Introduction
Microharddrives:Microharddrives
Inthenewerawherepeoplearepursuinglargecapacityandsmallvolume,neitherflashmemory(smallcapacity)nortraditionalharddisks(largevolume)canmeetmarketdemands.Themicroharddrivedevelopedfromthefieldofultra-smallnotebooksanddigitalcamerashasnaturallytakenthebatonofthetwooldpredecessors.
MostdevicesthatcanuseCFcardscandirectlyuseMicrodrive,suchasdigitalcameras,handheldcomputers,andMP3players.ThenotebookcomputeristransferredthroughthePCMCIAadapter.SincetheMicrodriveisslightlythickerthantheCFcard,thedevicemustcomplywiththeCFIIstandard.Thelarge-capacityMicrodrive(4GB)requiresthedevicetosupporttheFAT32filesystem.ComparedwithCF,thebiggestadvantageofMicrodriveisthelowerpriceperunitofstoragecapacity.Microdriveusesharddisktechnology,whichhasthecharacteristicsoflowcostandhighcapacity,andcanbecomeasubstituteforsolid-statestoragetechnologymemory.
Kodak,Sanyo,Fujitsu,EpsonandothercompanieshavebeguntodesigndigitalcameraproductsthatsupportMicrodrive.ItisforeseeableinthefuturethatdigitalcamerasorothercomputerperipheralproductswillgraduallyjointheranksofsupportingMicrodrive.
Advantages
Largecapacity
Youshouldknowthatthediskareaofthemicroharddiskisonly1inch,andtheoverallareaisonly1/3oftheareaofthephonecard,butthemainstreamcapacityhasreachedUptothe1-4GBlevel,and15GB(1inch)and60GB(1.8inch)productsareavailable,whetheritisusedforcamerashootingordatastorage,itismorethanenough.
Longservicelife
Itismadewithhighertechnologythantheharddisk,whichguaranteesitsservicelife.Itcanberepeatedlyerasedandwrittenmorethan300,000times,anditcanusuallyworkstablyforfiveyears.
Withcache
Thisisnotonlyfortheneedofshockabsorption,butalsoanimportantguaranteeforimprovingthedatatransmissionrate.Theshockabsorptioncanbedonebyexternalmemory,butIfthereisnocache,thespeedofthemicroharddiskwillappeartoberelativelyslow,andthegeneralproductisequippedwitha128KBcapacitydatacache.
Noneedforexternalpowersupply
Thepowerconsumptionofthemicroharddiskisverysmall,anditcanbeusedwhenconnectedtoUSB.Ifoneinterfaceisnotenoughpower,connectingtwointerfacesisdefinitelyOK,andtheharddiskisdirectlysolved.Thetroubleofaddingpowertothebox.Therefore,thefutureharddisktypeMP3maybeconnectedtothecomputerwithoutabattery.
High-speedtransmission
Themorepower-saving,smallersizemakespeopledoubtthedatatransmissionspeedofthemicroharddisk,buteveryonecanrestassuredthatthemicroharddiskhas3600-4200RPM(RotationPerMinute,rpm),thefastesthasreached4500RPM..Ofcourse,duetothesmallsizeofthedisk,thedatatransferrateislowerthanthatofordinaryharddisksatthesamespeed.Althoughthesmallsizeisnoteasytodissipateheat,theyallhaveanautomaticpowersavingmodethatcanactivelyreducetheheatgenerationandmakethehighspeedlonger.
Wideinterfacecompatibility
Likeordinaryharddisks,microharddisksarecompatiblewithavarietyofharddiskinterfacescompatiblewithindustrystandards.Thisismainlydeterminedbythecontrolchip,makingitsuitableforavarietyofHandhelddevice.Therefore,wewillseeCFcard,PCMCIA,USB2.0,ATAparallelportmicroharddisk,andtheremaybeATAserialportandSCSIinthefuture!
USB2.0high-speedexternaltransmission
Whenyouusethislarge-capacitymicroharddrivetostoresongs,pictures,videorecordings,applicationsoftwareandfiles,youwilldefinitelyexchangedatawithothers.Atthistime,afasttransmissionchannelisessential.USB2.0iscurrentlythemostcompatibleexternalinterfacestandard,whichcanachieveatransmissionspeedof480Mbps,whichisabout60MB/sec.AlthoughUSB1.1canbarelybeused,let'simaginethatwithsuchalarge-capacitydatastorage,thetransmissionflowwilldefinitelybelarge,sowetrytochoosethoseUSB2.0microharddiskMP3.
Highshockresistance
Duetothespecialdesignofthemicroharddisk,itsshockresistanceismuchstrongerthanordinarynotebookharddisks.Itsspecialmagneticheadloadingandunloadingtechnologymakestheimpactresistanceupto1500G(non-workingstate)and175G(workingstate).Evenifitisusedwithlow-endreadingequipment,thedualprotectionofthereaderandtheharddrivecanalsopreventtheharddrivefrominternalshocks.NotonlyasamicroharddiskMP3,itcanalsoprovidereliablestorageperformancefordigitalcameras,laptops,palmtopcomputers,GPSandotherportabledevices.
Precautions
Firstofall,becarefulnottoapproachmagneticmaterialsorstrongmagneticfields;storeanduseinanenvironmentabove-40℃orbelow65℃;bewareofbeingexposedtowaterorotherliquidsSoaking(Ifyouaccidentallygetwaterstains,youshouldwipeitdryassoonaspossible);preventthesurfacefrombeingsqueezedbyheavyobjectsorexternalforces;becarefulnottodropthegroundfromaheight;whennotinuseforalongtime,itshouldbeputbackintheplasticpackagingbox.
Alsopayattentionwhenhandlingthemicroharddrive.Thecorrectthingis:holdthetwosidesofthemicroharddrive,donotuseforcetoholdthetwosurfacesoftheharddrive,payattentiontohandlegently;holdthemicroharddriveBeforeinstallingtheharddisk,payattentiontodischargethestaticelectricityonyourhandsonothermetalobjectstoavoidtheinfluenceofstaticelectricityonit,especiallyintheautumnandwinterseasonsarerelativelydry,paymoreattentiontostaticelectricity.
Inaddition,asthecapacityofthemicroharddiskbecomeslargerandlarger,youmustpayattentiontowhethertheproduct(digitalcamera)providesFAT32filesystemsupportwhenpurchasinga4GBmicroharddisk.MostoftheexistingdigitalcamerasuseFAT16inthememorycardfilesystem,andcanonlyrecognizeamaximumcapacityof2GB.Tousea4GBmicroharddrive,theproductmustsupportFAT32.
OnSeptember13,2007,SeagateTechnology,theworld’slargestharddrivemanufacturer,announcedinBeijingthatitsfourth-generationDB35,whichisusedbytheworld’smostdigitalvideorecorders(DVR)andhomemediacenters,Theseriesharddriveshavereachedacapacityof1TB(1000GB),whichisenoughtorecordupto200hoursofHDTVcontent.