HDD100 < iPod

alternateorg on April 8, 2003

Philips HDD100:

  • Ripoff of the iPod interface? Check.
  • Ripoff of Apple’s brushed metal interface on website? Check.
  • Using a transfer protocol half the speed of FireWire without power capability? Check.
  • No contacts or calendar functionality? Check.
  • Probably a lot cheaper than the iPod, in both actual price as well as look and feel? Check.

Reader interactions

47 Replies to “HDD100 < iPod”

  1. Anonymous April 9, 2003 at 3:49 pm

    hehe — nice.

  2. Anonymous April 14, 2003 at 7:35 pm

    Bitter that you bought an Ipod when you could get this cheaper ? Check

    also, USB 2.0 > FireWire

  3. Anonymous April 15, 2003 at 9:26 am

    Actual throughput of USB 2 is slower than the actual throughput of firewire 400 … We are not talking about theoretical marketed speed of USB 2…..

  4. kev April 16, 2003 at 9:50 am

    all the info i could find on USB 2 says that it has a range of 200mb/s – 400mb/s in theory but that actualy speeds vary based on the implementation. Firewire is always 480mb/s and can transfer power over the cable as well. and like i give a fuck about a charging station.. bring some interesting comments next time, k?

  5. paul April 16, 2003 at 4:26 pm

    wow, you have quite a religious view towards hardware.

    usb 2 isnt powered? i havent read anything about it but usb1 definitely is.

    i wouldnt say that this is a mere ripoff of the ipod. ive only heard great things about the ipod but this has a few new features. the most important being, line in mp3 recording (w/ levels)? check

    5 band equalizer? check if the ipod has an equalizer forgive me.

    anyway, its just hardware. leave the zealotry at the door.

  6. Anonymous April 16, 2003 at 5:34 pm

    your the zealot who spouted off first

  8. paul April 30, 2003 at 2:06 am

    in response to the thoughtful reply, “bring some interesting comments next time, k?”
    anyway, ill just be happy when there is a nice hard drive based mp3 player that has digital in and can be used for storing files and accepting connections from other devices (ie cameras)

  9. Tom Peter May 2, 2003 at 5:13 pm

    iPod is overrated. The HDD100 is the real deal.

  10. Kyle Swiger May 31, 2003 at 12:37 pm

    I like the look of the HDD100 a lot more than the iPod. It weighs a mere 5 grams more and packs in more features for audiophiles.

    I for one would rather have a 5 band equalizer than a calendar and solitare on my MP3 player.

    I’ll be beta testing the HDD100, by the way. I’ll let you all know how it works when I get it…

  11. XZIFER June 5, 2003 at 11:34 am

    hi! i am new and I am really curious if anyone knows the price of the hdd100 player.

  12. PeterDLai June 19, 2003 at 8:02 pm

    Is Kyle Swiger around? I’m wondering how the beta test is going. And yes, I’d agree that I would want a device that can transfer data from another peripheral, such as a digital camera. That would be elite.

  13. mike June 20, 2003 at 3:51 am

    hey , but does anyone know how much it is gonna cost , culd be more the the ipod , espically if it has a new features.

  14. Kyle Swiger June 20, 2003 at 3:45 pm

    Yeah, I’m here 😛

    It’ll be 3 weeks on June 22nd, and Philips tells me it takes 4 to 8 weeks to arrive. So I obviously don’t have it yet, PeterDLai 😛

  15. Scott MacDonald June 21, 2003 at 6:45 pm

    Hi ther – I am also a Philips BETA tesrer for the HDD100. I get to play with the iPods where I work, so i can give it a SERIOUS comparison test when it arrives 🙂

    BTW – Firewire is 400Mbps and USB2 is 480Mbps 😉 which is fater? do the math 😛

  16. Kyle Swiger June 29, 2003 at 10:07 pm

    Scott – Are you saying that I won’t be able to do a SERIOUS comparison? I’ve owned 3 mp3 players already and have used an iPod many times. I think I can do a competent review of the unit.

    Also – did you get your’s yet? It’s been 4 weeks since I confirmed my ability to participate in the beta and I haven’t gotten it yet (apparently it arrives from 4 to 8 weeks after confirmation)

  17. kev July 5, 2003 at 4:49 pm

    hrm. guess i was wrong about the bandwith. oh well. this post was made both before the new iPods were announced and before Firewire 800.

  18. Anonymous July 6, 2003 at 6:56 pm

    Whats this? 2 or 3 pathetic beta testers clamoring for each others respect…. and recognition on our fucked up little website?
    Too funny.

  19. John July 7, 2003 at 6:38 pm

    Yeah this thing looks like it will rock. It wins it with the recording function alone for me… imagine how useful 15gb of portable recordings will be.

  20. Kyle July 8, 2003 at 12:31 am

    Well, I just recieved my new dildo unit today. Unfortunately, the dildo was somehow bent, and, in the process of putting it back into my ass and back to it’s original shape, it cracked. I have to wait until either Philip comes over for love, or until the dildo becomes straightened out.

    So far, I’ve been amazed by the unit. The best feature is that its very sharp, allowing you to insert it at up to 192 mph directly into my ass. It also autodetects the presence of another asshole and lets you slip it in right away (akin to the autostart on Windows XP where it gives you a choice of what to do when you insert a CD).

    The dildo’s quality and size is absolutely tremendous. The dildo is large and fits the large ass I have very well. The handle grips are well-placed, except perhaps for the scrotum sackss, which I would have preferred to be on the front rather on the side. The hardened glass coats the magnesium shell, and the sides of the unit, though they are covered with the hardened glass, are metallic and shiny when lubed up properly.

    The dildo comes with a dock type item that can also be used as a dildo machine, and the pumping action is very fast. The USB2 connection lives up to the hype it was given, and in this situation performs flawlessly.

    I’ll give you all more details when I get the uploading software and get a few hundred poundings onboard 🙂

  21. Kyle Swiger July 8, 2003 at 12:28 pm

    Is this the way we do things on this website?
    Somebody says PC’s are better than MAC’s and that Bush isn’t a terrorist and gets his comments edited?

    You having to do this to win an argument only makes me superior to you.

  22. kev July 8, 2003 at 1:36 pm

    you’re the funniest guy around, dude. bu-bye.

  23. Anonymous July 9, 2003 at 9:28 am

    Kyle, we won the argument anyways… I edited your post because I think it sounds better this way. lol. Maybe you wont waste your time here anymore in fear of being edited…. ahahhaha.

  24. Kyle Swiger July 9, 2003 at 2:26 pm

    Well, I don’t care :-p

    I have too much free time on my hands to quit commenting here. Plus, I love my HDD100. If I had both a HDD100 and an iPod, I don’t know which one would be in my pocket during the day. But I’d definetly take an iPod if ya gave me one 🙂

    If you didn’t understand the comments above, basically nothing you do will keep me from commenting here. Accept that not everyone shares your views and maybe learn from them.

  25. Ekra July 9, 2003 at 5:11 pm

    I’ve seen the HDD100 @549€ 🙂

  26. Kyle Swiger July 9, 2003 at 5:49 pm

    Retail for the US is $240.

    You may ask… “Kyle, how do you know this astounding information?” — When the HDD100 was shipped from Hong Kong, the invoice had the price printed on it (though I don’t have to pay, obviously).

  27. PeterDLai July 9, 2003 at 6:00 pm

    You can preorder this unit from JandR.com for $400. There’s also one with a color screen (search for HDD400) that costs $600.

  28. trk July 9, 2003 at 6:19 pm

    > basically nothing you do will keep me from commenting here

    Expect when I ban you after I am sure you see this post… lol… retard.

  29. John July 10, 2003 at 6:24 pm

    Man if the RRP is going to be $240 it will be one hell of a machine. Are you sure that’s not the Hong Kong price though??? If they use $ over there?? (Sorry, my grasp of global finance is not too hot)

  30. Anonymous July 14, 2003 at 8:49 am

    its not gonna be $240 — I can gaurantee that… the drive alone is about $200 + ….

  31. Kyle Swiger July 16, 2003 at 9:30 am

    Well, on my invoice it said $240…

    Does anybody know where I can get info on the 1.5″ portable hard drives in the iPod and HDD100? $200 for 15 gigs seems like a lot to me -_-

    I really hope it debuts at $240, though… $400 would be priced equally to the iPod, which would make it a much tougher choice to the mainstream, even though the HDD100 has recording (which works terrificly, I must say).

  32. wpb August 3, 2003 at 8:17 am

    Concerning usb2 vs firewire.. unless the iPod has a scsi 320 raid (or some other kind of raid or sata) in it then anything faster than 133mb/s is redundant (and i doubt it even has a hd that fast)

  33. lek August 4, 2003 at 11:11 am

    a few points:

    1) Mbps is not megabytes per second (MBps), as in 133mb/s. it’s Megabits per second. The maximum rated speeds of USB 2 and fireware are 480 and 400 Mbps respectively. As someone pointed out above though, USB does not necessarily always hit its peak (firewire does???), and this can be down to poor implementation in hardware, or more likely, poor drivers for the device. I’ve seen many firmware upgrades to mp3 players where by the USB transfer speed is increased through bug fixes and firmware improvements, or through improved driver releases. Also, if a HD based player can be used as a plug-and-play removable disk, I believe the transfer rate over USB will be lower anyway, as the protocol for removable disk transfer has not been written specifically for “x” mp3 player. That’s what dedicated drivers are for (but presumably you then lose the ability to use as an external HD in Windows using universal mass storage (UMS)).

    2) USB and FireWire are both powered, but afaik (correct me if I am wrong) most USB devices still need to be plugged into the mains for RELIABLE data transfer.

    I belive firewire can supply enough power to power a device reliably while transfer occurs?

    c) Don’t forget the iRiver iHP-100. More features than the i-Pod, excellent recording features (optical in/out), 16 hrs playback, and smaller than the i-Pod 9and i expect the HDD100). Also only weighs ~160grams, and as with all iRiver products, the build quality will be superb I imagine.

    http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_group=iHP%20Series&p_name=iHP-100

    I’d like someone to show me a hard drive based player better than iRiver’s please 😉

  34. lek August 4, 2003 at 11:15 am

    and…

    where did my return key presses go 🙁

  35. Kyle Swiger August 4, 2003 at 3:44 pm

    Yay, an independent voice that doesn’t jump on either the Philips or iPod bandwagon. The iRiver looks like it’ll be AMAZING. I just wish it came with larger HDD sizes.

  36. lek August 4, 2003 at 7:18 pm

    Yeah, seems its 15gb max atm. I read somewhere they may do a 20gb version though.

  37. erik August 10, 2003 at 12:23 am

    The $240 on the invoice beta-testers got is a made-up price. You got a ‘pro-forma’ invoice to pass the item through customs. That’s all the invoice was for. When you create a pro-forma invoice, you err on the low side so customs doesn’t impose a duty on the receiver. I got mine today for full retail, $399. I love it. And it feels great in my ass as well.

  38. berndt August 10, 2003 at 11:20 am

    Ordered mine from goodguys.com for USD 360.00; includes shipping & taxes.

  39. Anonymous August 11, 2003 at 6:27 pm

    Does anyone have any story on the HDD400 that shows up on JandR’s website? It has a full color screen, does that mean that it’s also a Mpeg4 video player?

  40. karog6 January 7, 2004 at 5:53 pm

    Costco.com – hdd100 is $289.99….

    Has anyone tried this with a car adapter? I tried w/ mine and it weirded out completely. Now I need to exchange it but don’t want to if it can’t be adapted in cars…. advice anyone?

  41. Kyle Swiger January 15, 2004 at 11:08 pm

    Well, the HDD100 is a bona-fide piece of shit, but, yes, it does work in a car. The line out is digitally controlled to save power, and sometimes the HDD100 will freeze when you put the car adapter plug in. Just do a software reset and you should be OK. (software reset = volume up button plus rewind)

  42. Nyne April 2, 2004 at 1:48 am

    Where can I find the car adapter? I thought at first that I did not like the player but after reading the manual and playing with it for a bit it is really nice. It is nice to have an alternative to an iPod. Of course design of the iPod is a little more friendly but the software on this is very simple.

  43. adam May 26, 2004 at 9:37 pm

    I am thinking of getting the ipod or the HDD100. Which one should i get?

  44. jake June 8, 2004 at 2:31 am

    plz help does any 1 know how much an ipod mini costs in hong kong

  45. kev July 21, 2004 at 1:18 pm

    FGI and STFU (fucking google it and shut the fuck up). get an iPod. sounds like a lot of people are not impressed with their HDD100 purchases. Just goes to show buying something just because it has an impressive feature list and a low price isn’t the greatest idea.

  46. blah August 24, 2004 at 4:59 pm

    I have both, ipod’s better.

  47. Kyle September 16, 2004 at 9:07 pm

    My HDD100 is now broken. I’m getting a 4g iPod as soon as I get 5 referrals from freeipods.com. . .
    http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=8412654

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