How to choose a Micro Drive [ Hardware ]

By Ashish Mohta

Portable digital devices like flash drive and compact drive has increased dramatically. Digital Cameras, camcorders, mp3 players, PDA list is ever growing. As the internet bandwidth improves, we are now looking for devices which can not only hold huge amount of data but also can be carried right in our pocket. This can be flash based or compact regular hard disk. The most common of them is flash drive but they suffer is limitation on GB’s. External Hard disk is another good option but portability is an issue in it. Which is why people are turning to Micro drives.

What is a Micro drive ?

MicrodirveMicro drive is an in-between solution. It is compact as flash drive and capacity is of regular hard disk.Micro drives are designed to fit into CompactFlash Type2 slots and some with capacities. starting from 1GB. They have data transfer rate around 4.2 to 7.9MBps and size of 1.7 x 1.4 x 0,19 ( inches).Today the leading player in this include Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital. They come in both flash based and hard drive based.

How to choose ?

  • Choose a Hard Drive based micro drive. They give advantage of higher speed over flash drive with same portability.
  • Choose a micro drive with usb connectivity or direct pluggable.
  • Choose for more space with less price but don’t compromise with too much with quality.
  • Choose a micro drive with capacity over 2 Gb. They give a better capacity to price ratio than flash drive if you buy over 2GB.

Draw Backs:

  • Sensitive to physical shocks and temperature variations.
  • Consume more power than flash based drives.
  • They are not designed to work on high altitudes, so if you are going work on air go for a flash drive.

This can be good deal if bought smartly. It can be very useful for It professionals and Music lovers who want to carry music any time anywhere and store right away when they download. Nothing like it.


Email Print
Vote This Post DownVote This Post Up (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

About The Author of this article:
Ashish is one of the co-author of this blog and writes on various interesting softwares, PC tips and more. You can read more of his articles here.

Enjoyed this article? Download our Toolbar ( for Free ) and read us more quickly or Free Subscribe to the Full RSS Feed or Get Post like this in your Inbox Free Subscribe via Email


  • Tags: , , , ,
  • Read More Stories from Hardware

  • 4 Comments and Link-Backs to “How to choose a Micro Drive [ Hardware ]

    Click Me and Jump to Add your Comment :)

    2 Comments from Friends and Readers

    • cjcm, February 22, 2008:

      I’d prefer USB drive over microdrive… :)

    • Ashish Mohta, February 22, 2008:

      @CJCM: I prefer that too. I will be keeping in touch with the news of Micro drive and update this post later again

    2 Trackbacks/Pingbacks - Other blogs referencing this article

    Leave a comment Share your thoughts with the world

    Scroll Down and Check footer for more details



    • Recent Comments:

      • Anurag: Great Tool… Thnx For thepost….. http://www.pcdrome.com
      • CypherHackz: But, is it secure? Nowadayas I keep thinking about the security of the information transfered from my PC...
      • Greg P.: I read up about DropBox on their website. This looks very promising! I especially like the differential sync...
      • dave: I have heard many good things about dropbox and signed up for beta but did not get an invite. May I get an...
      • drew: i want the engage xp theme please how would i get it!!!
      • brandub: thanks for ths, I was searching for something else but this process helped me a little bit, and is...
      • Gene: This looks great! Do you have any invites left? Thanks!
      • dyjay: helow! how can i play wars of gears after instal dx 10 from alky on xp?i have a error ’send….don`t...
      • Madhur Kapoor: My father will love this.
      • kali: i dont knw john i ve downloaded immediately as chrome was lainched….i didnt experience any of the probs u...

    Technology Blogs - Blog Top Sites