12, Jan, 2025
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Iomega Predator CD-RW

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CD-RW is a hot commodity at the moment. Newer, faster and easier to use drives are appearing al! the time. Iomega’s latest contribution to the market is its portable Predator CD-RW drive.
Iomega has had a port-able CD-RW drive on the market for some time — the USB Zip CD (see APC April, page 101). The Predator differs from it visually and technically.
Visually, it’s as striking as the Zip CD, but much smaller, with blue styling. Unlike a lot of portable CD drives, the Predator’s lid is solid and won’t bend down on the disk. A small spiral-patterned disc sits in the centre of the lid and spins when discs are accessed. This is very irritating. After a while, APC put some masking tape over it, but you could just rip it out.
Technologically, the innovative part of the Predator is the built-in capability to switch interface styles. The rear of the unit allows different cable assemblies to be attached to it. The default is USB,
which only allows for 4x writing. FireWire is an option, but you have to pay extra for the cable and assembly. Like the Archos Mini CD-RW (see APC April, page 100), the Predator is capable of 8x writing in FireWire mode. This is great for a portable burner. Future expansion plans include the USB 2.0 specification, which should also allow 8x writing.
The model APC examined was the default, USB-only version. Burn times came in at about 20 minutes for a 650M disc — all but identical to the Zip CD. The unit gets noticeably warm and is much lighter than the Zip CD, so it’s important to put it on a flat and stable surface that can stand a little heat.
The Predator’s software range is workable, but unexciting. There’s Adaptec EasyCD Creator 4, Music Match Jukebox, Adobe ActiveShare, and a demo version of Iomega’s Quik Sync 2 software. If you’re a Mac user, replace EasyCD Creator with Toast and ActiveShare with MGI PhotoSuite.
The Predator is a close competitor to Archos’s Mini CD-RW, but it’s a lot better suited for multiplatform use. It’s also more solidly built and is $84 cheaper. Its only real problem is its open switch, which only works when power is applied. If a disc gets stuck in the drive, there’s no way to eject it without power.

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