A Look at 1.8" Hard Drives

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/22/1-8_hard_drives_hit_100_gb/' target='_blank'>http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/22/1-8_hard_drives_hit_100_gb/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Even 2.5" hard drives will reach 250 GB later this year, but these aren't necessarily ideal for ultra-portable devices such as iPods - they only need 30 or 80 GB of capacity and can benefit from the smaller size, lower weight and lower power consumption of 1.8" hard drives. Hitachi has had 1.8" hard drives for a couple of years with its Travelstar C3K80 and C4K60/40, Samsung's N40 has been around for some time and Toshiba has some extensive experience as well. About a year ago we took a look at three 1.8" hard drives by Hitachi and Toshiba, and the advent of the first 100 GB drive is a good reason to look at this segment again. We decided to focus on the new 100 GB Toshiba drive, as Samsung is close to releasing a 120 GB drive, while Hitachi's C3K80 runs at only 3,600 RPM, lower than the 4,200 RPM spindle speed that can be considered standard today."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/hard-drives-may23.jpg" /><br /><br />It's great to see the continued evolution of 1.8" hard drives - it gives me hope that the next generation Zune will have a really BIG hard drive!

[Damion Chaplin]

Not to dash your hopes, Jason, but 30GB sure wasn't the largest-capacity 1.8" HD available when they released the Zune... I'm guessing we might see an 80GB version in the next year, but probably nothing higher than that for a while...

[MitchellO]

And Western Digital have released their 250GB 2.5" only a few days ago. Makes my 120GB HDD in my MBP seem to paltry :P

Considering it is currently 95% full, I think the upgrade MIGHT be justifiable in a few months.

[Jason Dunn]

Not to dash your hopes, Jason, but 30GB sure wasn't the largest-capacity 1.8" HD available when they released the Zune...

Yeah, I know - they could have fit a 60 GB in there without any width problems (the 80 GB drives were a bit too thick back in November I think)...

[MitchellO]

The Zune is thicker than the iPod 80GB, and it was available back then, so I don't think they have an excuse for making it this thick with only 30GB.

[Jason Dunn]

The Zune is thicker than the iPod 80GB, and it was available back then, so I don't think they have an excuse for making it this thick with only 30GB.

Hold up there hoss, give this a read first:

http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/382/

There are some reasons why it's so thick...

[MitchellO]

Yeah, but I still think it would have been worth it to shave maybe a mm or 2 off.

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, but I still think it would have been worth it to shave maybe a mm or 2 off.

Sure, thinner would have been better, but according to the Bunnie guy, they really didn't have the space. Hopefully the second-gen units will be more integrated and thus thinner.