Maxell has just announced a new lightweight, rugged and shock resistant compact removable hard drive, primarily targeted at field archive operations. Maxell's new offerings on the storage sector are efficient and resistant devices that can be connected to any appliance using a standard USB 2.0 cable or an eSATA adapter.

The Maxell iVDR hard-disk drive can store up to 160 GB of information in a small form factor, and can deliver data transfer rates of up to 540 Mbps when connected to an eSATA interface. The delicate hardware mechanisms and HDD logic are integrated in a rugged, durable and lightweight shell, that absorbs shock and vibrations.

"What makes the Maxell iVDR unique from other removable hard disk drives, is its drop protection of up to 1.2m provided by a hardened plastic shell and specifically designed shock isolation systems," said Barbara Sommer, vice president of marketing for Maxell.

The company touts the new storage offering as the "first Field Tough Media solution of its kind". The device is able to connect directly to a shoulder-mounted camcorder, then record 10-bit, 4:2:2 master-quality video, as well as native full HD video streams.


"This latest technological application of iVDR from Maxell expands our line-up of broadcast products to be one of the most comprehensive in the industry allowing our customers to record, store and archive the highest quality HD footage," Sommer continued.

According to its technical sheet, the drive is extremely light (181 grams) and fully portable. The product is rated for up to 10,000 insertions and removal cycles, but it can work in sustained recording environments.

The Maxell iVDR Field Archive hard-disk drive comes pre-formatted with a Windows FAT32 file system, that allows it to be mounted out-of-the-box to any professional camcorder or notebook PC. The company announced that the 160 GB version of the disk will hit the retailers' shelves during the second quarter of the year, while the 250 version will arrive during the third quarter.