Users of miniature MP3 players and other storage-demanding handheld consumer electronics
can rejoice today as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies begins shipping its 6 gigabyte (GB)
one-inch hard drive in high volume.
As the leader in one-inch hard drives, Hitachi is raising the stakes by making available the
new Microdrive 3K6 with a suggested retail price reduction of up to 60 percent.
With 6 GB, the new Microdrive lets consumers carry even more of what they love ?1500-3000
songs, 6,000 pictures (1 MB each) or 8 hours of MPEG-4 video. Hitachi is making all this
possible, now, at a significant price reduction, retailing the 6 GB Microdrive for $299 USD or
pennies per megabyte. Hitachi's new suggested retail pricing represents the best value of
capacity, reliability and performance at a price point that's affordable to virtually all owners of
consumer devices . The Microdrive 3K6 is available in removable Compact Flash Type II and
embedded versions.
Hitachi recently announced plans for a 20-percent smaller one-inch hard drive with 8-10 GB of
capacity. The new drive -- nicknamed "Mikey," the baby Microdrive -- is expected later this
year.
Priced to Sell
For the first time since its 1999 introduction, the new-generation Microdrive product is being
offered at a suggested retail price of $299, representing a 40-percent reduction of Hitachi's
standard debut price of $499 for the one-inch product. The 4 GB version of the Microdrive 3K6
will be offered at $199, representing a 60-percent decrease.
The change in Hitachi 's pricing structure is made possible through a more efficient and
developed, high-volume manufacturing process. It was also implemented to enable a greater
set of users to enjoy the Microdrive benefits of high capacity, portability and flexibility for use
in a host of devices.
Technical Specifications
Microdrive 3K6
6/4 GB
5 mm in height
16 grams
3,600 rpm
78 billion bits per square inch maximum areal density
1 glass disk platter
2 GMR recording heads
2000 G/1ms non-operating shock,
200 G/2ms operating shock
8.3 ms average latency
12 ms average seek time
230/280 mA -- current (write) for +3.3VDC/+5VDC (± 5%)
13/15 mA -- current (standby) for +3.3VDC/+5VDC (± 5%)
1.8 Bels typical idle acoustics
2.1 Bels typical operating acoustics