Which is faster, a 2 Gig Jaz drive or an Orb drive?

The Zip 100 isn't big enough any more. Even the Zip 250 isn't big enough for Mac users with Gigs of data to archive or move around. You can burn a CD but that's only 650MB. There's always a DVD-RAM but it takes a long time to back up 5 Gigs at .7MB/sec with verify. That's why the Jaz and Orb are very attractive. They are a FAST way to back up 2 Gigs.  

 

Conclusion: Orb wins.
The Jaz has a reputation for speed but the Orb is faster. The Orb drive with one cartridge costs $250. The Jaz drive without a cartridge costs $350. Extra Orb cartridges cost as little as $25 each. The Jaz cartridges cost $100 each. You do the math.

RELATED REVIEWS FROM OTHER SITES:
PCWORLD compares Orb with Jaz and all other removable media drives.

Caution
I hear many stories of unreliability regarding both the Orb and Jaz. My own experience has been good with the Orb and bad with the Jaz. Let's say I would not rely on either drive as the only means of backup. I put the most critical documents on a CD-ROM.

 

 

Test Configurations & Procedures

• The test machine was a G4/400 Sawtooth with a Miles Bluenote fast SCSI card.
• The test drives included:
  the Iomega Jaz 2 Gig SCSI removable drive
  the Castlewood Orb 2 Gig SCSI removable drive
• The ATTO disk benchmark was run using Express-Pro Tools 2.3 benchmark test with 8MB maximum file size and system disk cache disabled. Sustained Rate is displayed in the charts. Peak rates can be impressive but do not reflect typical drive performance.