Hitachi goes perpendicular, promises 1TB PC drives, 20GB Microdrives by 2007

Hitachi claims to have made a major breakthrough in hard disk technology, saying that they're on track to squeeze in as many as 230 gigabits per square inch using perpendicular recording (that means writing data vertically instead of horizontally). They're anticipating having both 20GB Microdrives (the kind used in the iPod mini) and 1TB 3.5-inch PC drives available within two years, but they're actually planning to have a 2.5-inch laptop drive that uses perpendicular recording out before the end of this year.

[Thanks, Brian and Jacob]

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

So the iPod mini will be the iPod and the 'big' iPod will be color with the photo software,etc. Makes sense. iPod mini covers the VAST majority of people's music needs.

Apparently iTunes for WIndows sucks, though...

Guys? You should see MSN Messenger for Mac... (speaking of cross-platform abominations) What's the expression? Touch?

[Sheniferous @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

1TB??? Who needs 1-freakin-terabyte on 1 drive????


..... I'll take 3. :)

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

"..... I'll take 3. :)"

Do I detect a RAID array being formulated ? :)

Hmm...if I hadn't had so many hitachi drives fail on me I might be drooling right now.
Could still be cool. and it's always nifty when new technology/designs come to fruition...

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

What the hell do they mean by "writing vertically"? Stacked magnetic domains? Little tiny pits?

[Me @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Who needs a Terabyte?

porn.engadget.com

That's who.

[Admiral @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

actually a microdrive is not what the iPod uses :)

AFAIK microdrives are the size of a CF card and currently they have a capacity of 2GB max (I think).


1TB drive sounds great - All your data, all the time, always :D Heck I might even be able to DivX my DVDs and take them all with me :D

[mike s. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Admiral, try doing some research before talking out your ass. The iPod mini DOES use a Microdrive: http://www.ipodlounge.com/articles_more.php?id=3059_0_8_0_M

http://www.corante.com/apple/archives/2004/03/11/ipod_mini_microdrive.php

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

"What the hell do they mean by "writing vertically"?"

Holographic storage. It's been talked about for a long time; this is it finally coming to market.

I guess they think "writing vertically" is somehow easier for lay-people to understand. I think "holographic storage" is actually easier to visualize because everybody associates holograms with 3D, even if they don't understand how they actually work.

[Dan @ Mar 10th 2007 11:21AM]

No, it is not holographics storage. The magnetic domains are aligned vertically instead of horizontally. Holographic storage used interfering light beams and is not close to being used in any commercial system.

[Mike Cerm @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

iPod MINI does use a microdrive. The regular iPod uses a 1.8" drive (supplied by Hitachi or maybe Toshiba).

[nojetlag @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

The same people who asked 6 years back, who needs an 80 GB harddisk will ask now, who needs 1 TB harddisks. Will they ever learn :D

[i.Van + @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

iPod uses Toshiba's 1.8" drive, while microdrive is the cf-format hard disk with capacities up to 4gb

[John Hall @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Perpendicular domain recording (a.k.a. "vertical recording") has been touted as a technology that will revolutionize the hard disk business since at least the early 80's. Every few years it gets a lot of hype, but the products never seem to appear. I'll believe this when I see it.

[Nate S. @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Believe it when you see it? According to this, Toshiba HAS already created this. A terrabyte would be great (servers) but what about write speeds? That also needs to keep up with the size of the drive.

And btw...as far as I know, microdrives are up to 6gigs (think 6gb ipod mini)

[Mongrel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Wanting, needing a 1TB drive I can see.

Losing 1TB of data due to a hardware failure - boggles my mind.

[chande @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

lost an 40 gb drive (hitachi/ibm), i had some pictures, movies, mp3s and downloads which i didn't back up...
now... i think i don't want to back up 1000 gb every once in a while, and i'm running away from hitachi every time i see it (a friend of mine lost his too, a week ago)

[AG @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Hey. I have 1/2 A TB of space here. I could always use more HD space. Think of high-res cameras and people who archive their stuff (I have about 20,000 photos on my HD)

TIFF Files, and 30 Fps movies at 640 X 480 Res eat up memory VERY FAST

[tmchow @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

1TB drives are perfect for HTPC appliations or equivalent media servers to store all your DVDs, music and photos.

This assumes that these drives are going to be quiet, and don't run too hot.

[Marian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Here you'll find what perpendicular recording is (no, it is not holographic technology or something similar): http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/research/recording_head/pr/index.html

I have a 60GB hdd, an external 200GB hdd and a 40GB iPod. I find that I would surely need more.

[hafa @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

hopefully the spin rate would be 7200~10000 rpm, otherwise what good is 1 Terabyte spins at 4200 rmp?

[Fadi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

hey all,
Guys, 1 TB is mainly used for servers and also for Digital video editing since 1 sec of DV takes up to 172MB, and the new coming DV format is called High Definition and this comsumes much more than normal DV.

[Amicus68 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

This is a little off topic... but I was wondering if backup storage devices (DLT, LTO) are keeping up with these huge jumps in HD data capacity?

[norim @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

here is the flash explanation of what the perpendicular technology is.

http://gprime.net/flash.php/getperpendicular