I want to purchase a MP3 player.What is the useful life span and durabilty of flash memory vs.hard drive?

Question

I want to purchase a MP3 player.What is the useful life span and durabilty of flash memory vs.hard drive? What if I drop it ???
Should I buy the extended warranty ?

Answer 1

FLASH MEMORY:
Pros:
Wont skip
very small in size(2"x2"x1" large)
Fast
Last very long(4ys)
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Cons:
not alot of space(2gb)
they go bad depending on how heavyly used
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HARD DRIVE
Pros:
Huge storage space (60gb)
Lightning fast read write
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Cons:
Pricey($200+)
Can crash after heavy useage (3 years) or abuse
Less dureable(skips while jogging)
Can likly break if dropped
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Getting the warranty is always a good idea
Both will not lash forever
Flash is better to drop than HDD
HDD holds MANY more songs than flash

Answer 2

more recent drives quite do not have a existence expectancy of any time. look the specs up t the manf. website then deduct 25% for fibbing.... Drives are being produced in large quanitites now. a small .02 failure cost isn't some thing to them. yet for your information once you've the form of defective ones.... they are higher, faster, and physics factor out that issues that bypass quick dissipate... LOL! I fairly have drives that are 6-8 years previous! were given a a million/2 dozen in my factors bin that are below 2. i'm no longer inspired with drives on the instantaneous. I"m waiting for Flash to go back to us.

Answer 3

Flash players
they are usually smaller
longer battery life
removable battery!
does not have moveable parts(means more durable)
if u drop it, it wont smash into little pieces but it depends how u truly treat ur mp3 player.
cheaper
8GB of storage space is the most ive seen(Sansa e200 series, lots of cool features but just not enuff memory..well for me.)
not alot of storage


Hard disk
moveable parts (less durable)
heavier
mostly non removable battery
shorter batt life
USb charge only
proprienty cables..(not standard usb..which are replaceable at any store but propriety ull probably have to special order it.)
lots of space !!
more COOL features.
more exspensive

on any mp3 player i would get a warranty ESPECIALLY if its a hard drive. im a person that has to have her music so yea..warranty is good!

Answer 4

Flash memory is non-volitale RAM, or RAM that doesn't lose it's information when its power is off. RAM should last a very long time, much longer than a hard drive, but it is possible that it could go bad. If you drop a flash based mp3 player like the iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano, as long as it doesn't fall far enough (off a tall building?) to break the unit, there shouldn't be any damage to the songs/information stored on it.

Answer 5

Here is a great site to compare your options:

http://www.cfgear.com