High Vibration MP3 Application Questions?

[NicholasB]

Dear Learned Forum:

My current mp3 player, an Archos Jukebox Studio 10 has finally passed away. Even after a reformat, the disk is dead. I think the conditions of my use did it in.

I use my player when riding my motorcycle. At high speeds, the unit would skip badly. Now it doesn't work at all.

Conventional wisdom, I believe, would call for my to purchase a flash device. No moving parts. No possibility of skipping or disk damage from all of the vibration. HOWEVER, after having 10 gig of storage space, I have grown spoiled. It will be hard to go from 10 gig to 256 MB.

Are there any particularly robust hard drive mp3 players out there? The online reviews hardly ever address this issue. Am I tempting fate to go with another HD device? What about the new, smaller hard drive devices, such as the Rio Nitrus? Is is safe to assume (remembering what my mother told me about assuming...)that a smaller disk will be more stable? F=MxA?

Your opinions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Nick

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

There are solid state Compact Flash cards up to 2 GB and SD cards up to 1 GB (although quite expensive), you could try going for a muvo2 shell and slapping in a nice large CF card. You won't have 10 GB of storage, but do you ever listen to all 10 GB of mp3s?

 

[NicholasB]

Thank you for your reply, Raynor. Cost is definitely a factor. I can pick up the Rio Nitrus (1.5 gig) for $139. But will I kill it like my Archos? I am not nearly as computer savy as you, so could you please rephrase? I understand that you are suggesting purchasing a lesser priced mp3 player (muvo2) and modifying it with more memory. Which CF card would you suggest? How much would it cost? How much memory would I gain? Again, I greatly appreciate your advice.

Nick

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

I haven't actually done the Muvo2 mod myself, but if you google for it (or even search the forums) you'll find information about it. What happened was that Creative was selling the Muvo2 with a 4 GB Microdrive for much cheaper than the Microdrive alone cost. So people were/are buying the Muvo2 just for the Microdrive and selling off the "shell" which is basically the MP3 player for next to nothing. If you research properly, you'll find that you can use a compact flash card in the Microdrive's place and it will work just as well. At that point you just have to find a compatible card big enough for your use and stick it in the Muvo2. if you consider that a Muvo2 shell will cost you $50 or maybe less and a 1 GB CF card will cost you about $150, it's a viable option to use solid state storage.

 

[Eug]

Obviously, for this usage, flash would be preferred.

Then again, it seems kinda unsafe to be listening to MP3 while driving a motorcycle.

 

[NicholasB]

I appreciate your concern, but I really don't feel it is dangerous. I live in a rural area, and even with the volume turned up quite a bit, I can still hear ambient sounds. It seems to me to be on par with driving a car with the stereo on. As far as Raynor's suggestion, I did a bit of quick research, and the mod doesn't seem that difficult. Finding a CF that is compatible with the Muvo2 seems to be the trickiest part.

Here is a thought. If I can buy a Muvo2 shell and replace the hard drive with a CF, why can't I do the same mod on my Archos? What is so special about the Muvo2 that makes this mod viable, to the exclusion of other hard disk devices? Is it just bacause the market has been flooded with Muvo2 shells, or is it something particular to the Muvo2?

 

[L00PY]

You should be able to do something similar with the Archos depending on the drive inside. If it's already dead, you've little to lose by popping open the Archos and seeing what sort of replacement drive it takes. I'd guess it's a 2.5" harddrive. If it's cheap enough, go for it. It'll probably die eventually again though.

 

[SickBeast]

Riding a motorcycle while wearing headphones isn't even remotely comparable to listening to a car stereo. Not only are you wearing a helmet, but it's cramming the earbuds further into your ear canal. You have things lodged in your ears, how can you say that's the same as listening to a car stereo?

Motorcycles are extremely dangerous. What if someone were honking at you to prevent an accident and you couldn't hear them?

Sorry, I don't like to preach, but you're basically endorsing dangerous behaviour which I personally find rediculous.