[pct-l] hard drive based MP3 players

[Paul Mitchell]

Hmmmm, good points Bear and Alden

It would be nice to be able to take a robust, energy efficient flash MP3
player and update the contents in town, perhaps by sending a hard drive
based player in a bounce box.  I'd guess it must be possible to transfer
data from one ipod to another?  Expensive sollution though ... means buying
two players, and insuring the bounce box for a high value each time it's
shipped.

The drawbacks to the disc player option are the bulky size and the low
amount of content (relatively speaking) per disc, and a fairly significant
time investement to get all the data onto discs.  I have audio books that
wouldn't even fit on a single CD.  60 gigs of data would take up a huge
spindle of CDs too, which then also needs to be shipped in the bounce box.

Clearly the best solution is a jacket covered in an array of disposable
flash MP3 players.  Listen to all eight gigs on one, then discard and start
the next.  Might cost a couple thousand dollars, but hey, no pain no gain.




-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Lawrence Beals
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 11:57 PM
To: pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] hard drive based MP3 players


Paul,

One thing to be aware of is that hard drives are not certified for use
about 10,000 feet since the heads actually ride on a cushion of air
above the platters. Some work, some don't - it is just a matter of the
innate tolerances of your particular drive.

 I have a 60gig 5th generation iPod and it goes with me on my daily
trail work out and kayak work out and not an issue with wear and tear
so far.  It has seen temps from 15 to 105F so far without a problem. I
use Otterbox's case for the iPod which pretty much makes it impervious
to water and dust etc and provides some shockproofing. I am still
debating about taking it or taking my minidisc player instead due to
the aforementioned altitude issue and battery management.

hike safe

Bear

On 2/16/07, Paul Mitchell <paul at bluebrain.ca> wrote:
> Any opinions or experience on hard drive MP3 players?
>
> I have 40 gigs of music and about 30 gigs of audio books to bring along.
> Last time I brought an MP3 CD player and a big stack of discs in the
bounce
> box, but I'd love to skip all that and just have one simple device.
>
> My worry is the temperature extremes and the constant movement for the
HDD.
> I think they're pretty robust, but six months of up and down and hot and
> cold?
>
> Specifically I'm looking at the 80 gig ipod.
>
> Paul

--
--
Bear AKA Lawrence Beals
"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." -Thoreau
PIG DEAD. SOLDIER ON.
--
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