The hard disk in my empeg appears to be on its last legs. Since it's my last PATA 2.5" hard disk, I need to buy something new. Should I stick with moving-part hard disks (given that the replacement will probably die before the empeg does, and they'll be a lot less common by then), or should I move to a CF/IDE adapter, on the assumption that either CF cards will last longer (no moving parts) or that they'll be available for longer?

I'm looking at this adapter. Does it look like it'll work? Presumably I can settle for the slower, cheaper CF cards?

Or should I just get a 120GB disk, such as this WD Scorpio Blue, and maybe one (or two) for spares?

I've only got 45GB or so of music, so a pair of 32GB CF cards or that 120GB disk should be plenty.

I've been using CF cards for a while now with zero problems. The electronics in the adapters are, as far as I can see, totally passive. No reason that you should have any problems.

That adapter should work fine, but it is rather expensive compared to the slower-to-obtain alternatives from DX and the like.

Cheers

I'm getting drive read errors every now and again.
The two 60GB drives are a few years old now and have seen their share of miles in the car.

I've been thinking when the situation goes completely 'tits up' (to quote Brit vernacular) I'd go with a 128GB SATA SSD, which are occasionally around the $200 level these days. example

The drive and an IDE-SATA adapter is the plan, but I don't know if anyone has tried it or not.