On 24 May 2005 at 17:12, Tom C wrote: > Hi Rob, > > But for the larger sizes, microdrives are 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of CF.
Not now, check prices, 1/2 where I buy, the peace of mind is worth it. > I don't care that a microdrive may be a second or so slower than a CF card. > It's usually many seconds or minutes before I'm taking the next shot. With > the > *ist D's small buffer, if I was shooting in rapid succession, I'd fill up the > buffer and be waiting awhile anyway, to get the next shot off. The buffer takes quite a bit longer to empty to the MD, I've never really noticed a difference between SS CF cards but the MD I did. > I haven't noticed a huge battery drain with a microdrive... I haven't paid > much > attention, but I would think that the power drain would need to be significant > for a casual observer to notice it. I used to get half the transfer capacity in the field using my X-S Drive, MD use quite a lot more power than SS CF cards. > I've had the 1GB microdrive for 3+ years. Never a problem. I carry > laptops on a daily basis and with their huge hard drives, have only had 1 > fail once in 7 years. The difference between the drive in your lap-top is that it is mechanically isolated to a far larger extent, same as my 80GB drive in my external storage unit. Something relatively hugh and expensive is far less likely to be inadvertently mishandled. I've had quite a few occasions where I've lost grip on my CF cards and they've slapped on the table or fallen to the ground in a bumping crowd, they have survived and I have complete confidence in them. If a MD had have been inadvertently subjected to the same mistreatment I'm sure it would have been toast. > The microdrives are, IMO, an inexpensive, well engineered device, that are > good > for their intended purpose. It's not like using CF is a guarantee against > disaster, and using a microdrive is asking for it. Built into a bigger device I can see the advantage but used as a removable card I can't justify using one. > I might not advocate using microdrives exclusively, but having a couple as > inexpensive alternatives to CF is not a bad way to go. I'll be fine from now on with 2 x 2GB SS CF cards and my 80GB drive, no stress. Cheers, Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/ Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
