Iomega REV 35GB FW drive

today announced that it is now shipping the bus-powered FireWire version of its new removeable REV 35GB 1394/FireWire drive. First launched in April 2004, the Iomega REV drive is already available in USB 2.0 and internal ATAPI models, with SCSI and Serial ATA models planned for later this year. Iomega says the REV drive offers read-write performance of up to 25 MB/sec (maximum native transfer rate) and FireWire 400 connectivity. The FireWire Iomega REV 35GB drive is shipping now for $400 (includes one disk). Mac-formatted disks are also available separately for $60 each or in a 4-pack for $200. [site not updated]

"Iomega is proud to bring the benefits of the new Iomega REV drive to the Mac community in a high-performance FireWire design," said Werner Heid, president and CEO, Iomega Corporation. "For computer enthusiasts and small and medium-sized businesses, the native FireWire REV drive, created specifically for Apple users, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for easy transporting and archiving of large files, as well as transforming the backup process."



The REV disks are smaller than a deck of playing cards (10 x 77 x 75 mm) and offer 35GB of storage capacity on each disk. The 4,200 rpm, removeable drive cartridges are protected in plastic and can be treated like standard floppy disks, but is more akin to a 2.5" portable hard-drive, according to Iomega. The company says the removeable REV disks are durable enough to carry in a shirt-pocket, brief case, or handbag and can safely pass through standard airport x-ray machines. The drives also feature a self-cleaning mechanism.




The REV FireWire drive features a distinct two-tone design in white and light grey, which the company says specifically created to coordinate with other Mac peripheral products. In addition, each REV FireWire drive ships with one Mac-formatted REV disk. The drive is bus-powered for convenient use without a power supply.



The company says the removeable REV disks are rated for over one million rewrites with a shelf life that is estimated to exceed 30 years. "In the REV drive design, sensitive components like the read/write heads and electronics are located in the REV drive for protection. The disk itself holds a hard drive platter and a fluid-dynamic bearing motor."



The device supports Mac OS X v10.1.5 and later and includes an optional power supply; it supports daisy-chaining of FireWire peripherals through its dual-FireWire port architecture. Iomega bundles includes Dantz Retrospect Express for Mac users, allowing for scheduled or automatic file backup, full system backup and recovery, and software-based compression.




"We're delighted that Macintosh users of Iomega's revolutionary new REV 35GB FireWire drive will be protected from data disasters with Retrospect Express," said Don Chouinard, director of product marketing at Dantz Development Corporation. "Using Retrospect Express with high-performance REV disks will deliver the most reliable, easy to use data protection."

by MacNN Staff