Fuji Unveils 0.8in Hard Disk Platter

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32444.html' target='_blank'>http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32444.html</a><br /><br /></div>"Japan's Fuji Electric this month revealed the latest development in the ongoing shrinkage of hard disks: the 2cm (0.8in) platter. The current standard in micro disks is the 2.5cm (1in) platter. Drives based on the platter are already in development, Fuji said, though commercial products are still some way off. Fuji expects them to be used in handheld devices like cellphones and PDAs, which have traditionally been drive-less products."<br /><br />Whoa. 8O Could this be the path to higher-capacity, more compact Microdrives? While most consumers will probably stick with flash for the foreseeable future, high-density magnetic storage has its advantages -- especially when large amounts of space are needed in very small, yet cost-effective, form factors -- such as very high-resolution digital photography.

[Cortex]

two issues

1. battery life
2. failure rate

fuel cells may solve number one but reliability will always be an issue in handheld devices. mini hard disks have their place but i doubt they will stay very far ahead of solid state.

[ctmagnus]

I can see these things in stationary devices (ie, the CerfCube (http://www.intrinsyc.com/products/create.asp) but imo there's too much risk of data loss/corruption otherwise.

[dma1965]

1 personally think this is a waste of resources. The future of storage is flash. Period! :idea:

[Gremmie]

1 personally think this is a waste of resources. The future of storage is flash. Period! :idea:

Future can be expensive, competition between different device types will always help drive down prices. Competition between manufacturers of the same product isn't enough to drive down prices since the vertical markets for flash memory comes from so few places.

[Kirkaiya]

Ultimately, I think that solid-state will be the storage-medium used in everything, but until that holocube is in my hands, I think 0.8" microdrives are great :-)

The only think I don't look forward to is Microsoft putting Windows Mobile 2005 on the micro-HD, and being forced to boot up my PDA, lol...

[Foo Fighter]

This is on my list of predictions for next year; PDAs with built-in hard drives. It's coming closer. Cornice makes a tiny hard drive which is built into Rio's latest line of digital audio players. By the middle of next year, I expect PalmOS or Pocket PC vendors to begin offering high-end (and high priced) models with embedded hard drives.

[caywen]

Battery life and reliability are 2 good ones. But also:

Durability
Speed
Capacity

[maximus]

1 personally think this is a waste of resources. The future of storage is flash. Period! :idea:

Ten years from now, flash media will be replaced by human hair.
No need to buy the media, we only need to purchase the DNA writer.

8O

It is durable, low power, extremely cheap, stable, etc. etc.

[Pony99CA]

two issues

1. battery life
2. failure rate

fuel cells may solve number one but reliability will always be an issue in handheld devices. mini hard disks have their place but i doubt they will stay very far ahead of solid state.
Really? That must be why the iPod uses solid state instead of disk storage. Oh, wait.... :roll:

Disks are far more cost effective right now. You can get a 30 GB iPod for under $500. Try getting 5 GB of any solid state memory for $500. For the price of a 2 GB CF card, you can get two or three iPods. Try getting a 1 GB SD card at any price.

For capacity and cost, disk media is far ahead of solid state.

For mobile devices, the battery life is certainly an issue, but you can get external batteries and power adapters.

As for failure rate, I've heard more stories about failure of SanDisk SD cards than about Microdrives. (Yes, that may well be because SD has a much higher penetration than Microdrives, but I don't know.)

Steve

[don dre]

I h've had my 1GB MD for a year and a half. At the time 1GB storage CF Cards were only for people who had money to burn. I got mine for $225. I have had no problems. Battery life is fine as long as you have a decent battery (1300 mah). aside from pda's, this could be used in lightweight notebooks as well. competition amongst devices is crucial. built-in bootable hdd's. nice.

[dh]

Disks are far more cost effective right now. You can get a 30 GB iPod for under $500. Try getting 5 GB of any solid state memory for $500. For the price of a 2 GB CF card, you can get two or three iPods. Try getting a 1 GB SD card at any price.

For capacity and cost, disk media is far ahead of solid state.

For mobile devices, the battery life is certainly an issue, but you can get external batteries and power adapters.

As for failure rate, I've heard more stories about failure of SanDisk SD cards than about Microdrives. (Yes, that may well be because SD has a much higher penetration than Microdrives, but I don't know.)

Steve
My thoughts exactly Steve.
I hear much more complaining about problems with SD cards than about the Ipod drives.
A PPC with 20GB would be a fantastic multimedia machine that could also gain marketshare from Ipod and the other music only players.

[qmrq]

This is on my list of predictions for next year; PDAs with built-in hard drives. It's coming closer. Cornice makes a tiny hard drive which is built into Rio's latest line of digital audio players. By the middle of next year, I expect PalmOS or Pocket PC vendors to begin offering high-end (and high priced) models with embedded hard drives.

I doubt it.. spinning those disks around sucks up far too much battery life.

[qmrq]

Everyone here knows about Millipede (http://www.research.ibm.com/resources/news/20020611_millipede.shtml) right? :)

First read about it.. several years ago. Looks nice on paper, but doesn't really mean much until we can buy it.

[Foo Fighter]

I doubt it.. spinning those disks around sucks up far too much battery life.

The disks do not all the time. It merely reads data and caches it. So, for example, PPC would load an application + data files from the hard drive...cache them...and then spin down.

[ctmagnus]

Ten years from now, flash media will be replaced by human hair.
No need to buy the media, we only need to purchase the DNA writer.

8O

But what about the follicle-impaired?

[qmrq]

The disks do not all the time. It merely reads data and caches it. So, for example, PPC would load an application + data files from the hard drive...cache them...and then spin down.

My point is still still stands.. Spinning them around at allis going to consume more battery power than using solid state memory.

[Janak Parekh]

My point is still still stands.. Spinning them around at allis going to consume more battery power than using solid state memory.
Foo's right, though. I had a Microdrive in my Pocket PC for a few years and the power drain was not substantial for most applications. The spin-up time was much more of a problem. There's a reason the iPod or the Creative Jukebox disk-based players have 8+ hours of sustained battery life...

--janak

[ctmagnus]

There's a reason the iPod or the Creative Jukebox disk-based players have 8+ hours of sustained battery life...

--janak

In some cases, 11+ hours. 22 if you get the additional battery. But I believe I can easily get that much (11 hrs) out if my iPaq using Windows Media if I keep the screen off.

[maximus]

Ten years from now, flash media will be replaced by human hair.
No need to buy the media, we only need to purchase the DNA writer.

8O

But what about the follicle-impaired?

Grab your neighbor's hair :p

[starbot]

a new rio mp3 player is based on a 1in drive, and has 16-18hr battery life, check it out, cnet.com