Log in

View Full Version : PDA's with iPod-style hard drives? when?


falser
12-13-2004, 08:20 PM
Hi there, a new PocketPC user here. One of the things that drew me toward PPC was that in addition to apps/game/pim was the MP3 playback. I plan to get a 2GB SD card and load it up with songs to listen to on the subway. But 2GB is quite limiting for someone like myself who always rips at high bitrates (192+). I'll fit only around 20-25 albums worth of music on a card which is probably enough for day-to-day travel but not ideal for long trips or also for storing movies.

I was wondering why no PDA's have gone to a harddrive system like an iPod. It surely can't be for form factor because the mini-iPod is roughly the same size or smaller than some PDA's. Battery-life would be less than with SD cards, but not that much more than a CF card. I bet VGA screens draw more power than an iPod hard drive does. How much could a 4GB ipod battery cost - $100 maybe? I just can't figure out why HP or Dell hasn't come out with a non-VGA pda with such a drive because I think that would be the ultimate iPod killer.

ADBrown
12-13-2004, 08:42 PM
It's a lot easier said than done. For one thing, the power drain would be a lot more than any solid-state memory card could ever imagine. (Also, for the record, there's no real difference in battery life between using a CF card and an SD card. They're both negligible.)

The iPod gets the battery life it does because it spins up the drive only long enough to cache songs in solid-state memory, and because it has basically nothing inside the case except for the hard drive and the battery. PocketPCs have a lot less spare space, and trying to cram all their existing hardware in alongside a hard drive and a battery to power it would make either a very bulky device or a very short battery life.

You can buy small CompactFlash-compatible hard drives, called microdrives, in capacities up to 5 GB for use in a CF slot. They'll reduce your battery life by between 10 and 40%, but it's the biggest capacity available. Alternatively, a 4 GB solid-state CF card costs about $270, and you don't need to deal with the battery drain.

falser
12-13-2004, 11:38 PM
But how would the iPod's use of the hard drive be any different than a PDA? A PDA only accesses a CF card when needed, and the same could be true for a bigger hard drive. A PDA could be even more efficient by reading in 2 or 3 mp3's in your playlist at a time rather than starting/stopping the drive each time. I'm not saying install the OS on the drive, you could still do that with the onboard ram/rom just as it is now. But I think it would be great to replace the 14MB of "Ipaq File Store" with a 4 or maybe 20GB file store built right in. Higher capacity (2000mah) batteries could make up any difference in battery life. I doubt the whole unit would be any larger than the original iPod since they had much larger drives than in the current iPod mini.

upplepop
12-14-2004, 12:46 AM
A lot has already been discussed in these forums on this topic. I recommend you read through the threads below. I also wish they would put hard drives in PPCs, but there are reasons that they don't. I believe a post in one of these threads mentions a PPC model with a hard drive that may be coming out soon.

Hard Disks for Handhelds (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=32759)
WHERE are the PPC Hard Drives (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31869)

JayM
12-14-2004, 02:33 AM
I'm not sure if the Pocket PC is ready to function as an Ipod yet. Memory still cost a lot for larger CF and SD cards.

I've been attempting to use mine for kind of the same thing so see where you're going. Except I'm taking what I need with me not my whole collection.

The bottom line is a big memory card will set you back the price of the smallest ipod and Micro Drive will suck your Pocket PC dry of power pretty quick. So if that's what you want (or need to have) you may look to just picking a cheap ipod.

Kati Compton
12-14-2004, 02:43 AM
Well, I got a 4GB CF for $270... So that'll store a bit of music. Well, as much as an ipod mini would, anyway.

Part of it is that most people *don't* need that much storage on their PDA, and if the PDA came WITH it, they'd have to charge that much more, which could adversely affect their sales. Having a dual-slotted PDA is probably the compromise so you can add that level of storage if you want, but you're not forced to pay for it if you don't need it...

JayM
12-14-2004, 02:59 AM
Well, I got a 4GB CF for $270

That probably the optimum choice...CF instead of Micro Drive.

frankenbike
12-14-2004, 03:09 AM
You can get an idea of the price, size and shape something like that would be by looking at the Archos AV420 (street price is around $450):

http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500619_specs.html?sid=j22kyjykb2j32jybc42yjy

It's not a WM device, but if the manufacturer had wanted it, it could have been. Hardware wise, it could handle it, so I expect to see devices like this cross compatible with PPC software in the future.