Is there really a market for this kind of storage? I can understand a ruggedized external hard drive for ruggedized laptops and such or bad conditions, but I never really thought too much of the rigors of car drives. But now that I think about it, computers operate in a pretty limited set of conditions, and a car’s internal hard drive for mp3s, GPS data and so on might go from 0 to 10,000ft and 70 to 10 degrees in just a couple hours — not to mention the shocks of stopping, starting, and bumps in the road.
Toshiba’s latest model features an operating altitude specification of 5,500 meters and supports an operating temperature range of -30 degrees to 85 degrees Celsius. The MK8057GSC alsocan withstand operational shock of 300G, providing a rugged and dependable storage solution for automobiles operating through extreme temperatures and terrain.
The specs are pretty rotten when compared to any normal hard drive: 80GB SATA, 16ms seek time, at 4200RPM. But then again, the demands on it are pretty meager. Full release here (PDF).
Why not just use SSD for cars? With no moving parts, they’d be less susceptible to damage from the jolting, albeit for a higher price. But if it’s inside of a thing that’s already thousands of dollars, does it make that much of a difference?
You’re certainly right on the SSDs, but I think car manufacturers are pretty cutthroat about cost saving. 200 dollars might be the difference between a price point over 30k and one under. Plus, car people aren’t going to even notice probably.