Seagate ST1

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Seagate 2.5 GB ST1 Drive

The Seagate ST1 is a miniature 1-inch hard drive with the CompactFlash Type II form factor, much like IBM's Microdrive. Unlike Sony and Hitachi and allegedly GS Magic branded drives Seagate developed their technology from scratch. Although many of Seagate's hard drives have model numbers starting with ST-1 this is the only model that lacks another brand name. It is likely that Seagate would have liked to brand them as Microdrives but were not allowed due to trademark issues.

As of 2005 most 5 gigabyte mp3 players in production have ST1 drives embedded in them.

Notable improvements over IBM's design include

2 mebibyte data buffer
A mechanism to hold the read-write head in place when the drive is not in use

All ST1 drives have "For Embedded Application Only" printed on the back of them, which has led some people to think that the CF mode required for use in digital cameras is disabled. This is in fact not true and was most likely put there to remind the user that the drive was not designed for continuous use in a desktop computer.

[edit] ST1 Models

2.5 gigabyte (2004)
5 gigabyte (2004)
8 gigabyte (2005)
12 gigabyte (2006)

The Seagate 5GB T1 Drive with the notation "For Embedded Application Only" cannot be formatted or used in several popular digital cameras, including the Nikon D70 or Canon 30D.

[edit] References

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