Seagate's 5GB Microdrive

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04060901seagate5gbmd.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04060901seagate5gbmd.asp</a><br /><br /></div>So I really should have posted this a few days ago but work has been erratic and crazy. Anyways, for those that may have missed this interesting piece of news:<br /><br /><i>"Seagate has announced it is to produce a 5 GB HDD in the CF Type II form factor, although they can't use the name 'Microdrive' that is essentially what this device is. Details at this point are a little thin on the ground, the metal cased device will be available in 2.5 GB and 5 GB capacities, it has a rotational speed of 3600 RPM and features 'RunOn' technology which appears to be a buffering system which avoids data loss if the unit is knocked or vibrated in use."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/seagate5gb.jpg" /><br /><br />There appears to be no word on cost or release date but if this unit is at all affordable by consumers (for cameras and/or PDAs, etc.), I think it would be easier to get two of these than the 12GB super-expensive CF card. ;-)

[Jason Dunn]

Wow. Sweet. :way to go: Although I wasn't a huge fan of my 1 GB Microdrive when it broke one month after the one-year warranty was up, I think 5 GB at a reasonable price would be worth the risk of trying again. :D

[jayman]

I use my PPC instead of carrying a dedicated music player.
I carry an extra 512mb SDcard with just music on it. At the moment I have to decide on which songs to take with me for the day.
If this comes at a decent price I would definitely use it instead. 5gbs would be 10x the amount of music or full films. Once high capacity removable storage is affordable I fail to see how PortableMediaCenter devices will be more versatile than PocketPCs.

[Suhit Gupta]

I think the PPCT guys would be able to answer this best, but doesn't the Microdrive suck more battery power than SD cards (or CF cards for that matter)? After all it does have moving parts.

Suhit

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Yes they do, and couple with annoying things like spin up times and mechanical unreliability, stick with solid state memory for your cameras and other essential devices.