01-17-2003, 05:09 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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5GB Credit-Card Sized Hard Drive
... and this time, I mean it literally. This could be really useful for a wide variety of devices, but especially PDAs.
"Take a look at one of those credit cards in your wallet. That's the exact size and thickness of an upcoming, revolutionary removable storage device called StorCard.
Created by a company with the same name, StorCard can contain from 100MB to more than 5GB of data on a plastic card. At first glance, it looks like a credit card, and even has a magnetic strip like a credit card, for potential use in standard credit card readers.
The hard disk data, however, is accessed on a tiny spinning disk inside the thin card."
There's more information on their website.
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01-17-2003, 05:27 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 396
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Interesting, but IMO another "wait and see" storage solution.
They do mention PDAs but a lot depends on the size of the reader - if a lot of the control circuitry is in there it may significantly increase the size requirements to actually use the device. They hint at a PCMCIA sized reader but I couldn't find anything definite.
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Storage capacity from 100MB to multi-gigabyte capacity* (in future generations*)
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Future generations... i.e. nothing about 100MB working yet.
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01-17-2003, 05:30 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 405
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This def. sounds good, but I fear the widespread adaptation of something like this.
I'm sure prices for this would be sky-high, and it wouldnt do good in the current market.
With all the diff. formats/cards/sticks out there, I really am confused between them all. Ultimately, the manufacturer will have a hard time picking which format for which device.
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01-17-2003, 05:32 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 484
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Reading the �fine print� on the web site, this is not really as revolutionary as they imply in the synopsis. Basically this is a ZIP disk in a smart card package. That is, it has a floppy-like disk inside with a shutter door on the bottom of the card. The card fits in a reader that contains the actual drive mechanism and motors. :roll:
I doubt we will see such a drive inside a PDA any time soon due to the power requirements of the motors. :?
Of course, it still a step forward comparing the thickness of the card to a ZIP or floppy. Also, the company is run by Finis Conner (co founder of Seagate and founder of Conner Peripherals) so I don't think this is completely vaporware.
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01-17-2003, 05:33 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,386
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A spinning disk inside of something the size of a credit card??
A technical marvel, but from a practical viewpoint, wouldn't something like this be easily damaged because of the size dimensions?
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01-17-2003, 05:33 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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HUH? :?: Why would you make movable parts in such a disk?!?!? I thought the mantra for the computer industry was: Moving parts bad! Wouldn�t it be cheaper in the long run to just use a larger form factor based on the core components of the SD standard? If they can put 512MB - 1GB in a SD card you should be able to do the same with a larger form factor.
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01-17-2003, 05:34 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
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Re: 5GB Credit-Card Sized Hard Drive
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
At first glance, it looks like a credit card, and even has a magnetic strip like a credit card, for potential use in standard credit card readers.
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Makes me wonder what kind of physical tolerances it has. From the above statement, it seems that they would suggest that it could be used like a credit card with smartcard functionality. But, could the drive actually stand up to the conditions that a CC are put through especially being flexed in a wallet.
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01-17-2003, 05:36 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,264
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Wow, three of us all had the same basic thought within a minute.
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01-17-2003, 05:41 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Re: 5GB Credit-Card Sized Hard Drive
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Originally Posted by Goldkey
the conditions that a CC are put through especially being flexed in a wallet.
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And if I kept my wallet in my pocket, I would be pretty worried about sitting on it...
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01-17-2003, 05:53 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 46
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Ok, nice idea. But I would rather stick to Solid State. Just picked up a 512MB HighSpeed FlashCard (for my Canon S230 originally) , popped a copy of XXX on it and wow, does it play nice, not a stutter or anything, was noticeable improvment over playing them on my Toshiba PCMCIA Drive. But of course storage size (512mb Card, 5 GIG Toshiba) now I am kind of wondering about those 1 GB Flash.
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