by 
The Curious Bag
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Our portable devices, like cell phones and music players, use a variety of storage mediums for our music, contact lists and system settings. Some of these mediums are soldered inside the device, and some are removable. The Microdrive is one such medium.
Microdrive Basics
The term "Microdrive" was trademarked by IBM, then Hitachi, to refer to a miniature hard disk drive that's small enough to fit in a Compact Flash type II slot. Drives of this type are made by companies like Seagate, but they can't legally refer to them as "Microdrives."
Physical Properties
A Microdrive is a flat square--usually 1 inch wide and 1 inch long, although 0.8-inch models exist. It has the thickness of a stack of about three credit cards and contains the standard moving parts of a desktop hard disk drive.
What a Microdrive Is Not
This drive is not a "flash" drive or "memory card." Those types of storage mediums do not have any moving parts. As such, they are more physically robust and operate silently.
Microdrives in the Market
Because of flash memory cards' technological advantages, they have overtaken Microdrives in popularity. Flash drives are also capable of higher storage capacities.
Upgrading to Higher Storage
If your device uses a Microdrive, you may be able to replace it with a higher-capacity flash card. However, this requires opening the device and may void your warranty.
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