Micro drive for Axim X51v

hablorhm · 02-28-06, 02:48 PM

Hey guys I need some input. I want to start using my ax to play MP3's and I want to purchase more memory in order to do so. I am specifically interested in microdrives. Can you guys recommend a microdrive that is compatible with the X51v. I think 4 gigs of memory should be more than enough to meet my MP3 needs. Thanks for your help guys.

Also if you guys have any recomendations on bluetooth headphomes I would appreciate it.

beckp · 02-28-06, 03:10 PM

OK, you know direct BT support for the x51v doesn't exist yet ..... I have the BlueTake Mini heaphones and their BT dongle. Both work well and when Dell/MS come out with a better BT stack I'll drop the dongle.

I also have a Seagate 8gig CF microdrive for just MP3's and video's. I was able to fill it up pretty quick. I have several episode's of Seinfeld on there and many CD's worth. Take the golden rule with just about anything ....go big now so you won't be sorry later.

DeeCee52 · 02-28-06, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by beckp

OK, you know direct BT support for the x51v doesn't exist yet ..... I have the BlueTake Mini heaphones and their BT dongle. Both work well and when Dell/MS come out with a better BT stack I'll drop the dongle.

I also have a Seagate 8gig CF microdrive for just MP3's and video's. I was able to fill it up pretty quick. I have several episode's of Seinfeld on there and many CD's worth. Take the golden rule with just about anything ....go big now so you won't be sorry later.

I definitely think go as big as you can afford, even if you don't think you will fill it up. You will. The 8gb seagate is working very well for me. I filled up a 4gb CF pretty quickly.

If you have the x5, I assume you are on 2003, and you can update the stack to use BT headphones. I have the logitech for mp3/ipod phones. They work, but the neckband does crack. I would look for ones with a more flexible strap. Search the site, there are several recent threads oon headphones and many models are mentioned. good Luck.

hablorhm · 02-28-06, 04:08 PM

Thanks for the input guys. Any comments on how much of the battery is consumed by the micro drive. I read a post that mentioned that micro drives drain the battery.

glennosmond · 02-28-06, 04:19 PM

I second the 8GB photo hard drive (microdrive) from seagate. It does drain power... alot but you can help curb it's power draining by using the program TCPMP to play music and videos. It's not the best looking music player but I use it because of it's microdrive buffer mode. It should buffer all of the song to the Axim so it don't have to spin until the next song. If you use Windows Media Player or most other programs I don't think they have a good microdrive mode so the platter is constantly spinning. It takes TCPMP usually less then 5 seconds to buffer but it starts playing immediatly.

My personal micro drive settings in TCPMP are:
buffer size: 9984KB
starts at: 288KB

So in other words it will buffer about 10MB of the song/movie or the entire thing if it's lower then 9984. And when its reserves dip below 288KB the hard drive starts up again to replenish it with new data.

glennosmond · 02-28-06, 04:21 PM

http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showt...&page=12&pp=20
8gb from seagate for around $204

kparikh82276 · 02-28-06, 04:52 PM

Nice post, very informative.
I just purchased the seagate from amazon, 150.00 for 8gb CF card(sign up for a Credit card, they give u 30 off) as was posted in the forum, and it's working fine.

But your post regarding burning out of the drive is really helpful. About the TCPMP is that a program that i have to download? is it free ware? or is it on the dell axim already?

thanks for the info.

CornyAxim · 02-28-06, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by hablorhm

Thanks for the input guys. Any comments on how much of the battery is consumed by the micro drive. I read a post that mentioned that micro drives drain the battery.

I use a Hitachi 6GB microdrive for mp3's all the time. It has been going for 6 months now strong. If you run the processor at 208Mhz, put TCPMP in microdrive mode, and hold the power button down until the screen dims, you will get the most playtime available. It will range on how loud you play the music at that point.

Flash is for sure the more power effective solution. Sometimes you can find X-GB's of flash for the same price as X-GB's of Microdrive. If you can go for it, if not use the above suggestion for maximum battery time.

Hope that helps. I have tried a ton of solutions for maximum battery time. The most battery time for mp3's if using flash is using GSPlayer running at 208 Mhz, and having the screen turn completely off. And to maximize the battery usage using flash, a SD card will last longer than a CF card will. The reason I use TCPMP is because no other player out there has a "Microdrive Mode" which is very essential to battery drain when using a Microdrive.

mcknzy · 02-28-06, 06:16 PM

I also use the 6 gig hitachi for mp3 and video and couldnt be happier.$30.00 rebate from hitachi made it better.

Louis Rodrigue · 02-28-06, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by CornyAxim

The reason I use TCPMP is because no other player out there has a "Microdrive Mode" which is very essential to battery drain when using a Microdrive.

I believe MortPlayer has Microdrive cache mode too.

Indeed, I just checked. In settings, on the Energy Tab, you can set it to copy songs to memory before playing. Its not a packet/frame caching scheme though, more's the pity.

glennosmond · 03-01-06, 12:22 AM

Originally Posted by kparikh82276

Nice post, very informative.
I just purchased the seagate from amazon, 150.00 for 8gb CF card(sign up for a Credit card, they give u 30 off) as was posted in the forum, and it's working fine.

But your post regarding burning out of the drive is really helpful. About the TCPMP is that a program that i have to download? is it free ware? or is it on the dell axim already?

thanks for the info.

TCPMP... The Core Pocket Media Player (used to be called Beta Player) is in alot of peoples opinion the best player out there for video. It's free. I use it in conjunction with pocket dvd studio to convert a DVD to an avi, and use TCPMP to play that avi. Also plays almost any mpeg or avi file you download online. You need to download and install it @ http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about

glennosmond · 03-01-06, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by Louis Rodrigue

I believe MortPlayer has Microdrive cache mode too.

Indeed, I just checked. In settings, on the Energy Tab, you can set it to copy songs to memory before playing. Its not a packet/frame caching scheme though, more's the pity.

I just don't like MortPlayers MDM - yet. It has to buffer the entire file before it plays. And that that could be like a 5-10 second wait per song. And if it's on random it's annoying because you need to wait for it to finishing caching. Otherwise it's a very nice featureful program, and I use the alarm clock every morning to wake me

hablorhm · 03-01-06, 01:02 AM

Originally Posted by glennosmond

I just don't like MortPlayers MDM - yet. It has to buffer the entire file before it plays. And that that could be like a 5-10 second wait per song. And if it's on random it's annoying because you need to wait for it to finishing caching. Otherwise it's a very nice featureful program, and I use the alarm clock every morning to wake me

Thanks for your help glennosmond and everyone else that took the time to give me some input. I think that I have a clearer idea as to what I want to do. Amazon has the 8 gig seagate microdrive for 150 so I will probably be purchasing that in the next week or so. Originally I wanted to purchase an ipod for playing mp3's but since I just upgraded from an X5 I don't want to spend another 300 bucks. I want to get the most out of my investment and use the X51v it to it fullest capabilities. Thanks again everyone

DeeCee52 · 03-01-06, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by hablorhm

Thanks for your help glennosmond and everyone else that took the time to give me some input. I think that I have a clearer idea as to what I want to do. Amazon has the 8 gig seagate microdrive for 150 so I will probably be purchasing that in the next week or so. Originally I wanted to purchase an ipod for playing mp3's but since I just upgraded from an X5 I don't want to spend another 300 bucks. I want to get the most out of my investment and use the X51v it to it fullest capabilities. Thanks again everyone

Good luck. I use my axim for most of my portable needs, except cell phone -- even used it for that on occaision. I workout 5 to 6 days either running or at the gym and my ax goes with me. It's not in a hard case, I should have gotten total care

, but i figure i'm using my investment to the max, and both us will die happy, not perched up on some shelf, watching the world go by. yippee!!

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