New 60 gig ipods?

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Okay, so I was looking at the new 60 gig ipods thinking $600 for a 60 gig hard drive... sure theres an lcd screen and some other nifty features but how hard would it be to really make one myself? I'd need software (that would be able to boot by itself) and it would require a custom case and small lcd screen etc...

but how practical is this? I'd need software to run mp3s and stuff, not sure if theres someway to put foobar or winamp on there... either way its a cool idea but how practical is it?

(It would be interesting to use a 150 gig hard drive instead or something like that.. maybe get a laptop hard drive or something small)
 
i dunno if there is a circuit board out there that would be able to run something like this for you... but it never hurt to try... afaik, apple just puts laptop drives on the ipod, i cant think of what else the would do... it hink the hard part about a diy ipod would be the board and the software... but maybe not impossible
 
Apple doesn't just put laptop hard drives in em, they're using 1.8" drives which are obviously much smaller than the 2.5" notebook drives. iRiver, Rio and others also use these smaller drives. That's part of why they're more expensive.

The 60 gig iPod has photos, big deal. If you want 60 gigs but don't want to spend that much you could look at the Creative line. They do use laptop drives which make them bigger but also much cheaper. Their 60 gig is probably less than the 20 gig iPod is right now, and the sound quality is better too. not totally sure on the price right now though.
 
emorphien said:
Apple doesn't just put laptop hard drives in em, they're using 1.8" drives which are obviously much smaller than the 2.5" notebook drives. iRiver, Rio and others also use these smaller drives. That's part of why they're more expensive.
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Click to expand...
are these apple exclusive for the pods, or are they used in ohter things? if so, what?
 
hrmm.. okay what if i bought a really cheap like 1st gen ipod and grabbed the circuits from it? (like a small gig ipod)

anyway, I was just wondering since it would seem like a fun project at least...

probably would end up getting some other 60 gig mp3 player anyway...
 
lithium726 said:
are these apple exclusive for the pods, or are they used in ohter things? if so, what?
Click to expand...
Well I know iRiver and Rio use the same type of drive. I'm drawing a blank now but I know there are more.

Toshiba uses them and Sony does I think in their new player. It's not like these are unique to apple at all.
 
sniper991122 said:
hrmm.. okay what if i bought a really cheap like 1st gen ipod and grabbed the circuits from it? (like a small gig ipod)

anyway, I was just wondering since it would seem like a fun project at least...

probably would end up getting some other 60 gig mp3 player anyway...
Click to expand...
You could grab the circuits off an old Creative and probably save some money. Like I said it would sound better too.
 
Talonz said:
sniper, the question is: yes, it's possible:

http://www.pjrc.com/tech/mp3/

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

very nice, but expensive =\ looks like about $280 in parts then add the hard drive...

almost seems cheaper and better (better construction and quality) to go with some other mp3 player...
 
sniper991122 said:
Okay, so I was looking at the new 60 gig ipods thinking $600 for a 60 gig hard drive... sure theres an lcd screen and some other nifty features but how hard would it be to really make one myself? I'd need software (that would be able to boot by itself) and it would require a custom case and small lcd screen etc...

but how practical is this? I'd need software to run mp3s and stuff, not sure if theres someway to put foobar or winamp on there... either way its a cool idea but how practical is it?

(It would be interesting to use a 150 gig hard drive instead or something like that.. maybe get a laptop hard drive or something small)
Click to expand...
It's not practical, for the most part. Designing the mainboard is quite difficult for the average hobbyist. You have to incorporate many functions, including but not limited to:

powering the player, implementing the battery indicator, recharging functions
loading the onboard firmware for the boot sequence
reading the hard drive, via the IDE bus or an embedded bus (like in many 1.8" drives)
decoding the MP3 data
converting the digital data into an analog signal for playback
amplifying that output signal to headphone levels
driving the LCD in a way that displays the functions you want displayed
controlling the playback and navigation features
designing the input interface (USB? IEEE-1394? Parallel? Ethernet?), and accompanying drivers and transferring software

Of course, you'd want to make it a respectable size, which requires smaller IC packaging, which requires BGA soldering--a difficult task for amateurs. Also, it's somewhat difficult to source the tiny, low-power LCDs used in MP3 players, and the 1.8" hard drives from Toshiba and Seagate. It would be a difficult, expensive, but rewarding endeavor.
 
you would be getting in WAY over your head if you tried to build a portable mp3 player. i would personally go out and buy a 15g 3g ipod for cheap on ebay. with the extra money you saved you could buy a 100gig laptop hdd and a 2.5" external enclosure too.
 
emorphien said:
Apple doesn't just put laptop hard drives in em, they're using 1.8" drives which are obviously much smaller than the 2.5" notebook drives. iRiver, Rio and others also use these smaller drives. That's part of why they're more expensive.

The 60 gig iPod has photos, big deal. If you want 60 gigs but don't want to spend that much you could look at the Creative line. They do use laptop drives which make them bigger but also much cheaper. Their 60 gig is probably less than the 20 gig iPod is right now, and the sound quality is better too. not totally sure on the price right now though.
Click to expand...

Was thinking the same thing so I looked up the price. The Zen Xtra 60gb is around $315 from Newegg and the Ipod 60gb is $600 from Apple.

-fool
 
Yes, but they're hardly comparable. There is a huge physical size difference, and the iPod has a color screen. Regardless of what you specifically think of these differences, they do exist, and that's why you can't just make a direct comparison based on price and capacity alone.
 
Wow, now I am really jelous! :(
I get my 3rd generation iPod, then two months later, the 4th generation comes out, and now 2 months after that, the iPod photo comes out. Those guys sure now how to make a guy jelous... :(

I bet in half a year from now, they'll have iPod's that can play movies.

Heh, at least my iPod can charge faster than the iPod Photo! :)
 
xonik said:
Yes, but they're hardly comparable. There is a huge physical size difference, and the iPod has a color screen. Regardless of what you specifically think of these differences, they do exist, and that's why you can't just make a direct comparison based on price and capacity alone.
Click to expand...
relevance?

Between the Zen and the iPod sure there's differences. The iPod is smaller, shows photos, has a color scree and has the apple name, but the creative really isn't that big (I have several friends with them) and is probably fine for many people, sounds better and is more scratch resistant. They use different size drives too which makes for a big chunk of the price difference.
 
It's relevant because there're more to an MP3 player than capacity and price.

You're right, the Zen is fine for many people. It depends on how they travel with their MP3 player. The Zen sounds better? No, not in my opinion. Then again, I didn't play WAVs so I can't give a best-case-scenario opinion on this. You're right, though, the availability of 2.5" drives really make the Zens more appealing to the budget-conscious.
 
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