Hard Disk

[riosingh]

http://www.memorybits.co.uk/shop/external-hard-drives/neso-500gb-portable-2.5inch-external-hard-n2501s500g/12922

this looks jusy the right size to tape to the botton of a pandora, there is the problem of it not being powered, I don't know if you could power it of pandora, i'm sure some one is able to work it out(like a usb hub working of aa, that'll probily defeat the object of a slim hd).
Drivers are probibay an issue too.

 

[Enverex]

Drivers won't be a problem, drives are mass storage devices when USB based and hubs are generic.

 

[riosingh]

the dimensions are 80x126x15
compared to the pandoras 83x140x27

if only there was a way of powering it.

 

[Enverex]

2.5 USB drives are USB powered...

 

[kaldrill]

if only there was a way of powering it.

It is usb powered, do you need something else ?

 

[riosingh]

cool.

 

[riosingh]

i got the dimensions wrong
its 110 x 73 x 10mm
even better.

 

[fettouhi]

2.5 USB drives are USB powered...

Yes as long as your usb port can deliver the 500 mAh then they are...

Regards

André

 

[riosingh]

i know this has been discussed before, but its been such a long time, but can the pandora usb port deliver the said 500mAH?

 

[WhiteBat]

yes, with 750 mah peaks

 

[gruso]

Yep, Pandora's main USB port can deliver 500mA on paper. As long as this drive only requires one USB plug to function (many require two) then it should be fine. It'll slaughter the battery though.

 

[WizardStan]

it'll also only be able to run at USB1.1 speeds.

 

[Enverex]

Wrong way around, Pandora is USB2 only.

 

[WizardStan]

Dangit! It's early and I haven't had my coffee
Mostly because I don't drink coffee. I have no excuse for my failure. Sorry.

 

[mindlord]

2.5" USB drives can ramp up above 750mAh during spinup, so the Pandora might not be able to get it going. 1.8" drives take quite a bit less. I'm banking on the Pandora being able to fire my 1.8" portable HD up.

 

[Enverex]

Aren't USB sockets limited to 500/750 anyway?

 

[MrPoletski]

the dimensions are 80x126x15
compared to the pandoras 83x140x27

if only there was a way of powering it.

That drive is USB powered. If the Pandora has a fully USB 2 compliant port (which I beleive it does) then it will work fine.

I also bought this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-068-FC&groupid=701&catid=1240&subcat=1394

It is incredibly small, just 109.8 x 79.5 x 13.5 mm. What they have basically done is taken a stock 2.5" HDD and swapped the interface board out replacing the sata port with a USB port. Then they have just put a thick rubber jimmy around it. You can take the disk out of the rubber 'bag' and use it anyway, the rubber shell just gives it protection. And yes... this drive powers itself also.

 

[MrPoletski]

2.5" USB drives can ramp up above 750mAh during spinup, so the Pandora might not be able to get it going. 1.8" drives take quite a bit less. I'm banking on the Pandora being able to fire my 1.8" portable HD up.

Correct me if I am wrong, but if a USB 2 device draws more than 500mA then it is not complying to USB 2 standards. However, say you are hard limited to 500mA and you plug your HDD that draws 750mA to spin up. In that situation I see the hard disk drive taking 50% longer to spin up (3 seconds instead of 2), with no other ill effects.

 

[MrPoletski]

IIRC USB 1.1 mandated your port provide 100mA and USB increased that to 500mA. 500mA at 5V is 2.5 watts.

 

[Pickle]

Just so everyone is clear the pandora will not work with any non-2.0 USB devices directly. You can however use a USB2 hub connected to the pandora and run non-USB2 devices.
There was some consideration of making a custom hub for the pandora, but I have not heard much about it recently.