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#315001 - 14/10/2008 18:36 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: wfaulk]
crazyplums
member

Registered: 29/12/2006
Posts: 157
Loc: E.Sussex, UK
Originally Posted By: wfaulk
First, there are two laptop hard drive attachment standards, PATA and SATA. PATA is being displaced by SATA, but the empeg requires PATA.

If you bought a PATA SSD, you'd be good to go. It works just like a magnetic spindle hard drive.

If you bought a SATA SSD, you'd need a SATA to PATA adapter, which I don't think are (yet) small enough to fit inside an empeg case. Basically, don't do that.

If you want to go with CF cards, you just need a CF to PATA adapter, which are cheap. I got the ones mlord recommended and they work great. The resistor removal is specific to that particular adapter. Another one might have different issues, but it should all be fairly straightforward.


thank you, how can i be sure a drive is a PATA? i've just had a nose about and have come across this (not sure i can order from this site though) http://www.memoryc.com/storage/solidstatedisk/transcend32gbinternalssd.html which is 32gb, does not mention sata, just IDE interface, which i assume the pata drives are? would this mean it's a straight forward swap, or am i being too optimistic?

thanks.
Hugh
_________________________
www.dragon-signs.com

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#315004 - 14/10/2008 18:59 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: tfabris]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Originally Posted By: tfabris
You just plug them in, run the builder and the upgrader, and it Just Works?

Correct.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#315005 - 14/10/2008 18:59 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: crazyplums]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Originally Posted By: crazyplums
just IDE interface, which i assume the pata drives are?


Yes, PATA drives are IDE interface.

There's also another wrinkle, which is that anything you plug into the empeg has to have a LAPTOP IDE interface. Just "IDE" isn't enough, because a desktop IDE plugs are too big to fit an empeg.

Edit: The one you linked didn't specifically say it had a laptop-sized IDE plug, but it was very clear that it was a "2.5 inch drive" meaning it will likely have a laptop-sized IDE plug.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#315006 - 14/10/2008 19:07 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: crazyplums]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Originally Posted By: crazyplums
how can i be sure a drive is a PATA?

In this case, IDE is equivalent to PATA, but I wouldn't depend on that. That page says "44-pin connector", which is good enough information. Here are what the different connectors look like (images blatantly stolen from here and here):


Attachments
NBHD-IDE-Connector.jpg

Description: PATA/IDE

NBHD-SATA-Connector.jpg

Description: SATA


_________________________
Bitt Faulk

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#315007 - 14/10/2008 19:10 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: wfaulk]
crazyplums
member

Registered: 29/12/2006
Posts: 157
Loc: E.Sussex, UK
thanks guys, that's explained that part, cheers.

is it just plug n play then? or am i opening myself a big can of worms?
_________________________
www.dragon-signs.com

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#315021 - 14/10/2008 20:10 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: crazyplums]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
According to Bitt, it's just plug and play. Make sure to follow all of the instructions here.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#315046 - 15/10/2008 05:17 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: tfabris]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Originally Posted By: tfabris
So there are no tweaks or changes to the operating system needed in order for CF/SSD drives to work in the empeg?

You just plug them in, run the builder and the upgrader, and it Just Works?

Yes. Welcome to Linux.

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#315147 - 16/10/2008 19:24 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: crazyplums]
Major_Sarcasm
member

Registered: 28/08/2003
Posts: 149
Loc: Isle of Wight, UK
Originally Posted By: crazyplums
thank you, how can i be sure a drive is a PATA? i've just had a nose about and have come across this (not sure i can order from this site though) http://www.memoryc.com/storage/solidstatedisk/transcend32gbinternalssd.html which is 32gb, does not mention sata, just IDE interface, which i assume the pata drives are? would this mean it's a straight forward swap, or am i being too optimistic?

thanks.
Hugh


On the linked page, there is a paragraph in bold, thus:

"If intending to install and run an operating system from SSD we recommend choosing a product built using SLC Flash chips. The product you are currently viewing is built using MLC."

These SSDs are a good price and make a solid state Empeg quite realistic for me, but I'm concerned about that statement.

Incidently, this is the SLC based device they refer to and it's hella expensive by comparison (£270)
_________________________
Steve

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#315154 - 17/10/2008 00:29 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Major_Sarcasm]
gbeer
carpal tunnel

Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
The write speeds are 3x faster on the SLC based device. Which means loading more music and syncing, on a MLC device, will take a noticeably longer amount of time.

Otherwise the Empeg will play a-ok as it normally runs the drive in read-only mode.

Edit: Wow! I just searched, there's nothing in the Faq yet about CF or flash drives... smile


Edited by gbeer (17/10/2008 00:38)
_________________________
Glenn

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#315166 - 17/10/2008 05:14 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Major_Sarcasm]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
The SLC device will handle writes much faster, and probably last 10X as long in a writing environment.

For the empeg, writes are incredibly uncommon, so MLC is perfectly fine, and SLC is a waste of good cash!

Cheers

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#315169 - 17/10/2008 07:10 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Major_Sarcasm]
peter
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4172
Loc: Cambridge, England
Originally Posted By: Major_Sarcasm
"If intending to install and run an operating system from SSD we recommend choosing a product built using SLC Flash chips. The product you are currently viewing is built using MLC."

These SSDs are a good price and make a solid state Empeg quite realistic for me, but I'm concerned about that statement.

Modern high-density MLC flash suffers from read disturbance, i.e. each time you read the data, there's a small chance it will become corrupted. The controller in the SSD deals with this (using ECC techniques, a bit like how CD players can recover from small scratches), and rewrites the correct version, but it damages performance for read-intensive uses, and ultimately reduces the lifetime of the device.

But you needn't worry about this for Empeg purposes: it isn't a read-intensive use. Even booting the player is only a few megabytes' worth of reading, and reading the music data during playback is a mere dribble compared to what the author of that page was thinking of: booting Windows XP and having a pagefile on flash. So MLC will be fine.

FWIW, SLC stands for "single-level cell", meaning that each tiny capacitor-like thing in the flash stores either a zero or a one; MLC is "multi-level cell", in which the tiny capacitor is charged to one of four, or even sixteen, different voltages, to store two or four bits in the same cell. Quite frankly, it's amazing that it works at all.

Peter

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#315201 - 17/10/2008 16:23 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: peter]
Major_Sarcasm
member

Registered: 28/08/2003
Posts: 149
Loc: Isle of Wight, UK
Fault-tolerance built in. I like it. For ease of conversion, these seem like a helluva deal.
_________________________
Steve

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#315338 - 21/10/2008 05:18 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: eagle
I just ordered one of these:
http://www.memoryc.com/transcend/ts64gssd25-m.html

to replace my single 40GB harddisk, I better hope it works!

Will let you know how it goes...


I still haven't got round to install the SSD yet, but I think this particular one is a good choice, it's not fast (about 10MB/s tested on a PC) and it's MLC which means less read/write cycles, but as said by others here for this particular use in the empeg all this doesn't matter, read speed is more than enough, write is still faster than USB or 10Mbit Ethernet and the read/write cycles are still way more than needed for the empeg (I believe in the order of 100,000 for each cell).

I hope I find the time to install it in the next few days.

Also I can recommend memoryc.com, this is my second order from them and so far the buying experience has been flawless.

BTW, I currently have a 40GB HDD in the empeg, could I just attach both the old HDD and the new 64GB SSD directly to a PC (with 2.5"->3.5" IDE adapters) and then 'dd' the content over under linux?
Does the empeg use ext2 so I can just resize the filesystem afterwards to make full use of the 64GB?
I know this works for normal Linux partitions as I have done this a few times when upgrading HDDs in Linux boxes, but will it work for the empeg too?


Edited by eagle (21/10/2008 05:56)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

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#315340 - 21/10/2008 05:42 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Here is a link to the specs of the Transcend 64GBSSD, that I got:
http://ec.transcendusa.com/product/ItemDetail.asp?ItemID=TS64GSSD25-M

As the description says, it's exactly the same size as a 2.5" HDD, the casing is metal and feels quite solid and the connector is a standard male 44pin IDE connector like a 'normal' 2.5" HDD.


Edited by eagle (21/10/2008 05:45)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

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#315341 - 21/10/2008 08:23 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Shonky
pooh-bah

Registered: 12/01/2002
Posts: 2009
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
Originally Posted By: eagle
BTW, I currently have a 40GB HDD in the empeg, could I just attach both the old HDD and the new 64GB SSD directly to a PC (with 2.5"->3.5" IDE adapters) and then 'dd' the content over under linux?
Does the empeg use ext2 so I can just resize the filesystem afterwards to make full use of the 64GB?
I know this works for normal Linux partitions as I have done this a few times when upgrading HDDs in Linux boxes, but will it work for the empeg too?

Yep. Should work just fine. Just add all the space to the largest existing partition (i.e. where the music goes)
_________________________
Christian
#40104192 120Gb (no longer in my E36 M3, won't fit the E46 M3)

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#315343 - 21/10/2008 08:53 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Shonky]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: Shonky
Originally Posted By: eagle
BTW, I currently have a 40GB HDD in the empeg, could I just attach both the old HDD and the new 64GB SSD directly to a PC (with 2.5"->3.5" IDE adapters) and then 'dd' the content over under linux?
Does the empeg use ext2 so I can just resize the filesystem afterwards to make full use of the 64GB?
I know this works for normal Linux partitions as I have done this a few times when upgrading HDDs in Linux boxes, but will it work for the empeg too?

Yep. Should work just fine. Just add all the space to the largest existing partition (i.e. where the music goes)


I did the following procedure now:

- removed old 40GB HDD from empeg and connected it to my Linux PC using a USB-HDD enclosure

- cat /dev/sde > empeg40gb.img

- replaced the 40GB HDD with the new 64GB SSD in the USB-HDD enclosure

- cat empeg40gb.img > /dev/sde

- resize2fs /dev/sde4

- placed the 64GB SSD into the empeg in place of the old 40GB HDD

- powered on the empeg, and everything worked fine as expected!!
all songs are still there and boot from cold power-on now takes 7 seconds (not sure how much it took before but it was longer)

here is the fdisk -l output before and after:

Code:
Disk /dev/sde: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sde1               1           5       40131    5  Extended
/dev/sde2               6          10       40162+  83  Linux
/dev/sde3              11          13       24097+  10  OPUS
/dev/sde4              14        4864    38965657+  83  Linux
/dev/sde5               1           3       24034+  83  Linux
/dev/sde6               4           5       16033+  82  Linux swap / Solaris



Disk /dev/sde: 64.0 GB, 64038633472 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7785 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sde1               1           5       40131    5  Extended
/dev/sde2               6          10       40162+  83  Linux
/dev/sde3              11          13       24097+  10  OPUS
/dev/sde4              14        7785    62428590   83  Linux
/dev/sde5               1           3       24034+  83  Linux
/dev/sde6               4           5       16033+  82  Linux swap / Solaris


Fantastic, now I just need to update my signature! grin
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

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#315349 - 21/10/2008 14:12 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
I just noticed your signature and all the Frontier Labs players you have.
I was pretty sad when Dreamweaver's forum went down. Traffic was down to nil. I still have my Nex Ia as my 'primary' player. It doesn't get much of workout, though. I'm not really part of the iPod Generation that *has* to have music in their ears 24-7. It gets used on flights, if at all.
I was really excited about the player- only one to use CF *and* AA batteries *and* have upgradeable firmware. They seemed to have some fair ideas and then things just died out.
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

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#315374 - 21/10/2008 19:51 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: Robotic
I just noticed your signature and all the Frontier Labs players you have.
I was pretty sad when Dreamweaver's forum went down. Traffic was down to nil. I still have my Nex Ia as my 'primary' player. It doesn't get much of workout, though. I'm not really part of the iPod Generation that *has* to have music in their ears 24-7. It gets used on flights, if at all.
I was really excited about the player- only one to use CF *and* AA batteries *and* have upgradeable firmware. They seemed to have some fair ideas and then things just died out.


Yes it's a shame they didn't have more success, but I guess they couldn't compete with the marketing power and distribution channels of the big players (Apple, Sony, Microsoft, ...) and the trend to colour screens and video playback (IMHO not at all necessary in a pocket-sized player, I have no need to watch stamp sized movies).

I too believe the Nex range were the best portable mp3 players ever made, the CF/SD card no internal memory concept is perfect, I never understood the idea of fixed internal memory, why should you have to buy a new player just to have more memory?!

Also AA batteries are so much more convenient, especially when using NiMh rechargeable ones and the user interface is pretty good too, simple but practical, plus no DRM or need for proprietary transfer software, not even a usb cable if you have a card reader on the PC/laptop.


Edited by eagle (21/10/2008 19:53)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

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#315377 - 21/10/2008 20:26 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
I didn't understand the 'lucking fovely entertainment' campaign, but they seemed pretty intent upon it.
The website hasn't worked for a long, long time, although it is still out there:
http://www.frontierlabs.com/
There used to be a Yahoo Vendor site, but I can't find that now.
I can't find any mention of the forum I used to go to, either.
I was tempted by the NexBlack, but it didn't quite make it to market. frown
http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/frontier_labs_nexblack_audio_player
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

Top
#315380 - 21/10/2008 21:00 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: Robotic
I didn't understand the 'lucking fovely entertainment' campaign, but they seemed pretty intent upon it.
The website hasn't worked for a long, long time, although it is still out there:
http://www.frontierlabs.com/
There used to be a Yahoo Vendor site, but I can't find that now.
I can't find any mention of the forum I used to go to, either.
I was tempted by the NexBlack, but it didn't quite make it to market. frown
http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/frontier_labs_nexblack_audio_player


THe Nex Black did make it to market, it was for sale on ebay directly by FrontierLabs for quite a while until recently, currently I can't see it anymore though.
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

Top
#315382 - 21/10/2008 22:06 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Hmm- well, in between the time that it was anticipated (and delayed) and the time it made it to market I must have lost focus and stopped looking for it.
These days, if I wanted to replace my personal mp3 player I'd be tempted by a Trekstor Vibez- if they'd only make it a large capacity flash memory player... or swapable memory player... which brings us back to the FL stuff. Last I saw of Trekstor, they seemed to be minimizing their product line and market. frown

Honestly, with microSD cards already at 8GB how hard would it be to have a bank of slots on a player? Why *wouldn't* you want to pop cards in and out of a player? A lot of phones do just that now. Why can't you pop an 8GB card into an iPod shuffle?

_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

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#315384 - 21/10/2008 23:46 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
So they can release a larger capacity model every so often I guess...

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#315954 - 05/11/2008 23:03 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: Robotic
Hmm- well, in between the time that it was anticipated (and delayed) and the time it made it to market I must have lost focus and stopped looking for it.


If you are still interested in the NexBlack, keep an eye on the ebay seller 'nexplayer' from Hong Kong, that's Frontier Labs, they still seem to have a few left which they occasionally put for sale, I just spotted one and couldn't resist buying it for the bargain amount of 4USD + 20USD shipping:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=380078238314

It will probably replace my wife's Nex Ia+.


Edited by eagle (05/11/2008 23:06)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

Top
#315957 - 06/11/2008 00:07 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Wow! That's some 'fire sale' price! $25 shipped is hard to pass up.

I'm on the fence about personal music players in general, though, and sorely tempted by Peter's words (below) to invest in a Vibez, if anything.
Originally Posted By: peter
The most recently-released, and probably the final, product in direct descent from the Empeg is the Trekstor Vibez portable MP3 player: that was our H4, our swan-song, our this-is-what-you-could-have-won.

(quote is from this thread.)
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

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#315965 - 06/11/2008 00:58 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
I'm sure the software of the Trekstor Vibez is great as it's an Empeg descent, but I would not be able to live with a fixed internal memory, while the NexBlack can even take a 32GB CF card and more once available...

They have put 3 more NexBlacks up for sale at the same price I paid, you know you want one ;-)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=380079081034


Edited by eagle (06/11/2008 01:00)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

Top
#315969 - 06/11/2008 02:22 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: eagle]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Originally Posted By: eagle
They have put 3 more NexBlacks up for sale at the same price I paid, you know you want one ;-)
*sigh*
Like I said- it's hard to resist that price...

One of the things I liked about the NexIa was the wired remote on the headphone line. The NexBlack seems to have deleted that option. I wonder if the NexIa remote will work.
Another thing I'm wondering is where do you get the latest firmware update?

edit:
Subject: You Won eBay Item:NEXBLACK MP3 Audio Player for CF/Microdrive
Who says I can't have it all??
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

Top
#315990 - 06/11/2008 11:31 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Quote:
Like I said- it's hard to resist that price...


US$24 ? That price range has lots of other options, though I suppose this one is special with the CF card and high-speed USB2.

Cheers

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#316003 - 06/11/2008 13:00 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: mlord]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Originally Posted By: mlord
Quote:
Like I said- it's hard to resist that price...


US$24 ? That price range has lots of other options, though I suppose this one is special with the CF card and high-speed USB2.

Cheers
Considering that I paid nearly $200 for the predecessor model with 1GB microdrive, it's a heckuva deal.
The NexBlack was supposed to sell for something like $90 without a card.
Yes, there are many, many MP3 playing options in the $25 range just now. I think they're all capped at 2GB, though, and using the CF card is, as you mentioned, unique.
I got one of these from Fry's Electronics when they were on sale a while back, but it's absolute crap.

edit:
It was a guy named Dreamflasher that ran the NexGeneration BBS.
http://www.dreamflasher.de/
Not sure what's become of it or him.
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

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#316540 - 19/11/2008 20:16 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
Robotic
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/04/2005
Posts: 2026
Loc: Seattle transplant
Since I don't do the eBay thing I had a friend buy it for me. It has arrived at his address and he reports the accompanying CD did not survive the shipment from Hong Kong.

So, what's on the CD?

The NexBlack has sparked my interest in CF cards and I see 8GB cards at NewEgg.com for under $20 or a 16GB card for $35. Hmm...
_________________________
10101311 (20GB- backup empeg)
10101466 (2x60GB, Eutronix/GreenLights Blue) (Stolen!)

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#316544 - 20/11/2008 05:50 Re: 32GB CF Cards now under $180 (GBP90) and falling.. [Re: Robotic]
eagle
new poster

Registered: 08/05/2002
Posts: 14
Loc: London, UK
The CD is labelled 'driver & utilities for Win98SE and MacOS'. There is also the full manual as pdf on it. Given that I don't use Windows (Linux only) and never use the USB connection (I just eject the CF card and put it into a card reader on my PC when transfering files) I didn't even bother to look at the CD until I saw your email, anyway the whole CD content is about 21MB, if you PM me your email address I can send you everything in one zip file.

BTW, I was just listening to the NexBlack with my Beyerdynamic DT250 studio headphones remembering why else I like the Nex so much, the sound quality is really great, IMHO far better than the Ipod and as good as the Empeg! grin


Edited by eagle (20/11/2008 07:30)
_________________________
MK1 Empeg - 64GB Transcend SSD (TS64GSSD25-M),
Kenwood KDC-MP6090R (Radio+MP3-CD+Aux In),
Frontier Labs NEX II - 4GB Flash (SanDisk Ultra II),
Frontier Labs NEX IIe - 1GB IBM Microdrive,
Frontier Labs NEX 3 - 1GB SD (SanDisk Ultra II+usb),
Frontier Labs NEX Ia+ - 4GB Flash (owned by wife),
Frontier Labs NEXBlack - will get a 32GB CF card soon \:\)

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