Are hard-drive based MP3 players bad for jogging?

basketkase543

basketkase543

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I'm about to invest in my first hard-drive mp3 player (gonna get the Zen Micro:M at either 30 or 60GB) but I am a bit concerned about the hard-drive being damaged while I exercise. Pretty much the main purpose of buying it is so that it accompanies me while I jog. Will it have a skipping problem? Will any parts get damaged after repeated use in these conditions? I know I could get a flash player but the extra storage of the hard-drive is the major selling point as I'd like to have my entire music collection at hand whenever I want.

Thanks in advance.
 
Since it's a hard drive, and there are moving parts in there trying to read the disk in the drive, any jarring or movement such as jogging will damage the drive. However, any flash-based memory, such as the nano, or some other mp3 players, have absolutely no moving parts, and longer battery life, so they last a whole hell of a lot longer.
 
sonderiaom hit it right on the mark.

HD-based players have hard drives in them, and most drives are quite happy to take vibration/shock when they're off, when they're moving, they tend not to like it. Drive R/W heads are very very very close to the HD platters and a wrong shock at the wrong time, and boom, it's dead.

I know it would be nice to have all your music on-hand at any time, though it would be taking a chance if it dropped, or took some other nasty shock. If you're looking at a Micro M, then maybe think about spending a little extra money on something like a Zen Stone to take while you're jogging.
 
i would go as cheap as possible for jogging, such as a $20 1gb usb flash drive/mp3 players in addition to the zen micro.
stuff you go running with tends to get more beat-up on, plus the worry factor.
 
Damn, that's exactly what I DIDN'T want to hear :)

I thought that all this time people were exercising with their hard-drive based players without a problem. I guess that would be extremely risky though.

I guess my other options for flash-based players would be the Zen Stone Plus coming soon or the Creative Zen V Plus at 4 or 8 GB. I'm staying away from ipods completely so it looks like the Creative brand might be my best bet.
 
You don't want one for jogging it'll ruin the drive like the other fellas have mentioned. For jogging I say get something inexpensive thats solid state memory. a 2 or 4 gig player for $50 if you can find it would be the best thing.
 
[quote name='Graystone']You don't want one for jogging it'll ruin the drive like the other fellas have mentioned. For jogging I say get something inexpensive thats solid state memory. a 2 or 4 gig player for $50 if you can find it would be the best thing.[/QUOTE]

I don't know of any $50 4Gb players, though I'd be interested if anyone could point me in the right direction.
 
[quote name='magiic']I have a Zen Vision: 30GB I use it for biking. For jogging though I use a 4GB Sansa.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, maybe I'll do that. I'm a bit short on cash right now because of wedding savings, so I'll probably end up getting the 8GB Zen Vision V Plus and then go for the 60GB down the line. I don't want to risk effing up an hdd player while jogging.
 
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