Freecom Mobile Drive 500Gb

[b._.o._.b]

Will this work on a Pandora? I hope it does, because I already bought one...

http://www.ibood.com/uk/en/product_list_comments/13902/Freecom_Mobile_Drive_S_25_inch_Hard_Disk_with_500_GB/
http://www.ibood.com/uk/en

The dutch version:

http://www.ibood.com/nl/nl/product_list_comments/13897/Freecom_Mobile_Drive_XXS_25_inch_Hard_Disk_met_500_GB/

Only today € 74,95 (+ 5,95)

 

[Pleng]

As long as it doesn't draw more current than the Pandora can provide (I think 500mA but I'm not sure), then it should work. Will drain your battery though!

 

[b._.o._.b]

As long as it doesn't draw more current than the Pandora can provide (I think 500mA but I'm not sure), then it should work. Will drain your battery though!

I only tend to use it for vacation and when I have access to power supply so I don't mind about draining the battery. And you will always be able to copy some files you want to use and disconnect it again.

Not sure how much current it needs.. don't see it anywhere in the technical details.

 

[second exodous]

It's safe to assume that anything powered by the USB bus can be powered by the Pandora can't you? So any external notebook drives should be ok.

Wow, 500 GB on a notebook drive. It just blows me away how big drives are getting, even with backing up blu-ray storage isn't really a problem anymore. The entertainment industry needs to start making their files bigger so things aren't as easy to pirate.

Edit: Off topic, but the girl in the video kind bugs me, she pauses while she talks to show her toothy grin, it seems kinda unnatural.

I think it would be cheaper to buy an OEM notebook drive and a nice aluminum enclosure though, at least every time I buy a new drive that's usually the case.

 

[WizardStan]

It's safe to assume that anything powered by the USB bus can be powered by the Pandora can't you? So any external notebook drives should be ok.

I'd say it's reasonable to assume, not safe to assume. It should work just fine, but don't bet the house on it, as the saying goes.

 

[b._.o._.b]

It's safe to assume that anything powered by the USB bus can be powered by the Pandora can't you? So any external notebook drives should be ok.

I'd say it's reasonable to assume, not safe to assume. It should work just fine, but don't bet the house on it, as the saying goes.

Yes I agree, too bad I will not have my Pandora to test it on when it arrives and prevent people from buying something they can't use.

 

[Gary13579]

The entertainment industry needs to start making their files bigger so things aren't as easy to pirate.

NO. You have no idea how much this would piss me off. Whenever I buy a movie, the first thing I do is throw it in my drive and rip it, then encode it in a format that isn't shit. CDs/DVDs/BluRay is stupid in an age where there are *much* better storage mediums, not to mention the horrible codecs they use (I get DVD quality with MPEG4 at 1gb max, while DVDs get 4gb at MPEG2).

Storage is NOT going to stop piracy, period. People will just rip it, transcode it, then pirate it.

 

[Dead1nside]

I've got a notebook hard drive enclosure (2.5') for a laptop hard drive and it needs an external power supply to run properly. Although it does get detected just using the USB cable.

 

[second exodous]

The entertainment industry needs to start making their files bigger so things aren't as easy to pirate.

NO. You have no idea how much this would piss me off. Whenever I buy a movie, the first thing I do is throw it in my drive and rip it, then encode it in a format that isn't shit. CDs/DVDs/BluRay is stupid in an age where there are *much* better storage mediums, not to mention the horrible codecs they use (I get DVD quality with MPEG4 at 1gb max, while DVDs get 4gb at MPEG2).

Storage is NOT going to stop piracy, period. People will just rip it, encode it, then pirate it.

Lol, I was just joking. I don't think movies are going to get bigger than 50GB, the biggest blu-ray gets, for the foreseeable future. Most blu-ray movies are only 20GB though. I rip and encode everything also, especially DVD's with a bunch of episodes or cartoons, I don't want to keep inserting DVD's to watch a season, I just want a play list.

I've got a notebook hard drive enclosure (2.5') for a laptop hard drive and it needs an external power supply to run properly. Although it does get detected just using the USB cable.

I think something is wrong then, are you using USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 with the drive? There aren't any 2.5 inch drives that use more than what USB 2.0 supplies. If whatever you're plugging it into isn't a powered USB port, which would be strange, then something is up.

 

[Aninhumer]

NO. You have no idea how much this would piss me off. Whenever I buy a movie, the first thing I do is throw it in my drive and rip it, then encode it in a format that isn't shit. CDs/DVDs/BluRay is stupid in an age where there are *much* better storage mediums, not to mention the horrible codecs they use (I get DVD quality with MPEG4 at 1gb max, while DVDs get 4gb at MPEG2).

Storage is NOT going to stop piracy, period. People will just rip it, transcode it, then pirate it.

I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Also, it's not really fair to complain about DVDs having "horrible" codecs, seeing as MPEG4 was only introduced 3 years after the DVD specification was finished. MPEG2 was the latest tech then.

So anyway, on topic: "Probably".

 

[Chip]

The USB protection circuit is rated for 500mA continuous and 750mA peak. Some portable hard drives use more than this, some use less. Unless you can precisely measure the power draw of your drive (especially during spin-up), the only way to test it is to try it.

 

[second exodous]

Here is what USB supplies, and the Pandora techincal specifications saying 'USB 2.0 HOST port . . providing the full 500mA to attached devices (examples include USB memory, keyboard, mouse, 3G modem, GPS).

I'm not a guru on power, so I have no idea.

Edit: Chip beat me to it.

Edit Edit: If you buy a drive that you want to use on the Pandora make sure it's 5400 RPM or less, this will use less power. This is another reason to buy an OEM drive and a separate enclosure, you know exactly what you're getting.

 

[Yoyobuae]

NO. You have no idea how much this would piss me off. Whenever I buy a movie, the first thing I do is throw it in my drive and rip it, then encode it in a format that isn't shit. CDs/DVDs/BluRay is stupid in an age where there are *much* better storage mediums, not to mention the horrible codecs they use (I get DVD quality with MPEG4 at 1gb max, while DVDs get 4gb at MPEG2).

Storage is NOT going to stop piracy, period. People will just rip it, transcode it, then pirate it.

I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Also, it's not really fair to complain about DVDs having "horrible" codecs, seeing as MPEG4 was only introduced 3 years after the DVD specification was finished. MPEG2 was the latest tech then.

So anyway, on topic: "Probably".

I find this kind of things funny, the technology available to the average joe surpases that of the products being offered to him. Kinda shows how the current models (distributing information on disc) are way past their real useful life.

 

[WizardStan]

Off topic: am I the only to notice that Chip just posted, after being mia for about 4 months?

 

[second exodous]

Hey b_o_b, I would go for it, that is a really good price, even if it doesn't work for the Pandora if you need the space you should go for it. If you don't need the space and you're just getting it for the Pandora I'd hold off, prices will drop to that in a few months.

 

[dflemstr]

Off topic: am I the only to notice that Chip just posted, after being mia for about 4 months?

Wow, Chip is back!
Now I'm looking for the bug in my Python script I wrote 3 months ago that scans the forum for Chip activity; it didn't trigger!

(j/k of course, I would never write a script like that)

( h34r: )

EDIT: Damn, it DID trigger; result: http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8236/reportku.png
Yeah, I'm way too geeky am I not.

 

[b._.o._.b]

Hey b_o_b, I would go for it, that is a really good price, even if it doesn't work for the Pandora if you need the space you should go for it. If you don't need the space and you're just getting it for the Pandora I'd hold off, prices will drop to that in a few months.

Well.. already bought it before posting this. I can probably cancel but I haven't seen any reason to yet.
My main reason to buy it is for the Pandora, but I also want to use it for my eeepc, smartq and just as convenient external mobile storage.

I am not so sure about the price drop though. I was hoping the same for 32GB SDHC cards, but they are still costing a fortune.
This seems to be a very cheap solution to have a lot of extra storage and still be quite mobile.

 

[Pleng]

I am not so sure about the price drop though. I was hoping the same for 32GB SDHC cards, but they are still costing a fortune.

Yea but flash memory and Hard Disk's follow completely different economies of scale. Hard drives will continue to fall in price. It seems that flash memory has hit a sticking point at the moment; prices seem to have remained pretty much static over the last 10-12 months. I doubt 32Gb cards will drop to a reasonable price until 64Gb cards are available. And right now, nobody seems interested in (or able to) produce them

 

[xxreini]

Well I think it depends on the exact 2.5" hard drive model working in the freecom
enclosure, there exist some WD Models with RSP (tm) = reduced spin up power feature.
(I've had a few 3.5" (not 2.5"!) HDD from freecom and these were all WD, so you could
be lucky)
However actual 2.5" hard drives (300-500GB) seem to draw 1A (and more) at spin-up,
and need the 500mA when reading or writing.

So I would expect a 50/50 chance that the Freecom drive (or any other 2.5" usb-powered
encloseres with an actual 2.5" HDD

---

I personally own a Verbatim external 2.5" hdd (was a bargain) which included a standard
cable, and it even does not work correctly on many Desktop PC (tested 2) - it only
spins up sometimes on some ports - I looked at the specifications of the HDD (samsung 400GB)
and seek is at 2.6W, r/w at 2.4W, idle at 0.7W and spin up current max 1A, therefore
I've had to buy a Y-cable which connects to two USB-Ports on PC-Side to get it to work
(also outside of specifications) - and this would be pointless on the pandora, because
it only has 1 (500mA powered) usb port.

Maybe you could install a SSD, but that would be somewhat more expensive.

Cheers

 

[Prometheus]

It seems that flash memory has hit a sticking point at the moment; prices seem to have remained pretty much static over the last 10-12 months.

They have risen, unfortunately. My understanding is that the economy in general, as well as the plague of fake flash memory coupled with large numbers of folks who mistakenly believe that flash memory prices are always falling, has hit flash memory production quite hard, since the profit margins on it are already quite slim.

I doubt 32Gb cards will drop to a reasonable price until 64Gb cards are available. And right now, nobody seems interested in (or able to) produce them

Indeed - unfortunately, the last I heard of it, many fabrication facilities aren't even producing much, if any, flash memory at all, in order to clear existing inventory. It's very unlikely that 32GB cards will drop in price even if or when 64GB cards become available.