History (1992): Conner Peripherals Reveals Its First 1.8-Inch HDD

Conner Peripherals (San Jose, CA) is renewing its range of drives with its first 1.8-inch HDD, an interchangeable unit with a PCMCIA connector and a 32MB capacity, a 64MB 2.5-inch model, 2 low-profile 3.5-inch drives with 251 and 545MB capacities, and a 3.5-inch unit with a record capacity of 1.37GB formatted. All these drives will be produced in high volume in 4Q92.

Derringer Series: Conner’s first 1.8-inch drives
The Derringer Series is a new line of 1.8-inch drives featuring the new Type III PCMCIA form factor. In addition, Conner has adopted the PCMCIA ATA-approved standard PC-card interface to provide removability and compatibility with flash memory cards. To be compatible with the Type III standard, the Derringer drives are 10.5mm high and weigh 70 grams.

The first product in the Derringer Series, the CP-1034, priced at $395 for an evaluation unit, features 32MB of formatted capacity on one disk rotating at 3,465rpm, and a sub-19ms average seek time. It uses a maximum of 1.25W of power and withstands 200G of non-operating shock and 20G of operating shock.

Sahara Series: half-inch 2.5-inch drives
The initial entry in this new Sahara family features one platter with 64 MB on the CP-2064E, 12.5mm high. Creating a slim profile gives system designers the flexibility to integrate the drive under the keyboard of a notebook computer and incorporate other elements in the system chassis, said Conner. It features a sub-15ms average seek time, weighs 140grams and consumes 1.05W of power in idle mode and 1.75W in R/W or seek mode. Featuring a PC/AT interface, the Sahara Series withstands up to 100G of non-operating shock and 10G of operating shock. An evaluation unit is available for $295.

At the end of 1990, Conner had already launched a 64MB 2.5-inch drive, the Pancho CP-2064, but slower and larger.

Baja Series: 1.37GB in a 3.5-inch form factor
With 1.37GB of formatted capacity (1.6GB unformatted), the CP-31370, the first model in the Baja Series, is one of the higher capacity units in the traditional 3.5-inch form factor. The Baja Series features a 10ms average seek time, a 256KB segmented cache buffer and Fast SCSl-2 interface. It includes fully embedded Digital Signal Processing based servo for high reliability, plus multi-zone recording, a 5,400rpm rotation speed with up to 5.72MB/s sustained data transfer rate. An evaluation unit costs $1,800.

Aegean Series: low-profile 545MB 3.5-inch drives
The initial product or CP-30540 features 545MB and provides similar performance to the Baja Series, but in one-inch high or low-profile 3.5-inch form factor. An evaluation unit costs $995.

Monterey Series: low-profile 251MB, 3.5-inch drives
The CP-30254 is the first product in the Monterey Series of 3.5-inch HDD drives with 251MB of capacity in one-inch high form factor. The Monterey features a 14ms average seek time, a 4,342rpm rotation speed, and a 64KB buffer. The drive weighs 12 pounds, uses a maximum of 3.75W of power and is available with a PC/AT interface for $495.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠53, published on June 1992.