Will the Hard Disk Drive MP3 player become Obsolete? Discuss

[The Chase]

I have a very small USB 2gb flash card that it about the size of a large cock roach, and I just heard that the new Ipod Nano isnt HDD either. Will they quickly disappear? I think the sooner the better.

[Voidoid Surrealist]

I don't think they will until higher capacity cards stop costing as much (or more) as the player itself.

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

2 gigs isn't enough for some people. I have my entire CD collection on my MP3 player, which is great becuase I'd hate to drag a lot of the rare stuff to work.

I've got 8 hours a day to listen to music, 5 days a week. 2 gigs of music would get old pretty quickly. My current Creative Nomad Jukebox Xtra Deluxe Ultra Orgasm Edition (Whatever the hell they call it) is kinda bulky, but the new iPod Videos are tiny.

30 gigs is the bare minimum I can get by with. I'd love to have 60 or more. There's nothing better than having 500 albums by your side in a container that's smaller than a box of crayons.

[Jbravo]

I have a very small USB 2gb flash card that it about the size of a large cock roach, and I just heard that the new Ipod Nano isnt HDD either. Will they quickly disappear? I think the sooner the better.

what model is that, out of interest. I have a 1gb flash player and 2gb would be better

[The Chase]

I have a very small USB 2gb flash card that it about the size of a large cock roach, and I just heard that the new Ipod Nano isnt HDD either. Will they quickly disappear? I think the sooner the better.

what model is that, out of interest. I have a 1gb flash player and 2gb would be better

No idea. It says Sprint and Nextel but i dont know who it's made by. My father gets these things thrown at him as gifts at meetings.

[The Chase]

2 gigs isn't enough for some people. I have my entire CD collection on my MP3 player, which is great becuase I'd hate to drag a lot of the rare stuff to work.

I've got 8 hours a day to listen to music, 5 days a week. 2 gigs of music would get old pretty quickly. My current Creative Nomad Jukebox Xtra Deluxe Ultra Orgasm Edition (Whatever the hell they call it) is kinda bulky, but the new iPod Videos are tiny.

30 gigs is the bare minimum I can get by with. I'd love to have 60 or more. There's nothing better than having 500 albums by your side in a container that's smaller than a box of crayons.

I meant like in the future. Remember the old HDD models? they were the size of someone's head and only had a few gigs.

Do you think hard drives in general will ever become useless if this kind of flash memory becomes cheap/efficient/reliable enough?

[tomg]

I have a very small USB 2gb flash card that it about the size of a large cock roach, and I just heard that the new Ipod Nano isnt HDD either. Will they quickly disappear? I think the sooner the better.

I don't think so. Flash - 1GB = $80, HDD 1GB = $1.50. Soon much more for even less..

"Seagate researchers now believe they can store as much as 50 terabits per square inch -- equivalent to the entire printed contents of the Library of Congress -- on a single disk drive for a notebook computer"

http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19209.html

"TOKYO – April 4, 2005 – Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is today announcing new advancements to a 100-year-old magnetic recording technology that will set the stage for ultra-high capacities such as a 20-gigabyte* Microdrive or a one terabyte 3.5-inch hard drive. "

http://www.ieeemagnetics.org/Newsletter ... agnews.htm

[Jbravo]

I bought a hard disk player a while back and it died within a few weeks, plus most of them have an integral battery and you have to be home to be able to charge them. Personally I prefer a little USB flash player which takes AAA batteries - that way it's not going to seize up and I can carry multiple charges around with me. Maybe when I have money to burn and/or the prices come down some more I'll buy a hard disk player to use at home

[whyterabbyt]

I have about half my CD collection ripped and it takes up about 4Gb. Add the rest of my CDs, throw in KVR tracks, and a collection of other stuff legitimately acquired from t'net and current non-HD players dont even stand a chance...

[deleted]

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[whyterabbyt]

Its hard to say, in 5 years flash memory may become more stable, cheaper and smaller. If it does then HDD will eventually become old...

I'd like to carry my music collection with me now, not in five years.

However in five years, you'll probably find that HDD's are still ten times cheaper for the same amount of storage, and you'll get probably get a 500Gb drive that plugins into your PC via a slot and is capable of playing back HD video thru your TV for less than a flash based player with 1/10th the capacity. Both will improve in spec, and the markets will shift accordingly.

[Jbravo]

personally I find that my currently listening only consists of a handful of CDs. I can get by with 1gb of mp3s (about 12 albums) provided I have access to the computer a few times a week to change the selection. When I had a 40gb player I found myself only listening to the same stuff most of the time and wasn't in the mood for any of the rest

[Hovmod]

I bought one of the first HDD ones - a chinese thing with a 6GB drive.
I had years of music on it, and the batteries needed recharging after 90 minutes
I was actually glad when it was stolen

I won't buy anything until it's 500 times *better*, not bigger.

[opia]

I believe soon people will have tiny speakers surgically implanted behind each ear and will be able to access files from their home via wireless connection using a personalized wristwatch/cell phone/PDA

[WilliamK]

Personally I prefer a little USB flash player which takes AAA batteries - that way it's not going to seize up and I can carry multiple charges around with me.

Good point. I got the Philips Expandium Mini-CD player that I use on the car. I have spare rechargeable batteries, just in case, and a box of Mini-CDs that I only take with me when I travel. So far it hasn't give much problems. But I'm about to get the Creative Zen 5 Gig player.

Wk