Mini and running/working out?

[ugaguy2004]

For those of you who have mini's (lucky #######s..jk)- I was wondering-

how do they hold up for running?:confused:

I am a long distance runner, and I am tired of the measley 60 songs I have on my flash mp3 player (I think I'll get shot if I mention the brand name here ;) )

Supposedly, the small drive can handle regular abuse - perhaps with the arm band I won't notice any issues?

Thanks for any/all advice. I am new so go easy on me:D .

p.s.- for my fellow [poor] students (or people who want to save a #), go to Apple College Connection Site (http://www.apple.com/education/store) to get the mini for $229 (or other mac stuff)- just be able to find your university/college.

[enjoilax]

*jams powder into musket*

What? Oh! *puts musket away*

The mini is a flash drive so it shouldnt skip at all. And it should be awesome for lifting/running.

[ugaguy2004]

Don't mean to sound rude, but I thought the mini had a small (Hitachi/Cornice) hard disk drive? The cnet review of the mini makes it sound like it is.:confused:

If I am mistaken, I apologize for sounding rude .

[Kenny]

It's not flash, it's one of the new 4GB Microdrives (also used in the upcoming muvo2 and rio mp3 players).

[Nicky G]

Gosh, you are ALL wrong. ;)

It is not technically a "Microdrive," as I believe that is a brand name. It is however a real hard drive, a 1" hard drive at that.

The fact is, I have spoken with someone who has been running with the mini and he says it has not skipped once, even when running for more than 25 minutes. This is likely a combination of the smaller drive size, and slower speed at which the hard drive is spinning.

Also, apparently, if the mini _were_ to "lock up," it would not need to be rebooted like other iPods, but rather, it only goes into pause mode and just needs to be un-paused.

Should be a perfectly good solutionf or runners/joggers. I will know in a week or two when my Jam Jacket Pro mini w/ armband comes in -- at that point I will be jogging with the mini on a treadmill at 4.5 - 5 mph, and can offer some feedback.

[sunoxen]

Just got my minipod today, and took it out for the 8 mile loop run up in the mountains.

I clipped it on my shorts.

I must say, this is the greatest thing for workouts and running ever. Though it isn't as small as a small flash player, I like the balance of it. And the ability to reach down and click it through my shirt (It was snowing today) was great.

I've decided to get the armband. It will make navigation better, though I usually keep the same songs on there in my running playlist, configured by BPM.

Don't hesitate to get one. Though the weight might be bothersome for some runners, I was running with a sports walkman just a couple of years ago, so I don't see how people could complain. Again, the balance is great.

As for durability, it didn't skip once, or glitch-out or anything, even on a rocky mountain trail, so there you are.

[Messiahtosh]

I just took it running for 30 minutes on an indoor treadmill. It worked flawlessly and the armband made it comfortable and stable. I nervously checked the armband every so often just to make sure it had a firm grip on my new baby. Awesome product, highly reccomended!:)

[ChiTownAbs]

The bigger question is -- how many looks did you get at the gym with the mini? :D

[duffy]

Technically it is a Microdrive. The name was associated with IBM minature harddrives. Hitachi bought IBM's harddrive business along with the model names. The drive in the mini's is a Hitachi 4GB Microdrive. :)

I might go to the gym tomorrow to give it a test drive.

[ugaguy2004]

thanks for all the comments- just ordered mine last night (got a green:D )- looking forward to it.


I commented about the [overpriced] armband in the accessories forum...don't get me started.

:rolleyes:

[mark_wilkins]

I haven't yet run with my mini but it's probably at least as robust as my 40 GB, which never skips when I run, usually for between 30 and 50 minutes at a time.

The secret is holding it in my hand rather than leaving it in my pocket or on a belt clip. Probably the armband will be just as good. This allows my body to absorb most of the shock.

I'll be running w/ the mini tomorrow, and if anything happens I'll let you know, but otherwise I say go for it!

-- Mark

[ChiTownAbs]

I took the mini out for a workout at my gym yesterday. The mini has a very snug fit in the armband, and there is NO rattling at all. In fact, the fit is so good, that you could probably put the mini about 3/4's down the armband, and wouldn't have to worry about anything since it's not going anywhere.

[Mr94Supra]

Nice feedback fellas/ladies. Thats what I want the mini for...the gym. Question tho, can you put the mini in the armband backwards? Meaning the the face in towards your arm in the arm band? I have a minidisc player and I was prone to bump every so often into a machine in the gym when gettin in and out of them...

[ESPNdeportes]

Do you guys think that using the belt clip wit the mini while running is worse than using the armband? Ie, do you think it would cause more damage? It seems to me that running with the belt clip would cause the mini to take bigger blows......

Just wondering because I have never found armbands very comfortable, and would prefer to use the belt clip.

[mark_wilkins]

yeah, I think a lot of people who have had problems have used the belt clip. However, you could always hold it in your hand. That's worked out well for me too.

-- Mark

[jeromius]

I run about 3 miles every day on my treadmill, and I have yet to have it skip once. I even *gasp* dropped it today, and it didn't skip. So I think it'll hold up rather well.

[Starboard]

i didn't even need the arm band. the belt clip attached to my shorts waist band was really secure. the iPod didn't bounce around anymore than my body. Got a good 40 minutes run in this morning. I love it.

[adorable]

The HD used in the iPod Minis are "Microdrives" (TM).

Microdrives were first introduced to the market years ago by IBM Storage, a division later bought by Hitachi and the drivers are now sold as the Hitachi Microdrive.

If you look at the disassembly of the iPod Mini itself, you will see that there is a 4GB Microdrive inside. In fact, you cannot say that any other device (ie. not a Microdrive) is inside, because there is only 1 source of 4GB micro-sized HDs in the world in production at this time, the Hitachi Microdrive.

www.hgst.com has detailed information on these devices.

---

The following maximum shock specifications apply to the 4GB Hitachi Microdrive used in the iPod Mini.

Operating:
Shock (half sine wave) 200 G/2ms
Random Vibration (RMS) 0.67 G (5 - 500Hz)
Vibration (swept sine) 1.0 G 0 - Peak

Non-operating:
Shock (half sine wave) 2000 G/1ms
Random Vibration (RMS) 3.01 G (5 - 500Hz)
Vibration (swept sine) 5.0 G 0-Peak

In general, for running, you will look at the Random & Vibration shock maximums: here, up to about 1G. For reference, if you make a car turn so fast than it starts to skid, that's about 0.7-0.9G of force. Thus, for an arm swinging back and forth, you should be within the limits (but don't assume that; you can always do a pendulum calculation on the arm/body system to find out exactly what's involved).

That said, if you do silly things like drop the iPod and exceed the 200G operating shock value, you will damage things. Also, it may not survive if you've got it strapped to your BMX bike and jump the baby off a house roof <grin>.

Like anything, if you carry the iPod in your hands, it'll have a greater chance of experiencing higher momentary shock values than strapped to your body (hands move around fast and change direction quickly = lots of force applied to the HD during direction changes; body and upper arm takes time to move about = lower force applied).

As with any HD, don't expect it to last as long in motion. Just a fact of life and physics - motion tends to be hard on bearings, motors, and head mechanisms. So runners, get the AppleCare Warranty to cover early death.

How long? Who knows? Even Hitachi isn't waiting two or three years to see if in real-life, the 4GB Microdrives will break down with use that way. They just design it on paper, hope the specs. will hold up in real life, and go.

Of course, in a year or two, you can easily replace the 4GB Microdrive with a CompactFlash 4GB card (which will have dropped in price to be affordable), and then, never ever have to worry about the memory storage breaking - just the iPod itself. (assumes that Apple didn't do anything to prevent the use of CompactFlash cards in place of the Microdrive)