Well, let's start a list and add to it as we go. Personally, I am on a quest for a working bus-powered drive with a minimum capacity of 120 GB.
I'll create two categories for each drive. "Bus-powered" means you just plug it into the USB port and it works. "With supplemental power" means you have to provide the drive with additional power since its current draw is higher than what the car's USB port provides. If a drive works with supplemental power, I will qualify that with "not a feasible solution" since the most convenient power source (the cigarette lighter socket) is cut upon ignition turn-off. I believe any drive that needs supplemental power will need power for a few extra seconds to shut down properly.
To reiterate, a possible workaround for drives needing supplemental power would be to devise a switch that connects the drive's power lead to a constant +5V source whenever it sees +5V at the car's USB port. One member has done this with Radio Shack parts (see post #410).
With all that said, here's the list:
*** UPDATED 3/30/09 ***
CLIFFS NOTES:
So far there have been no 200+ GB drives that have a promising success rate. Some have said that our cars do not recognize more than 20,000 songs anyway, but one member reports being able to access around 30,000 songs on an externally-powered 160 GB drive (see post #433).
At this point, if you can find a big enough 1.8" drive for your needs, buy it. These drives generally consume less power than the 2.5" drives so they have the best odds of working. The disk-based iPods contain 1.8" drives.
The LaCie and Apricorn 1.8" drives are a pretty safe bet, as they have all worked for everyone who has tried them, with one exception.
If you have problems with playback freezing or slow startup, the following post might help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by s.myrr
After doing some research, I removed all my ID3v2 tags from my .mp3s and deleted all the playlists. I'm left with just .mp3s now, a everything works great!
Moral of the story : keep your files simple without all the extra tags and such. No extra stuff to confuse the car with.
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Working drives:
Apricorn Aegis Mini 1.8" 60 GB 4200 RPM (model A18-USB-60)
Works for 2 of 2 members.
Apricorn Aegis Mini 1.8" 80 GB 4200 RPM (model A18-USB-80)
Works for 2 of 2 members.
Apricorn Aegis Mini 1.8" 120 GB 4200 RPM (model A18-USB-120)
Works for 3 of 3 members.
Hitachi 40 GB 4200 RPM 2.5" drive in USB enclosure
Works for 1 of 1 members.
Hitachi 200 GB 5400 RPM (model H2200U)
Works for 1 of 1 members (see procedure in post #41).
I/OMagic 40 GB
Works for 2 of 2 members.
Iomega eGo 250 GB (model 33942)
Works for 1 of 1 members, sort of (see post #118).
Iomega 80 GB 4200 RPM (model 33222)
Works for 2 of 2 members, sort of (see post #75).
LaCie Little Disk 1.8" 60 GB 3600 RPM (model 301271)
Works for 8 of 8 members, mostly (see post #447). Also did not work for one person with an X5.
Toshiba 60 GB 1.8" (see post #291)
Works for 1 of 1 members.
Toshiba 80 GB 1.8" (model MK8009GAH) in an "Icy Box" USB enclosure
Works for 1 of 1 members. (see posts 257, 259)
Toshiba 120 GB 5400 RPM (model HDDR120E02X)
Works for 1 of 1 members, sort of (see posts #82, 86).
Samsung 60 GB 5400 RPM (model MP0603H) in a VAIO PATA to USB enclosure
Works for 1 of 1 members.
SmartDisk FireLite 40 GB
Works for 1 of 1 members, sort of (see post #90).
Non-working drives:
Note: "Supplemental power" means using a cable with two USB A connectors and plugging one of the A connectors into the car and the other into an adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket in the armrest. Unfortunately, in at least some of our cars, the socket powers on/off in sync with the ignition, whereas the USB port powers on earlier and off later. That often puts the drive in an underpowered state. The remedy would be to only plug in the drive when the car is running and to unplug it before stopping the engine. Clearly this is not a very convenient way to use the drive.
Buffalo MiniStation 250 GB 5400 RPM (model: HD-PS250U2)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
Iomega 100 GB 4200 RPM
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Works for 1 of 1 members.
Iomega 120 GB Silver Series 5400 RPM
Bus-powered: Does not work for 3 of 3 members.
With supplemental power: Works for 3 of 3 members.
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 160 GB (model STM901603OTA3E1-RK)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 2 of 2 members.
With supplemental power: Works for 1 of 1 members.
Seagate FreeAgent Go 160 GB (model ST901603FGA1E1-RK)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
Seagate FreeAgent Go 80 GB (model ST900803FGA1E1-RK)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
SimpleTech 160 GB 5400 RPM
Bus-powered: Does not work for 2 of 2 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
Toshiba 160 GB 5400 RPM (model HDDR160E01X)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
Western Digital Passport 250 GB 5400 RPM (model WDG1U2500N)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 2 of 2 members.
With supplemental power: Works for 1 of 1 members.
Western Digital Passport 320 GB (model WDXMS3200TN)
Bus-powered: Does not work for 1 of 1 members.
With supplemental power: Not tested.
Drives that only work for some:
Buffalo 300 GB MiniStation 4200 RPM (model HD-PS300U2)
Works for 1 of 2 members (see post #219, 221).
Fujitsu 300 GB 4200 RPM (model RE25U300J)
Works for 3 of 6 members (see post #179, 189, 358).
Iomega 120 GB 4200 RPM (model 33356)
Works for 1 of 2 members.
Western Digital 60 GB 5400 RPM (model WD600U017-001)
Works for 2 of 3 members (see post #169, 368).
Western Digital Passport 80 GB 5400 RPM
Works for 1 of 3 members (shorter cable may be required; see post #105)
Western Digital Passport 160 GB 5400 RPM (model WDXMS1600TN)
Bus-powered: Works for 1 of 4 members.