What You GetPackaging for this device consists of a hard plastic shell. Given the small size, that is all that is needed. After you open up the shell, you have only four pieces to remove. The drive unit, an interface cable, a pouch and a small instruction manual.
Once you’re ready to begin using this device, the drive and the cable will both neatly fit into the pouch. Since it isn’t likely you’ll be carrying around the instruction manual (it only covers base specifications and how to attach it to a computer in a variety of languages), you’ll have everything you need in a small and easy to carry container.
The drive unit itself is an actual hard drive, not a flash-type memory card. It is based on the Toshiba 1.8” hard disk drive. It has a spindle speed of 4200-RPM and draws 3.3v of power. Data sheets show it to have a 512KB buffer and it operates at the ATA-6 specifications, which equates to a UDMA-100 drive. Sizes available from X-Micro start at 5GB at the low end and range upwards to 40GB of total disk capacity.
The aluminum shell surrounding the drive is fully enclosed, so you won’t be able to peek inside to try to tweak things. Given the base operation of the device, however, this shouldn’t be an issue. The aluminum material also helps dissipate heat so you shouldn’t have to worry about data corruption due to excessive heat buildup.
One item of note; the physical drive specifications show a requirement of only 3.3v, but X-Micro states a 5v requirement. This means that it would be best to attach the drive to a USB port that comes directly from the system and not a hub. Some USB multi-port hubs are not capable of putting out 5v to all ports, so be forewarned.
Sorry for the flash glare, but this will give you an idea as to the actual size of the drive. When the manufacturers make claims that it is just a little bigger than a business card, they truly are not kidding around. Overall length measures in at under 10cm and the drive, interface cable and pouch will fit very nicely in a shirt pocket.
Speaking of interfacing, the port you see above and the small LED light beside it are the only external areas of interest. The LED is a dual-color type that shows green when the drive is powered and orange when it is transferring data. The small port is for the USB cable.
This cable as a matter of fact. You’ll also note that it is short. While this may be an issue for some, the short length makes it easily fit inside the pouch with the drive. Besides, with so many cases nowadays coming with front and/or side mounted USB ports, it is pretty easy to make use of the short cable.
