These problems were later rectified, by Sinclair engineers, especially on Samsung produced models, as well as by aftermarket firms such as Adman Services and TF Services — to the point where several QL users report their Microdrives working perfectly even after almost 17 years of service ( for Samsung QLs ) — but in any case much too late to redeem the negative image they had already created.

Pandora had a flat-screen monitor and Microdrives and was intended to be Sinclair's business portable.

* Until 2006, Microdrives had higher capacity than CompactFlash cards.

The ZX Interface 1 add-on module included 8 kB of ROM, an RS-232 serial port, a proprietary LAN interface ( called ZX Net ), and an interface for the connection of up to eight ZX Microdrives – somewhat unreliable but speedy tape-loop cartridge storage devices released in July 1983.

A wedge-shaped device fitting underneath the ZX Spectrum, ZX Interface 1 contained 8 kB of ROM comprising the control software for the Microdrives, RS-232 port and network interface.

Such drives, therefore, do not sell for nearly as much as CF-enabled Microdrives.

* Microdrives allow more write cycles, making them suitable for use as swapspace in embedded applications.

Microdrives will switch off after idling for more than a few seconds to counter this problem however this means that more time is lost constantly spinning the drive up.

These drives were re-engineered by ICL for greater reliability, and used a format incompatible with both ZX and QL Microdrives.

* ZX Interface 1 – A peripheral with ports for ZX Microdrives, RS-232 serial units, and ZX Net cables ( for connection to a ZX Net local area network )

Microdrives were also used as the native storage medium of the Sinclair QL, which incorporated two internal drives.

The QL's CPU, ZX8301 and ZX8302 ULAs and ZX Microdrives also formed the basis of International Computers Limited's ( ICL's ) One Per Desk ( OPD )-also marketed by British Telecom as the Merlin Tonto and by Telecom Australia as the Computerphone.

Unlike most of the competing systems, this was compatible with the Sinclair's extended ROM, meaning that the same BASIC commands used to operate Microdrives or the ZX Printer now could control floppy disk drives or a standard parallel printer.

It was however possible to connect ZX Microdrives to a QL by putting a twist in the cable.

The QL also suffered from reliability problems of its Microdrives.

The QL also included a Microdrive expansion bus allowing the attachment of up to six external QL Microdrives.

In addition to the QL versions, dual internal Microdrives were included in the related ICL One Per Desk system ( also badged as the Merlin Tonto and Telecom Australia Computerphone ).

* The original JVC Everio camcorders ( GZ-MC200 / MC100 ) used 4GB IBM / Hitachi Microdrives as storage instead of the magnetic tape or DVD more commonly seen in products of this type.

* When combined with a PCMCIA adaptor and used in a laptop Microdrives can be a viable alternative to USB flash drives purely due to their price.

Microdrives used tiny ( 44 × 34 × 8 mm including protective cover ) cartridges containing a 5-metre ( 200-inch ) endless loop of magnetic tape, 1. 9 mm wide, driven at 76 cm / second ( 30 in / second ); thus performing a complete circuit in approximately 8 seconds.

While some older digital camcorders record video on Microdrives and size-reduced DVD-RAM or DVD-Rs, as of 2011 most recent camcorders record video on flash memory devices and small hard disks, using MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 formats.

The floppy drives simply appeared to Microdrive-aware applications to be very big, fast Microdrives.

However, ' microdrive ' is not a genericized trademark and manufacturers other than IBM up to 2003 and Hitachi after do not officially refer to these drives as Microdrives.

* Some PDA users use Microdrives to boost the storage capacity of their PDA.

* Microdrives are found in the discontinued iPod mini and Creative Zen Micro mp3 players, among others.

Companies making such players order the Microdrives in large quantities, which can mean that it is cheaper to buy an mp3 player with an integrated Microdrive than a separate Microdrive to add to an expandable mp3 player.

The use of Microdrives over chip-based CF cards is unlikely to make any notable difference to the battery life of the laptop, and any impact that would damage the Microdrive is likely to break other components of the laptop as well.

Unfortunately, Microdrives taken from such devices may not work in digital cameras.

* Microdrives might be better at handling power loss in the middle of writing.

* Microdrives are not as fast as the high-end CompactFlash cards ; they generally operate at around 4 – 6 megabytes per second while high-end CF cards can operate at 45 megabytes per second.

* Outside of the professional photography market, Microdrives have more limited popularity by general consumers because many newer compact cameras lack CF / CF II slots due to the increasing popularity of portable flash media.

* Only high capacity models are manufactured, as it is not profitable to make low-capacity Microdrives.

If he had married her, he'd have been asking for trouble.

They had been seen as soon as they left the ranch, picked out of the darkness by the weary though watchful eyes of two men posted a few hundred yards away in the windless shelter of the trees.

They greeted the news angrily, as though they had been cheated of purpose.

With every leaping stride of the horse beneath him he crossed one more patch of earth that had been his, that he would never see again.

He had been carrying an Enfield rifle and a holstered navy cap-and-ball pistol.

But the luck that had been running their way left him.

His shout had been taken up and repeated.

A sizable supply of powder had been touched off.

The worst part had been the waiting ; ;

The war captain had been badly wounded and was fighting to hold his seat.

And one had been too many.

That afternoon when they had pulled up in front of the broken-down ranch house, his hopes had been high.

The place had been cheap -- just the little he had left after Amelia's burial -- and it would serve its purpose.

I had for some time been hoping, in vain, for one of the dim figures to pass between the fan vents and myself.

Although I had been inside it I had not yet seen it functioning.

No one was behind it, but in the rear wall of the office I noticed, for the first time, a door which had been left partially open.

He had been worried that with Miller and Rankin added to the escape party they would be short.

He had been one of the original Night Riders, one who had escaped the trial.

He had been the auditor for the mining syndicate, and he had stolen fifty thousand dollars of the syndicate's money.

Then the vein had petered out and the whole project had been abandoned.