09/09/96 WHEN A GIGABYTE OF STORAGE JUST ISN'T ENOUGH

WHEN A GIGABYTE OF STORAGE JUST ISN'T ENOUGH

EVEN THOUGH PERSONAL computers now come with hard drives storing a gigabyte--1 billion bytes--or more of data, it's not difficult to run out of space, what with huge application programs and multimedia files such as audio and video clips and digital snapshots. Perhaps that's why removable storage devices such as Iomega's $199 Zip drive have become so popular. The latest to enter the scene is Olympus Image Systems Inc. in Melville, N.Y.
The company recently unveiled its SYS.230 Universal Personal Storage System. It uses so-called magneto-optical disks, each of which can store 230 megabytes of data. While SYS.230 units are expensive--$299 for an internal unit and $389 for one that attaches to a computer's printer port--Olympus officials say consumers will save money in the long run, because each $10 cartridge holds more than twice the information of a $15 Zip cartridge. To sweeten the deal further, Olympus will offer to newly registered SYS.230 owners four free disks--in addition to the one that comes with each unit--for total storage capacity of more than 1.1 gigabytes.
EDITED BY PAUL M. ENG