pcmcia hard drive

RootBreaker · 08-15-2005, 09:49 AM

Ok so where to start...

I have my ipaq pda with the dual pcmcia adapter...
anyhow..

I almost bought a toshiba 5gb pcmcia hard drive years ago but it was $200... now they are $90 shipped... so im debating on it... however on ebay a guy is selling gateway mp3 players 20gb dmp-x20.... I emailed the guy and asked him what kind of drive is in them... as a search on google doesnt pull up much...

however the guy said they are pcmcia drives... for $120 shipped that is dayum cheap...

so what do you think.... do they really have pcmcia drives in them? im going to buy one of their broken ones... well they say they wont power on.. so if I buy it and take it apart.. double check that it has a pcmcia drive in it ... if it doesnt ill try and get my $$$ back as I have an email from him that yes it is a pcmcia......

anyone got any ideas??? I have a 1gb sd card and destinator and 100mp3's have filled it.... so 20gb would be sweet....

neon_eddy · 08-15-2005, 10:55 AM

http://www.chait.net/index.php?p=102 here is a review for it..

I would place my bet on a standard laptop HD .. I don't think the microdrives are that alrge yet.. but who knows.. that's my .02

but it does function as a HD via USB .. so it may do just as well

RootBreaker · 08-15-2005, 11:49 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by neon_eddy

http://www.chait.net/index.php?p=102 here is a review for it..

I would place my bet on a standard laptop HD .. I don't think the microdrives are that alrge yet.. but who knows.. that's my .02

but it does function as a HD via USB .. so it may do just as well

cool.. however I still cant use it then... no way for me to use it in my ipaq.... so maybe just buy the 20gb mp3 player and just use that as it is....

Thanks...
Jeff

tom61 · 08-15-2005, 05:24 PM

The drive inside looks like PCMCIA, but it's not. It's a 1.8" slim harddrive, like the ones used in Ipods. If you're patient and skilled with a soldering iron, you could make an adapter to go from its interface to PCMCIA. You'll have to figure out the pinouts between ATA/IDE and PCMCIA, but here's info on the 1.8" to decktop IDE: http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-super

For your needs, it sounds like a dedicated MP3 player would be your best bet, though.

ukchris · 08-15-2005, 05:26 PM

I have the Toshiba 5Gb and it works great, used it in my iPaq and PC. If the price works for you I'd say get one, it's neat and very convenient. It lives in my laptop PCMCIA slot as a backup drive at the moment.