How is the iPod as a file storage device?

[flot]

I hate to get flamed, but I'm curious - I'm thinking of getting an ipod 40, because 1) I'd like to have a decent mp3 player, and 2) I'd like to have an easy way to move large files via USB drive.

I know there are cheaper USB drive solutions, but I'm curious how the ipod compares when talking about using it strictly as a storage device. If I want to use it to transfer 3-5 gigs of data back and forth from one pc to another, is that reasonable? I like the fact that I'll only need to carry around ONE cable, I currently have a 40 gig USB drive that has been very useful but it has a power cable as well as usb, and it's bulky and a pain in the neck to deal with.

Basically I want to kill two birds with one stone. Reasonable?

 

[toekramp]

yes it's reasonable and yes it's been posted umpteen times in here

 

[0roo0roo]

they used ipods to shuffle video files for editing and stuff in the making of lotr🙂

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: toekramp
yes it's reasonable and yes it's been posted umpteen times in here

Didn't see anything about this specifically and I'm definitely NOT looking for the fanboy responses. I'm just wondering if HD transfer rate and power consumption etc is up to the task. I assume that in normal mp3 player use, the ipod only spins up the drive for maybe a minute out of every half hour of music played, so just wanted to make sure I wasn't expecting too much. Frankly using it as an mp3 player is 100% secondary to what I really want it for, but seems like a good fit.

 

[Gurck]

It'll work. The iaudio and iriver players will as well, as well as having more features (and being better in other ways which are beyond the scope of this thread). The 40gb iaudio is especially attractive due to its ~$335 pricetag vs. ~$400 for the 40gb ipod and iriver, though you need to have its adapter (small, seperate piece) in order to use it to transfer files. They all follow the universal mass storage standard, and so are plug & play usb drives. If you want to go cheaper, many other players can store files as well - but you need to have their proprietary software installed on any PC you want to transfer files to or from. As you surmised, hard drive usage is the main draw on battery life, and they spin much more when transferring data than when playing music.