Toshiba Hopbit Bluetooth Drive on Dynamism [Archive]

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Janak Parekh

02-15-2003, 01:12 AM

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.dynamism.com/hopbit/index.shtml' target='_blank'>http://www.dynamism.com/hopbit/index.shtml</a><br /><br /></div>Remember the Toshiba Bluetooth 5GB drive <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5247">mentioned by Jason</a>? Well, now Dynamism is carrying them - for $599.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/img0901.jpg" /><br /><br />I wonder if they'll generally make the US market.

PetiteFlower

02-15-2003, 02:11 AM

Wow. Is that ever cool!

I'm having fantasies now about my entire CD collection on MP3 and a couple of movies to boot....

Course I could never afford it, but a girl can dream can't she?

dean_shan

02-15-2003, 02:20 AM

I'm having fantasies now about my entire CD collection on MP3

You can fit all your music on 5gigs!?! :wink:

Any way. This HD is a little to small for the price. If it was larger like 15-20GB I might consider it.

Janak Parekh

02-15-2003, 02:26 AM

It's Dynamism - they mark things up quite a bit for importing them. If Toshiba were to bring it to market here, I'd expect it to be ~ $399.

--janak

dean_shan

02-15-2003, 02:28 AM

It's Dynamism - they mark things up quite a bit for importing them. If Toshiba were to bring it to market here, I'd expect it to be ~ $399.

Ohh. That seems more reasonable.

Pony99CA

02-15-2003, 03:31 AM

It's Dynamism - they mark things up quite a bit for importing them. If Toshiba were to bring it to market here, I'd expect it to be ~ $399.

I have a few problems with this. First, even at $399, it seems expensive. The Toshiba 5 GB PCMCIA drive can be gotten for under $250 (http://www.techsavings.com/ProductInfo.asp?v=K2&idProduct=12674325) now. I don't think it should be more expensive than a 5 GB iPod.

Granted, the Hopbit has Bluetooth and a battery in it, so that would add something to the price, but I already have a dual PC Card sleeve (which has a built-in battery) on my iPAQ 3870. Also, if your Pocket PC doesn't have Bluetooth in it, you'll have to buy a Bluetooth card.

Also, the Toshiba 5 GB PCMCIA drive looks much smaller than the Hopbit. The Toshiba Pocket PC with the Hopbit makes my iPAQ 3870 with dual PC Card sleeve look svelte. :-)

With 120 GB FireWire drives going for under $275 (http://www.coolshopping.com/electronics.php/Mode/product/page/1/browse/172476/AsinSearch/B00006SKL3/name/Maxtor%25205000DV%2520120%2520GB%25207200RPM%2520External%2520Hard%2520Drive%2520%2528USB%25202.0%252FFirewire%2529) now, I'd like to see something like this with at least 20 GB for around $300-400.

Steve

szamot

02-15-2003, 03:38 AM

Solid state I need solid state, if we keep inventing things which are old we are never going to get ahead. Granted I like the idea, I think it is funky but it's not solid state.

That's all.

ipaq38vette

02-15-2003, 03:50 AM

I agree with Pony99CA, it is too expensive ever at 400 USD. It also looks big. I would like a 20GIG PCMCIA size BT card so you could put it in your carrying case or your pocket.

Pony99CA

02-15-2003, 04:10 AM

Solid state I need solid state, if we keep inventing things which are old we are never going to get ahead. Granted I like the idea, I think it is funky but it's not solid state.

So I assume that your PC doesn't have any hard disk and that you're running Windows from one or more 1 GB CF cards. :-D I'm quite happy with my 80 GB FireWire disk, which cost less than a 1 GB CF card when I bought it.

I'm also not sure that I'd call disk drives "old". Didn't the invention of the first hard disk follow the invention of the transistor by almost 20 years?

Steve

Paul P

02-15-2003, 04:11 AM

Slow transfer to and even slower transfer from.

wiley

02-15-2003, 05:39 AM

:oops: Wrong Thread

Janak Parekh

02-15-2003, 06:53 AM

I have a few problems with this. First, even at $399, it seems expensive.
Oh, I never said it was a good deal :) For that kind of money, I'd rather invest in flash memory, myself, or maybe a new iPod (if it ever supports Ogg). :)

--janak

p.s. Wiley, wrong thread ;)

PetiteFlower

02-15-2003, 07:45 AM

You can fit all your music on 5gigs!?! :wink:

Honestly I actually have no idea. I've only ever had dialup so my currend MP3 collection is pretty small(comparitively speaking), around 250 songs. CDs I have maybe 100, 150? But I have no reason to convert them to MP3 so I really have no idea how much space it would take up.

I am relatively sure though that I could at least fit all the stuff I still actually LIKE on there though :)

A BT hard drive just seems like a neat idea! Ultimate portability with no messy cables.

obarnes

02-15-2003, 11:22 AM

What make is the PPC in the pic?

The BT HD is a great idea... do you think they could do a WiFi version with longer range? still a little too big to carry everywhere?

- Oliver

R K

02-15-2003, 12:08 PM

What make is the PPC in the pic?

It is a Toshiba Genio e550G or a variation of it.

The BT HD is a great idea... do you think they could do a WiFi version with longer range? still a little too big to carry everywhere?

I think one of the biggest points of using BT is the fact that BT consumes less power. With this hard drive, it's almost as if you have a 5GB CompactFlash Card in your Pocket PC since Bluetooth drains only a little bit more power compared to a CompactFlash memory card.

WiFi on the other hand can consume as much power as a Microdrive or more because of the lack of good caching in many programs.

daS

02-15-2003, 05:20 PM

The BT HD is a great idea... do you think they could do a WiFi version with longer range? still a little too big to carry everywhere?
A Class 1 Bluetooth radio outputs up to 100mW which would give the same range as Wi-Fi. Battery powered Bluetooth devices generally use Class 3 (and sometimes Class 2). Class 3 is 1mW output, which is very battery friendly.

Another problem with using Wi-Fi is that for a Pocket PC, the drive would have to be installed on any Wi-Fi network you wanted to use. So if you were at a public hotspot you couldn't use it, and in general it makes security much harder. Wi-Fi is just not the right tool for this job.

The nice thing about using Bluetooth for an external hard drive, is that the drive can stay in your briefcase, and data and network security are far better than with Wi-Fi.

I saw this thing at CES, but Toshiba doesn't currently have plans to bring it to the USA. Still, I can't wait to get my hands on one of these for review (although I agree with others that the drive capacity could be a little bigger, and the case a little smaller.)

Pony99CA

02-15-2003, 08:46 PM

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

02-15-2003, 09:20 PM

With this hard drive, it's almost as if you have a 5GB CompactFlash Card in your Pocket PC since Bluetooth drains only a little bit more power compared to a CompactFlash memory card.

A really big CF card. :-) As I alluded to above, if you can support PC Cards, you can get what is probably the same disk drive in PC Card format, which is truly portable.
Well I used to tote around a PC Card sleeve and that is bulky. Of course this unit is likely much bulkier and heavier to carry around, but the nice thing is that with BT, you should be able to just stick it in your bag and not have to carry the thing in your hand everytime you want to operate your PPC.

...and as R K pointed out, this should be rather easy on the batteries, which is definitely not the case with a PC Card HD plugged into a PC Card sleeve.

Ekkie Tepsupornchai

02-15-2003, 09:22 PM

Slow transfer to and even slower transfer from.
I was thinking of the same thing.

This is a real innovative concept IMO, but if I were to invest in this, I'd like to use it for both music and video, I'm not sure with the throughput speeds of BT, that uninterrupted streaming video would be realistic... I push the limits already with WiFi.

TheNewSteve

02-15-2003, 09:37 PM

I was excited about this, but the price is way too high. I have a t68i, so i wouldn't mind getting the BT card also... but here is what I think I will try.

I'm going to Europe this summer and will bring a digital camera with SD cards (256MB, in addition to my PocketPC 256MB card)... a 1 gig CF card and a 5 gig PC card with the adapter. I only plan on transferring files from the PC card to SD card, vice versa, not really running anything on it. I can bring DVDs and a bunch of music over on the 5 gig and dump all of my photos onto it when I'm there and not worry about filling up my 1 gig card or smaller SD cards.

The actual transfers shouldn't be too bad and I will probably be able to do most all of them when the unit is plugged in, so I'm not too worried about battery life.

-Steve

ctmagnus

02-15-2003, 11:02 PM

a 1 gig CF card

You have one already?

Jonathon Watkins

02-16-2003, 01:15 AM

a 1 gig CF card

You have one already?

Why? They have been out for a while. :?:

ctmagnus

02-16-2003, 05:14 AM

Pony99CA

02-16-2003, 10:08 AM

A really big CF card. :-) As I alluded to above, if you can support PC Cards, you can get what is probably the same disk drive in PC Card format, which is truly portable.
Well I used to tote around a PC Card sleeve and that is bulky. Of course this unit is likely much bulkier and heavier to carry around, but the nice thing is that with BT, you should be able to just stick it in your bag and not have to carry the thing in your hand everytime you want to operate your PPC.

...and as R K pointed out, this should be rather easy on the batteries, which is definitely not the case with a PC Card HD plugged into a PC Card sleeve.
I carry my iPAQ 3870 in my dual PC Card sleeve every day in an iHolster. It's not that big, in my opinion. Carrying the hard disk in a bag is fine, but what if you're at home and want to access something on the drive? Are you going to take the bag with you everywhere instead of just a sleeve?

As for battery life, I don't see why the Hopbit would be any easier on battery life. Both the PC Card drive and the Hopbit use a 5 GB 1.8" drive, so I bet they have the same power requirements. The Hopbit has its own battery, I assume, but I don't know how big it is; the PC Card sleeve has its own battery. The Hopbit would have two additional power draws -- Bluetooth on its own batteries and Bluetooth on the device accessing it.

I suppose if the Hopbit has a sufficiently large battery, a Pocket PC would run longer than one using the PC Card, but we'll have to wait to find out. Regardless, the physical size of the drive, the need to carry it separately from my iPAQ and the high price would make it less than attractive to me.

Steve

Pony99CA

02-16-2003, 10:12 AM

a 1 gig CF card
You have one already?
Why? They have been out for a while. :?:
Oh. Amazon (American version) says "In stock soon" and I have yet to find one in Canada so I figured they were a fairly new entity. :confused totally:
You're probably getting the "In stock soon" message because Amazon is sold out. They were selling the SanDisk 1 GB cards very cheaply. 1 GB CF cards have been available for over a year, I bet; they were just much more expensive.

Steve

Buddha

02-16-2003, 10:36 AM

Pony99CA

02-16-2003, 12:37 PM

Just give me one of those Pretec 3GB CF cards (when they come out) which compared to this huge old-style walkman is sooo much smaller and battery friendly even with the CFsleeve :twisted:

Well, if somebody will give me one, I'll take it, too. :-) If I have to pay the $2000 or so for it, I won't. Are you willing to pay that much?

(But I like the wireless Bluetooth HD idea)

I think a wireless hard drive is a good idea, too, especially if you can share it with a workgroup. I'd love to avoid having cables all over my desk. The only downside is the data transfer rate of 768 kbps; it would be a very slow hard drive.

Steve

gpspassion

02-16-2003, 12:52 PM

I can't even begin to think of how painfully slow the tranfers must be!
I've never gotten anything better than 115kbps with a bluetooth device (CF, USB, etc...)!

Buddha

02-16-2003, 01:01 PM

Yes I'm open to any ppc related GIFTS :wink:

But seriously, the 2000$ pricetag is a little high for my taste aswell (hell for that price I could have somebody running behind me with a Wifi basestation and a veeery long cable :twisted: ) but seeing how fast CF storage prices are dropping I see those bigger CF cards becoming 'affordable' pretty soon aswell. I'm not in a rush I can wait a couple of months.

The workgroup idea is indeed a cool one and I also like the Idea to be able to take a device like that along as a mini file portable file-server where you can store stuff that you want to be accessible to a everybody within range when you're on a (open air) field trip or something like that. But 'moving parts' in something like that, beside the fact that it uses too much batteries, doesn't sound appealing to me

As for Speed, well its a trade-off between batteries and range/speed (BT/wifi). As long as you don't want to stream or read video of of it I'd say it is adequate to open text, excel and other documents.

R K

02-16-2003, 06:43 PM

This is a real innovative concept IMO, but if I were to invest in this, I'd like to use it for both music and video, I'm not sure with the throughput speeds of BT, that uninterrupted streaming video would be realistic... I push the limits already with WiFi.

As for Speed, well its a trade-off between batteries and range/speed (BT/wifi). As long as you don't want to stream or read video of of it I'd say it is adequate to open text, excel and other documents.

If both your Pocket PC and the Bluetooth HD used the maximum Bluetooth speed of 720Kbps, you'd be able to stream videos well enough. I don't think you'd be needing much more than 400Kbps to stream a DivX file and 650Kbps for an MPEG file anyway. The problem is that a lot of Pocket PCs and Bluetooth adapters limit the speed to 115Kbps.