In considering the variety of removable storage and backup devices, I was having difficulty in choosing which way to go. Zip 100? Zip 250? Orb 2.2? Superdisk 120? CD-R? CD-RW? These are a few of the options I considered.

Issues I considered included media storage capacity, performance (speed to read and record) price (of drive and media), and compatibility. Based on these parameters, I decided on the CD-R and CD-RW format.

The MicroSolutions backpack has met all my needs. It installs via the parallel port, then off an install program via CD. This worked flawlessly on my system (HP Pavilion PII 350).

*Capacity- The CD holds 650MB of data (I think some CD_R's hold more)
*Performance - up to 4x for both CD-R and CD-RW.
*Price of Drive - This unit was on sale at CompUSA for (approx.) $249, and there is a manufacturer rebate available.
*Price of media - CD-R's are very cheap (you can get 50 blank for approximately $30); CD-RW's cost a little more, but can be erased and re-written. Also, some rebates exist where the cost is free, or very low.
*Compatibility - virtually any Windows 95 or better pc.

This unit can Record to CD-R's, and Record/ReWrite to CD-RW's. The software includes Adaptec EasyCD Creator 3.5, and Direct CD Wizard. It can make Data or Audio CD's. I find the software intuitive, and easy to use.

The unit does not take a lot of desktop space, and is pretty portable. Because of the convenient size (and parallel port connection), I can bring it to various locations, connect it to a computer, record files to CD, then bring them back home. Overall am very pleased with this unit and highly recommend it.



Recommended: Yes