PPCs with built in HD storage?

[Rickyohead]

I was wondering...have any PPC manufacturers designed models that have a built-in hard drive (1GB or larger)? Kind of like the I-pod and Minis, would this work?

It seems that PPCs are becoming more and more capable in the multimedia department (music, full-length movies, games, etc.), and squeezing all this data on a 512MB CF card or even a 1 or 2 GB card could be a pain.

I wouldn't mind a PPC a tiny bit larger in dimensions or heavier if it had built-in, reliable storage. Any thoughts on this?

[WindWalker]

I was wondering...have any PPC manufacturers designed models that have a built-in hard drive (1GB or larger)? Kind of like the I-pod and Minis, would this work?

It seems that PPCs are becoming more and more capable in the multimedia department (music, full-length movies, games, etc.), and squeezing all this data on a 512MB CF card or even a 1 or 2 GB card could be a pain.

I wouldn't mind a PPC a tiny bit larger in dimensions or heavier if it had built-in, reliable storage. Any thoughts on this?

I haven't seen a single thing that points to this type of storage as a standard for PDAs yet. I know the major driver is battery life: those tiny hard drives can burn up a battery in a very short period of time, and with that, most PDAs would be hard pressed to handle it. You then start moving into the bulk of extended batteries, which remove some of the positives of a PDA in the first place, size and weight.

I too would like to see it, but apparently it is not ready for primetime in mainstream PDAs. Toshiba has talked about it more than once, but never came through.

[arnage2]

i would guess that the toshiba e805 and ipaq 5555 replacements will have vga, and 2-4 gb hdds built in. This will eat the battery, unfotunatly.
Idealy, you would have 32mb of rom for the os, 64 or 128mb of ram for your most used programs, and the harddrive for media files. You can turn off the hdd if your not in need of the media files.

[Rickyohead]

Idealy, you would have 32mb of rom for the os, 64 or 128mb of ram for your most used programs, and the harddrive for media files. You can turn off the hdd if your not in need of the media files.

that sounds good to me. let's see which company goes for it first!

[Zack Mahdavi]

I think an internal hard drive would be awesome. Imagine using your PDA like an iPod (not as well, but still with a large mp3 library). Imagine using an SD camera with your PocketPC without worrying about running out of memory. Or better yet, what do you do when you go on vacation with your digital camera and it runs out of memory? Just plug the memory card into your PocketPC and download your pictures to a hard drive!

I think there's a lot of potential in putting a small hard drive (2 or 4GB) into a PocketPC. Hopefully one will be introduced this year.

[Steven Cedrone]

Am I the only one that does not want a spinning HDD in my Pocket PC? With the size of external cards getting smaller and the amount of data they can hold going up, I fail to see why I can't have 1GB or more of flash memory in my device...

Steve

[Zack Mahdavi]

Steve, manufacturers are slowly dropping the "dual slot CF and SD" design. So anyone who wants to use any SDIO device will have to only rely on the memory in their handheld itself. I think that increasing the amount of internal memory (by adding a hard drive) will make these devices more appealing.

[jneely]

Personally, I'd be happier with 2 SD slots and more internal RAM. SD cards are low on power usage and that would give me one for installing apps and some data, and another for removable things, like maybe a games card, a movie card, an audio card, etc...

64MB of internal memory is definitely not enough. I've installed everything I can on my storage card and my internal memory is in short supply still. I think the mid- to top-end models all need to come with 48MB ROM for the OS, 128MB RAM for internal storage AND throw in some amount of file store too.

oh, and a VGA screen too :-)

[Steven Cedrone]

I think that increasing the amount of internal memory (by adding a hard drive) will make these devices more appealing.

I'm all for increasing internal memory, I just want it to be flash, not mini HDD...

Steve

[Zack Mahdavi]

I'm all for increasing internal memory, I just want it to be flash, not mini HDD...

As far as I know, adding more memory into a PocketPC will drive up the price like crazy. That's why I think an internal hard drive is a much better (and cheaper) idea. Battery life of the mini hard drives are very good, plus in the event of a hard reset, the data is non-volatile so it won't be lost.

I don't know, but I think an internal hard drive is a great idea. 2GB of internal flash memory would be way more expensive than a nice hitachi 1" drive.

[Fishie]

Cheap(and I do mean CHEAP) flash storage of 1gig and up is around the corner.
XBox2 will drive prices down further once its out.

[Trimac20]

The key to Pocket PC storage is downsizing. Although many manufacturers, notable Toshiba, will release tiny hard-drives to the consumer market soon (I don't know what in what 'format', possibly SD-Compatible :)) as high capacity as 4-5GB (which would suit me fine, enough for 1200 MP3s, 2000 WMAs, hundreds of apps, and at least 20 hours of low-quality video).

But in the meantime, we're stuck with those oh-to insufficient and expensive options. Owners of CF compatible units have it best: some PDAs accept IBM Microdrive but they are not much better. Perhaps my main annoyance in the Pocket PC department.

[Gremmie]

FYI-there was a PDA with an internal hard drive. It was the Toshiba e550MD and was a spawn off the e550g. It was only sold in Japan and I'm not sure if it did well. But I don't understand why people would be hesitant about having an internal hard drive. Look at the iPod, it's a popular mobile device with a small hard drive. It doesn't seem logical.

[Aerestis]

I thought sd was standard? I wouldn't want a hard disk in my pocket at all. I like sd cards a lot. In fact, I can only recall wanting bigger sd cards. On board storage should only need to be at 512 in about four years, while our screens will be around 768*1024, processors at 1.5 ghz, and our sd cards at 10 gigs. And the screens will cover most of the face of the device. I would be sooo satisfied with that, with absolutely no hard drive. With sd cards, I can switch them around as I please and stuff.

[Deus]

Would it be possible to splice an SD input into two and tuck an SD card inside the PPC?