Microdrive... is it an option?

[Hyperspeed]

Personally I'd rather get 2x 512mb Compact Flash cards than a 1Gb
MicroDrive.

For Solid State:
----------------
a)Zero sound
b)Very low power consumption
c)No moving parts - less chance of drive failure
d)Faster seek times/access
e)Much smaller in size (1mm?)
f)Impact resistant
g)More impervious to heat/moisture

And the rest!

Go for a CompactFlash->IDE converter, it'd be the perfect companion
for your project in my opinion.

You could even change your floppy drive for an external card reader
with the access light next to the Amiga logo!

:-D

[Hyperspeed]

I'm not sure where this information has come from regarding
CompactFlash cards deteriorating but most digital camera manuals
advise formatting the card as soon as anything funny occurs i.e.
reduced space or whatever.

I'm surprised that if a card suddenly dropped from 140 photo capacity
to 100 that it would actually continue working.

Besides, what is IBM in relation to reliable data storage... DeathStar
drives?

:-D :-D :-D

Compact Flash cards have a data retention of 10yrs and hard disks have
an average 3 year data retention according to some specs I've been
reading.

Here are a few more comparisons:

Operating Temperature
---------------------
CF = -40°C to +85°C
HD = +5°C to +55°C

Operation Shock
---------------
CF = 500Gs
HD = 125Gs

Power Consumption
-----------------
CF = 0.6W
HD = 8.5W

Seek Times
----------
CF = 1.25ms
HD = 13.0ms

I would reconsider your decision to go IBM, not the most reliable
manufacturer on the planet. They sold their hard disk division to
Hitachi (probably because it was such a headache for them).

Also, like ZiP disks and Jazz disks, I'd feel very uncomfortable about
carrying around a fragile platter of a hard disk.

For mounting it in your A1200 it might not be such a problem, why not
out a MicroDrive AND a CF reader/writer in there. You could have the
cards coming out of the rear expansion port or one of the vents.

:-)

It'd allow you to compare each one as a simultaneous fair experiment.
Obviously with SCSI you're going to notice more of a difference with
the CF on 7-device chain...   not sure they make SCSI microdrives.

;-)

[Hyperspeed]

But surely you can't get much more write-intensive than a digital
camera?

Take picture, save, don't like picture, delete, another few pictures,
delete whole disk etc.

And I've seen a Panasonic camcorder that uses Compact Flash or
similar.

Do these claims about degradation refer to a particular brand of
Compact Flash such as SanDisk/Olympus/Fuji etc?

What about Secure Digital, Sony Memory Stick, do they all have the
same trouble?

Like this rarely mentioned subject of hard disk hysteresis (recovery
of data after 10 formats) I haven't seen much evidence to back this
up.

[Hyperspeed]

So erm...

Compact Flash can be written to 300,000 times, with a data retention
of 10yrs and automatically maps out bad blocks...

... and you say a fragile, power hungry, slow access time hard disk by
the DeathStar Corporation is superior...

... based on the usage of an operating system that WRITES every time
it reads!?

:-D :-D :-D

I'm still going to go Compact Flash!

NERRR!

;-)

[Hyperspeed]

Oh, sorry!

:-)

Well, I didn't know Linux wrote a timestamp every time it accessed
files... talk about the potential for big brother!

;-)

I think solid-state would be ideal for in-car computing because it's
resistant to those giant potholes in the road... the kind that smash
up low-profile tyres etc.

:-D :-D

What kind of machine do you think you'll use? I kinda like those
little Sony tablet PCs with the 5" screen. However if I was to make
one I'd probably see what an A1200/CD32 with a MAS player could do.

The A600 would also be a good machine considering it's size, haven't
heard about people using a MAS player with the A600's parallel port
though.

Still, there's software now for burning DVD+RW on Amiga isn't there?

[Hyperspeed]

What is VFD?

I think a P166 would be just too boring for the car.

People would love to see an Amiga I'm sure!

Surely a 512mb would hold a good 10x albums for you, if you made a
SCSI chain of 7x devices you'd get instant loading (zero seek time),
possibly 900x songs!

However I've heard of a new memory card that can hold 1Gb that is only
the size of an M&M...

:-)

[Hyperspeed]

Okay, fair point I suppose.

I do think it might pay to have some sort of suspension on the end
device so that shock is not transferred to the hard disk.

Also, unless you keep your windows rolled down it might pay to
consider ventilation on a hot day or ways to keep it cool.

Interesting to see if you could mount some sort of Next/Shuffle
control onto the indicator sticks too, I've seen a few radios that
connect to them.

I still think an Amiga would be fun...  surely an A600/A1200 isn't
going to lose you too much money if you crash.

Hope you aren't thinking of entering a rally tournament or something!

:-D :-D