Guide to Microdrives

Microdrive is technically a brand name that refers to a miniature hard disk designed by IBM. However, it has become a general term that refers to the 1-inch hard disk that fits in a CompactFlash (CF) Type II slot. It works only with high-powered devices because it uses more power (up to 500 mA) than a flash memory. In general, a microdrive is used as additional hard disk space. It is commonly used by professional photographers for storing high-resolution and print quality photographs. It is also used for boosting the storage capacity of a PDA.

IBM microdrive

The IBM microdrive is the original “microdrive.” It is now manufactured by Hitachi. It currently has a storage capacity of 170MB, 340MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 4GB.

Hitachi microdrive

The Hitachi microdrive is available in the following storage capacities: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 3GB, 4GB, 6GB, 8GB, and 10GB.

GS Magic microdrive

The GS Magic microdrive is available in the following storage capacities: 2.2GB ATA, USB (native), and CF variants, 3GB ATA, and 4GB ATA and CF variants. 

Seagate ST1 microdrive

The Seagate STI microdrive is available in 2.5GB, 4GB, 5GB, 6GB, 8GB, and 12GB.  It has a cache memory of 2MB.

Sony Compact Vault

The Sony Compact Vault is available in 2GB (rebadged Hitachi), 4GB (rebadged Hitachi), 5GB, and 8GB.

Cornice microdrive

The Cornice microdrive has a storage capacity of 4GB.

Storage capacity: Choose a microdrive with a high storage capacity if you store large multimedia files such as videos, music, and photos. 

Transfer rate: Choose a microdrive with a fast transfer rate (measured in megabytes per second) if you frequently transfer large files to and from a computer or other device.

Wikipedia