I am about to purchase a Casio QV 2000UX and am thinking about the great deal that can be got on the Casio website with the camera and a 340 MB Microdrive included. My question is how durable the Microdrive is. I do a lot of hiking in the wilderness. Sometimes it is cold and rainy. The drive must have moving parts so how will they hold up in those not so ideal conditions. Thank you very much for any help in the matter.

-- Brian Cole (bcbuilders@localaccess.com), February 13, 2000

Answers

I've worked in both disk drive and image sensing industries, so I am wary of claims and promotions. I've heard a lot of claims about that IBM 340 MB microdrive, but there is a way for you to verify them.

My guess is that the microdrive would be about as rugged as a disk drive in a laptop computer. Take a laptop computer along in one of your typical hikes, open it and operate it, pretending to take pictures with it. If it doesn't operate in a completely normal manner, your hiking style is too rugged for any disk drive!

-- Mau Pham (phamm@ti.com), March 15, 2000.

Hello,

I'm a bit in the same boat. I'm looking for a good, rugged digital camera to take to the Himalayas this summer that has huge picture storage capacity. It's my understanding that the Microdrive shouldn't be used over 9000ft as the low air pressure affects its moving parts.

I'm looking at the Casio Qv-3000; what other alternatives has your research produced?

Thanks, WJP

-- William Penhallegon (penhallegowj@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.