
The Microdrive is a miniature hard disk designed to fit in a Compact Flash Type II slot. It was launched in 1999 with a capacity of 340 megabyte, which was expanded to 4 gigabyte by 2004. They weigh about 16 gram (unit) (~1/2 ounce), with dimensions of 42.8×36.4×5 millimetre (1.7×1.4×.2 inch). From 1999 to 2003 they were commonly known as IBM Microdrives, and from 2003 onward as Hitachi Microdrives. Microdrive™ was a registrated trademark by IBM and Hitachi for each period. These are not the only brands of miniature hard drives (CF Type II) however, there are licensed branded Sony models called Sony Microdrive. In 2004 Seagate launched 2.5 and 5 GB models as well, and tends to refer to them as either 1-inch hard drives, or CompactFlash hard drives. In 2005 it launched a 8 GB model as well. These drives fit into any CF II slot; however, they may take more power than flash memory and so may not work in some low-power devices (e.g., NEC HPCs). Being mechanical devices they are more sensitive to physical shock and temperature changes than flash memory, though in practice they are very robust. Futhermore they have some benifits over flash memory in terms of the way data is stored and manipulated. Microdrives 4 GB and above need to be formated for File_Allocation_Table, which is not supported by some, usually older cameras. Microdrives are particularly popular with professional photographers, who take advantage of their multi-gigabyte capacity to be able to take high-resolution, print-quality photographs without needing to worry overmuch about storage space. Outside of the professional and prosumer photography market, Microdrives had more limited popularity since most lower-end or compact cameras that even had CF slots, did not have type II slots (or support the power req). One of the advantages has been the drives ability to maintain a lower cost per megabyte then the CF and other smaller flash memory card formats in the largest sizes relative to other sizes that were out. As the market progressed what was once the high-end capacity of the flash cards becomes cheaper, but by then even larger Microdrives were out that would compete with the new, more expensive largest CF cards. For example, in June 2005, a 2 GB Hitachi Microdrive card retails for about $130-150 USD, while that same size in CompactFlash or Secure Digital is about $180-200 USD. In larger sizes it becomes more pronounced with a 6 GB Hitachi Microdrive card retailing for around $240-260 USD, while even a CF 4 GB model retails for between $300-400 USD (depending on brand and if its a high-speed model) (SD stops at 2 GB at this time). On the other hand the smaller capacity models no longer remain competive, with models like the 512 MB and even 1 GB versions no longer marketed. Besides digital camera applications, Microdrives are found in the popular iPod mini and Zen Micro mp3 players, among others. diameter_27.3_mm_(1.1_in)_British_coin_Fifty_Pence.">image:IBM-Microdrive.jpg|thumb|right|200px|IBM 1 GB Microdrive, shown beside a diameter 27.3 mm (1.1 in) British coin Fifty Pence.
The product was originally created and marketed by IBM. In December 2002 Hitachi (company) bought IBM's disk drive business, including the Microdrive technology and brand. IBM intially released specs for both a 160 and 340 MB model, but only the 340 MB was released in 1999 and becasme the first to be released. The next year 512MB and 1GB models were announced and became avaible. By 2003, under Hitachi bigger 2 GB models came out. Over the years, these even larger sizes have become available:
{|
|1999||340 megabyte (IBM)
|-
|2000||512 MB, 1 gigabyte (IBM)
|-
|2003|| 2 gigabytes (Hitachi)
|-
|2004|| 4 GB (Hitachi), 5 GB (Seagate)
|-
|2005|| 6 gigabytes
|-
|late 2005|| smaller microdrives have been announced, as well bigger capacity; 8-10 GB
|}
Other brands started competing in the Microdrive market, with, for example, Seagate releasing there own a 2.5 and 5 GB models in 2004. Also, GS Magic started marketing small form factor HDD for CF (2.2, 3.3, 4 GB as of 2005); it has, however, been sued by Hitachi for copyright ingfrigment.
==See also==
*Digital cameras
*Professional photography
*Digital camera memory media
==External Links==
*[http://www.hitachigst.com/ Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST)]
*[http://www.seagate.com/cda/newsinfo/newsroom/releases/article/0,,2731,00.html Seagate press release about 8 GB 1-inch hard drive]
*[http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/seagate-st1-5gb.html Review of Seagate ST1 5 GB 1-inch hard disk for CF]]
*[http://www.gs-magic.com/index_en.asp GS Magic website]
Computer storage devices
IBM hardware
The latest developments are drives with capacity of 6GB and there are talks of even higher capacity in the future (8GB-10GB). With the advent of mp3 players, the microdrive has seen a resurgence in popularity, because it can offer higher storage capacity at a lower price point than CF cards or any other storage media of comparable size. *iPods can't use them, they aren't cheaper than CF, they aren't larger than CF. Both ends of their niche have evaporated, unfortunately. User:A Man In Black 03:21, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Microdrive:
Microdrive
Microdrive
Microdrive_(disambiguation)
Microdrive_(disk_drive)
Microdrive_(disk_drive)
Microdrive
The Microdrive is a miniature hard disk designed to fit in a Compact Flash Type II slot. It was launched in 1999 with a capacity of 340 megabyte, which was expanded to 4 gigabyte by 2004. They weigh about 16 gram (unit) (~1/2 ounce), with dimensions of 42.8×36.4×5 millimetre (1.7×1.4×.2 inch). From 1999 to 2003 they were commonly known as IBM Microdrives, and from 2003 onward as Hitachi Microdrives. Microdrive™ was a registrated trademark by IBM and Hitachi for each period. These are not the only brands of miniature hard drives (CF Type II) however, there are licensed branded Sony models called Sony Microdrive. In 2004 Seagate launched 2.5 and 5 GB models as well, and tends to refer to them as either 1-inch hard drives, or CompactFlash hard drives. In 2005 it launched a 8 GB model as well. These drives fit into any CF II slot; however, they may take more power than flash memory and so may not work in some low-power devices (e.g., NEC HPCs). Being mechanical devices they are more sensitive to physical shock and temperature changes than flash memory, though in practice they are very robust. Futhermore they have some benifits over flash memory in terms of the way data is stored and manipulated. Microdrives 4 GB and above need to be formated for File_Allocation_Table, which is not supported by some, usually older cameras. Microdrives are particularly popular with professional photographers, who take advantage of their multi-gigabyte capacity to be able to take high-resolution, print-quality photographs without needing to worry overmuch about storage space. Outside of the professional and prosumer photography market, Microdrives had more limited popularity since most lower-end or compact cameras that even had CF slots, did not have type II slots (or support the power req). One of the advantages has been the drives ability to maintain a lower cost per megabyte then the CF and other smaller flash memory card formats in the largest sizes relative to other sizes that were out. As the market progressed what was once the high-end capacity of the flash cards becomes cheaper, but by then even larger Microdrives were out that would compete with the new, more expensive largest CF cards. For example, in June 2005, a 2 GB Hitachi Microdrive card retails for about $130-150 USD, while that same size in CompactFlash or Secure Digital is about $180-200 USD. In larger sizes it becomes more pronounced with a 6 GB Hitachi Microdrive card retailing for around $240-260 USD, while even a CF 4 GB model retails for between $300-400 USD (depending on brand and if its a high-speed model) (SD stops at 2 GB at this time). On the other hand the smaller capacity models no longer remain competive, with models like the 512 MB and even 1 GB versions no longer marketed. Besides digital camera applications, Microdrives are found in the popular iPod mini and Zen Micro mp3 players, among others. diameter_27.3_mm_(1.1_in)_
Microdrive
The latest developments are drives with capacity of 6GB and there are talks of even higher capacity in the future (8GB-10GB). With the advent of mp3 players, the microdrive has seen a resurgence in popularity, because it can offer higher storage capacity at a lower price point than CF cards or any other storage media of comparable size. *iPods can't use them, they aren't cheaper than CF, they aren't larger than CF. Both ends of their niche have evaporated, unfortunately. User:A Man In Black 03:21, 11 May 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
M
MA | MB | MC | MD | ME | MF | MG | MH | MI | MJ | MK | ML | MN | MO | MP | MR | MS | MT | MU | MW | MX | MY | MZ |Words begining with Microdrive:
Microdrive
Microdrive
Microdrive_(disambiguation)
Microdrive_(disk_drive)
Microdrive_(disk_drive)
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
