How fragile are HDD based MP3 players?

[jruser]

I was considering getting a harddrive based mp3 player (ipod, zen xtra, dell dj, etc.) but I have started questioning the logic of having a hard drive for use on an MP3 player.

Some have said it is a non-issue and that their *insert favorite player* has been ran over by a car and still worked, while others say that *insert least favorite player* died from a waist high fall? Which is it?

I know I personally take good care of stuff, but everytime I get closed to buying a HDD player, I picture somebody snagging the cord in my dorm room, and watching it hit the solid floor. It seems to me that such a drop would be likely to cause a head crash, but maybe I am just paranoid.

 

[scorpian007]

Both my Zen Micro and Touch have been through a lot and work fine. But other people get head crashes from the slightest drops. For example, my Touch went flying and hit the concrete very hard and worked perfectly. I guess it all boils down to chance in the end. But if you take good care of it, you're more likely not to have problems

 

[jonnywolfet]

anything with a hdd inside is fallable. treat it well and itll last. saying that though, one drop may be the last one, especially if the hdd is being acessed. if you are worried about durability, stick with cd's or minidisk. a scratched one of those can be easily replaced.

 

[DigDub]

yea. it depends on your luck really. a hardisk that sits comfortably inside a cpu can also gets hard drive failures if you are unlucky enough.

 

[LFC_SL]

the lesson is get a case/wriststrap/belt clip if possible. Personal experience....

 

[kramer5150]

I have an old creative nomad jukebox. It had a 6G laptop drive for a while. I droped it on the kitchen floor. It smacked hard enough to unsnap the plastic case. I thought for sure it was toast. but nope.... runs like a champ. I replaced the 6G with a 10G drive, and so far its been runing fine. But I have yet to drop it to that extreme.

Garrett

 

[diredesire]

If it's in access mode, chances are you're SOL. If the heads are parked and not reading, depending on the way you drop the drive, the drive(s) can take a beating.

 

[smiryan]

Samsung will introduce a new shock system for their YH-J70 hard drive based player.

Supposed to make it far more durable and able to withstand a lot more jogging.

 

[randytsuch]

Or, you find one where you can replace the HDD, if disaster occurs.

Or, buy an extended warranty, so you will be covered.

BTW, I just bought a Karma, and it is cool to carry a BUNCH of music in a little package.

Randy

 

[seeberg]

I plan on replacing the HDD in my Spirit 20GB player to 80Gb's with a 16mb cache(and a higher RPM most likely), most likely after I've begun building my XPC. Hopefully it'll be more durable than the stock drive, apparently the Hitachi Travelstar 2.5" laptop drive isn't the most rocksolid.

,
Abe

 

[terrymx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by randytsuch Or, you find one where you can replace the HDD, if disaster occurs. Or, buy an extended warranty, so you will be covered. BTW, I just bought a Karma, and it is cool to carry a BUNCH of music in a little package. Randy

rio karma, uh oh. better take good care of it. dnot even drop it by 2 inches. i let mine stand up vertically and it fell backward on its back and the harddrive freezes.

i was exagerating the situation btw. but all in all hd problems isnt such a big deal. beside the rio karma i never had problem with other players. it seem toshiba harddrive are durable.

 

[TWIFOSP]

I dropped my iPod several times. Usually from around waist height, as I was carrying it, or one time I had it in my car and as I got out I yanked the headphone cord which sent it flying out the door about 3 feet up, and several feet over crashing and sliding.

All I had on it to protect it was a radskinz, so it survived without getting scratched.

It survived I suppose around 7 falls/crashes until one day it fell out of my bag and hit the ground at only about a foot and a half. This was one of the least significant impacts I feel it ever took, but I guess the angle was bad and the hard drive finally started clicking.

So I wouldn't exactly call them rugged, but I definitely wouldn't use the word fragile to describe most hard drive players. I usually treat most of my audio equipment with a lot of care, but considering how often I used my iPod and where I suppose it just had a high propensity to be dropped. Just take a bit of care, get a hard case if you're worried, and you'll be fine.

 

[jruser]

I know that some are powered by 2.5inch notebook drives and others are powered by 1.8 inch drives.

Is it possible that the 1.8 inch drives are less damage-prone or do you think they are about the same?

 

[bigshot]

I've dropped my iPod from waist high onto tile floor with no damage. I woudn't recommend doing that though.

The best was when I bent over to lift the seat on the toilet, and my iPod fell out of my shirt pocket into the pot! I dried it off and it worked fine.

Ipods are easy to get scuffs on, but they are rugged where it counts.

See ya
Steve

 

[Beach123456]

I wouldnt worry about it. Just keep a case on it and dont drop it while the hard drive is spinning and you should have no problems.