cost about $15; 100MB Zip disks cost about $10).
- Iomega Jaz: Launched in 1995, the Jaz drive uses a speedy SCSI connection, making it appropriate for video editing or file backup. Jaz, however, never was cheap, and still isn't: External drives cost a hefty $275 (internal models sell for $267), and media is priced at $90 for 2GB. Iomega now sells both IEEE 1394 and USB adapters, but don't expect the Jaz line to evolve further.
- SuperDisk (LS-120): Arriving in 1997, this 3.5-inch drive was intended to replace old-fashioned 1.44MB floppies but never gained wide acceptance in the PC market. LS-120 drives read standard 1.44MB disks as well as proprietary 120MB disks--which makes them a more natural fit for space-cramped notebooks--but their market share remains minuscule. Nonetheless, in 2001 SuperDisk drives that support 250MB media were introduced. A 120MB disk costs $7, and a 250MB disk costs $17.
- Castlewood Orb: In 1998, Castlewood's Orb and its 2.2GB disks came on strong as competition to Jaz in both capacity and speed. However, in response to complaints of Orb drive failures and data corruption, Castlewood halted production in 1999 to implement a fix. Today, the company's retooled technology appears in the $150 2.2GB internal Orb drive (disks cost $30) and in its new $300 5.7GB drive (disks cost $60). Castlewood recently announced external IEEE 1394 and USB 2.0 models of its 5.7GB drive, as well.