Need a portable HD based MP3 player

[Bozz]

As part of my work, I need to keep a lot of data on hand and have a 512mb USB flash drive which is quite insufficient since I need to store lots of information (XPsp2 takes up almost 300mb alone) and would prefer something HD based, about 20 gig.

I was looking at an iPod, it would suit me fine. An iPod mini would be even better just because of its size.

Because the USB key can see 20 or more machines per day, it MUST NOT need drivers to be installed on a W2K or XP machine for the OS to recognise it as a Removeable Disk. What is out there?

1) Salespeople are incredibly stupid. After only seeing one or two USB keys that need a driver under an NT5+ OS, I couldn't find a single salesperson that didn't *insist* I was wrong in that all USB keys come with a CD and therefore must be loaded on both W2K and XP, hence them not even having a hope in hell in me asking whether an iPod or one of the Creative portable HD based storage devices would or wouldn't need a driver.

2) I dont have a laptop to take with me to try.

3) Can anybody help????????

 

[Lonyo]

iRiver (iHP120/H120) works straight out of the box as a removeable HDD, and can be found in 20GB versions.
I love mine.

 

[Bozz]

Whats battery life like when playing MP3's?

 

[Gannon]

If I were you I'd go for a MP3 player with a replacable battery if you expect to use it heavily or you will find after a year or 1.5 years of use the battery has died. Li-Ion batteries are only good for 500 or so charges before you need a replacement and worse yet even not being used they eventually die and you need to get a fresh one. But I doubt any such MP3 player will meet your requirements, thats why they are MP3 players. Many flash players do what you ask but they have small storage.

 

[Gannon]

Sounds like you need a portable USB hard disk to me NOT an MP3 player. Do all these machines have Firewire? Firewire would be the better option but I imagine ALL of those machines have USB.

 

[Bozz]

Yes I do need a portable USB hard disk but also want an MP3 player inbuilt to keep me entertained.

The battery issue isn't too big an issue, even for the iPods, I know how to replace the batteries with generic aftermarkets and you get another 18 months out of them...