A PowerPage reader sent along this suggestion for anyone seeking a cheaper alternative to Apple’s ZIP expansion module.

I just don’t want to pay $230 for the expansiom module from Apple. Solution: USB Zip drive and Zip unleashed battery. Cost: $151.80. The zip unleashed battery pack provides four to five hours of uses for a zip drive, plenty for just about every PowerBook user. It is $31.99 from Hardware Street, S&H is $4.95.

While this option forces you to carry another piece of hardware alongside your PowerBook, the USB connection allows you to hot swap the drive, making installation easy as well as portability if you are transferring files between computers with the drive.