Besides one obscure CF+ USB host controller that's expensive & poorly supported, there seems no way to use PDAs with portable USB & 1394 hard drives.

Rather than an iPod, I'm willing to carry the extra weight of a Zaurus + FireLight + battery pack, but there's no way to hook 'em up.

One box would be self contained w/hard drive, rechargable Li-Ion and ethernet on board.

Another box would just sit between the PDA & a separate portable hard drive- ethernet on one side, USB host on the other. Instead of build-in ethernet, could even have a CF+ slot for ethernet or wireless card.

CPU in server can be wimpy ($cheap) if DMA controller well designed. Only powerful CPU is in PDA to run UI & mp3 CODEC.
-- morganw, Mar 03 2003

Nixvue http://www.nixvue.c...a/album2/index.html
Portable self-powered hard drive, but no PDA connection. [morganw, Oct 04 2004]

Er, carry a laptop to act as a hub?
-- phoenix, Mar 03 2003


Laptop (even subnotebook) is too big. I want something twice the size of a 2.5" laptop drive (largest other component is battery). Actually, this is still too big (I want an iPod), but there's too much of a premium on price & small GB in PC Card drives.

Also, some laptop ethernet adapters are too low-power to support a crossover cable-- they *require* a hub. This device would be designed for 1-to-1 "nets."
-- morganw, Mar 04 2003


the ethernet jack in the apple powerbook g4 not only has enough power for a crossover, it is autosensing so that you don't need a crossover cable; if it's plugged into another computer without a hub, it does the crossover itself.

you could use that.
-- urbanmatador, Mar 09 2003



random, halfbakery