Home > Consumer Reviews > HITACHI MD4GBA 4GB MicroDrive 3K4 with Travel Kit

Just got back from a 2 week African safari and took my 4gb Microdrive with me for use in my Nikon D70. The microdrive (and camera) perfomed magnificently during the entire trip. I had been concerned about the stability of the product but after dozens of hours travelling bumpy dirt roads in a range rover and getting covered day after day in layers of dust, the microdrive was like the energizer bunny--it took a lickin' and kept on tickin'.

The microdrive stored 1300+ high resolution large JPEG photos and I never missed a shot.

Well, this is certainly a nice product. Much quicker than a 4Gb flash card, very sturdy and works in most CF cameras. But, are you ready to shell out more than $400? I know I am not, so here's a nice shortcut:

Step 1: Browse for the Creative Labs Nomad MuVo 4 GB MP3 Player on Amazon.
Step 2: Buy the player for $200.
Step 3: Unscrew the back of the player.
Step 4: Take out the 4GB Hitachi microdrive and throw away the player.
Step 5: Pop the microdrive in your cam, format it and voila!

There you have it for only $200, instead of the listed $480!

It is being said that the Creative MuVo MP3 player contains this drive for a lesser price. For one, the price has dropped to about $20 higher than the price of a MuVo II 4GB, and comes with the very useful travel kit.

There are alot of people complaining that the Hitachi contained in the MuVo wont work with the Sony F828 camera. This is a myth, the drive in the MuVo players released PRIOR to the Sony F828 where compatible, newer models are NOT.

In short, you cannot use this drive which is contained in the MuVo II because it is now incompatible. Dont waste your time, buy this drive, it is a good value.

I also do not recommend scouring ebay for an older model of the MuVo which is compatible.

My wife and I currently own 2 Hitachi 2gb Microdrives, along with 2 Kingston Elite Pro 2gb CF cards and 2 Sandisk 1gb CF cards. The Hitachi 2gb cards came packaged with our 2 Canon 10D's when we originally purchased them.

We have since added 2 Canon 20D's to our arsenal. We have been using the Hitachi microdrives without any problems what-so-ever for over 3 years, shooting more than 40,000 images among all 6 cards, although we tend to recycle through the 2GB cards a lot more often than the 1GB cards.

We are currently looking at options for addition digital storage. We already have a Wolverine 60gb stand-alone storage device, but the charged battery isn't sufficient to download enough images during a long day's shoot. So, we are looking at other options, but we will probably add another 8gb of memory cards for the short term.

I've noticed that the Kingston Elite Pro 2gb cards are currently only $119, while the Hitachi 4gb microdrives are $179. Since my previous experience with the Hitachi microdrives has been excellent, I would prefer the microdrive over the higher priced CF cards.

Some complain about the more fragile nature of the microdrives compared to CF cards, but they are actually no more fragile than the equipment you stick them in. My advice is don't drop your camera. Don't drop your lenses. Don't drop your microdrive. Don't drop anything you care about.

Excillent and built like a small tank! No problems at all and fast.

My grade = A+