MagicStor MicroDrive OK with PPC?

[terrypin]

I'm thinking of digging deep into my pocket for either an outrageously expensive 2GB CF card, or a merely very expensive 'MagicStor MicroDrive (CompactFlash fit) Memory Card'. Has anyone tried one of these in an iPAQ PPC please?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK
Using iPAQ 2210 with WM2003.

[Pony99CA]

I'm thinking of digging deep into my pocket for either an outrageously expensive 2GB CF card, or a merely very expensive 'MagicStor MicroDrive (CompactFlash fit) Memory Card'. Has anyone tried one of these in an iPAQ PPC please?
I believe that Chris Spera of pocketnow uses a MagicStor drive in his iPAQ 2215. In this thread (http://discuss.pocketnow.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15645), he says he has a 2 GB "Microdrive", but IBM/Hitachi didn't make 2 GB drives.

How much are you thinking of paying for the MagicStor?

Steve

[SHC]

I have a magicstor 2.2gb microdrive in my ipaq 2210. Its OK but it does use a fair bit of power. I had to buy a spare battery. I have also noticed that access times are slower. for example, when using PocketPlayer to play wma files it stutters for the first couple of seconds even if I use the buffers. The mods on pocketgps I think use them without problem.
If I could afford a 2gb CF card I'd go for that but I can't so the microdrive is the next best thing.

[maikii]

There are posts on this forum how you can buy a Creative Labs Muvo2 4GB music player for $199 (which includes the Hitachi 4GB microdrive), and take out the microdrive to put in the PPC.

Why is this in the software forum? Isn't your question about hardware?

[Janak Parekh]

Why is this in the software forum?
Moved.

--janak

[maikii]

I wonder about how the memory cache works when using a HD.

Devices that use hard drives, like computers and portable audio devices that are made to use a hard drive, like this Muvo, normally have a large memory cache to cache the data from the HD, so that the HD doesn't have to spin so much, which saves on power, speed, and (with portable devices) possible damage to the HD (as it's most fragile when it's spinning). In fact, I hear with that Muvo that the HD rarely spins, as much of the data goes into the cache.

The IPAQ, however, is not made to use a HD. It uses flash memory cards, but I don't think they need the same kind of caching as a HD.

Could this cause a problem? Are there any settings one can set on the IPAQ to make it work better with a HD, larger cache, etc.?

[Chris Spera]

I had a GREAT DEAL of trouble with my MagicStor Microdrive. I finally sent it back to the vendor and they replaced it with a Hitachi. The Hitachi works without a problem.

The MS Type 2 card would not let me read information from it consistently. I had a very hard time formatting the drive. My wife's digital camera was the only thing that could format it. My PC even had a hard time with it.

Obviously, mine was defective, because my PC had a hard time reading and writing to the drive, but the PPC couldn't do either.