Portable Media Player instead of thumb drive

[mgriffen]

So I got a solar battery/phone charger for Christmas. Its not the goal zero but its a bit smaller and had good reviews. So I was thinking... I already have a 32GB USB stick in my bag but i would have to get to some kind of terminal to use the data there, and thats IF the power is working. Why not get a portable media player like an ipod to store all the data you would put on an usb stick. The thing is I hate apple and the ipod does not accept micro SD cards. So I found the Galaxy Player 5.0. It claims to play HD video for up to 8 hours and plays music for up to 60Hours!! on a fully charged battery. I think having one of these with as many micro SD cards with as much data you could imagine would be awesome. I mean if you could bring up every survival/medical/identification book ever printed wherever you are would be a pretty big help. If you keep it in a waterproof/shockproof case and only use it when you really need it. I think it might be a key component to my survival kit.
What do yall think? Is there a better media player out there than the Galaxy? Is there a major problem I am not thinking of?


(If this has been posted before, GREAT! I searched and didn't find it.)

[bighanded]

so, yes, "disasters" can come in many forms, shapes, n sizes...

for example, a flight delay.. or an emergency run to the hospital and a long wait in the waiting room

many reasons where having some entertainment can help pass the day but it's not an end of world thing and there is still power, web traffic, etc to be had.

i've enjoyed movies on my ipad and iphone as well as some reading literature.

either device lasts plenty long enough and i keep spare battery packs to allow me to do a recharge if need be.
Since my iphone is on me always, it's a part of my daily carry...and my ipad usually is as well.
I don't see them as part of a long term end of world device but with a solar charger I can imagine a group of kids huddling around a movie on the ipad...but even better would be real stories told by their loving elders.

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by bighanded

I don't see them as part of a long term end of world device but with a solar charger I can imagine a group of kids huddling around a movie on the ipad...but even better would be real stories told by their loving elders.

I'm not thinking of using it so much as an entertainment device but more of a way to store a whole library of useful information in the space and weight of an ipod. Including pics of loved ones and personal info. And yeah I guess some music is always a good morale booster. For now I have my android phone, personal computer, big screen tv (etc...) But those items are either too big to pac or drain battery so fast its not worth it. A small non-cellular device that you can view all different types of media on and has a good battery life paired with a solar charger seems like an important tool.

[The Saint]

I carry all my important documents on a secure thumb drive.

Drivers lic,
birth certificates, Passports,
bank info,
tax info,
all our pictures etc.
as well as all my recipes and several survival books.

all scanned in the common .PDF format.
anything that we cannot grab in the 10 mins it would take us to bug out with our BOBs.

I have been experimenting with an iPad for post SHTF operation but so far Im am not happy with how difficult it is to get info from the thumb drive to the iPad.

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by The Saint

I have been experimenting with an iPad for post SHTF operation but so far Im am not happy with how difficult it is to get info from the thumb drive to the iPad.

This is exactly why I am looking into the Galaxy Player 5.0
1) Apple sucks, you can't put an MicroSD chip into it.
2) You pretty much have to use itunes to do anything with them
3) The battery drain on an ipad is rediculous compared to a small device
4) tablets/ipads are too big and fragile

I'm telling you a android based portable media player is the way to go. 60 Hours of continuous mp3 playback!! (not that music is what I would use it for but that means you can probably keep it charged for days on end if you just use it to reference important information)

[bpitt1237]

Dumb question, but can the Galaxy player display PDF files? Can you read on it?

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by bpitt1237

Dumb question, but can the Galaxy player display PDF files? Can you read on it?

Yeah. You can have all the books ever written... well all the important ones at least and have them at your fingertips. It can display alot more than pdf files, and audio and video. and it has a mic for video chat or just recording your thoughts... Its like a smart phone without the phone part. and the battery last like a million times longer than a smart phone.

[The Saint]

Originally Posted by mgriffen

This is exactly why I am looking into the Galaxy Player 5.0
1) Apple sucks, you can't put an MicroSD chip into it.
2) You pretty much have to use itunes to do anything with them
3) The battery drain on an ipad is rediculous compared to a small device
4) tablets/ipads are too big and fragile

I'm telling you a android based portable media player is the way to go. 60 Hours of continuous mp3 playback!! (not that music is what I would use it for but that means you can probably keep it charged for days on end if you just use it to reference important information)

good info thanks.

[tripsigg]

I've got a no name Android tablet that does the media playing stuff, but has a pdf viewer and jpg viewer. It lasts for hours and hours on a single charge and I can use it with my external power brick. Add to that the ability to plug in SD cards or flash drives to it.

[ShellbackBill]

Check Ebay and Amazon, you can find generic android tablets for around $80.

They take MicroSDs up to 32 Gig.

And do anything you expect a smart phone to do except make phone calls. The 7 inch sizes are big enough without being too big.

Combine one with a solar charger and you got a pretty good SHTF data storage, and entertainment device.

[mec183]

I have a nexus 7 seems to work well but have to have adapter cable to go from micro to standard USB for a stick. My wife has a galaxy note that would fit the bill too.

[bpitt1237]

I've got one of the generic Andriod tablets. A Zeki brand 7 inch. Got it on sale for like $60. It has a micro sd slot and it reads PDF and ePub. It has a web browser and plays music, the usual stuff. I use it as an e-reader as I travel a lot for my job. It performs that function well. I will say, however, that the web browser is slow. It seems to last a few hours on one charge, and seems to recharge within an hour or two. Not too bad for $60. I've installed Netflix on it as we'll as the weather channel app. They work okay.

[mgriffen]

I think the tablets are great, especially those that yall found for less than 100 buck, and they are probably easier to read from because they are a little bigger (7inch I think)
The only thing Im thinking is that they might be a little too big and or fragile. Some of the tablets require a certain voltage to charge and wont be able to take advantage of solar charger. The Galaxy player and or similar media device is only 4 to 5 inches like an ipod. Easier to pack, dont have to worry about screen as much, not quite as easy to read from because of smaller size but probably has longest lasting battery because its smaller.
I will still keep a USB stick with important info, but having a media player makes alot of sense, especially if the SHTF and you can no longer access a computer to stick your usb into.

[mongo]

My wife has a nook that would be perfect for storing books on (duh) and the battery seems to last weeks.

[fido0311]

Although you don't like Apple Ill still give an honest opinion and not try to steer you wrong I find the Sony MP3/4 players are a great storage device. They hold files from video to pictures, even some docs. But I would still have to encourage you to think about an Apple product

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by fido0311

But I would still have to encourage you to think about an Apple product

So I do some PC repair in my small town, and it requires me to usually be on the phone alot with someone that can barley speak English and doesn't give a crap about me or my customer. One time I did a little work on an Mac book and I had to call customer service. Holy cow I got a guy that spoke perfect, fluent English that I could understand and was really nice and helpful and understanding with the issue. So I give apple customer support a big thumbs up
But.... Its really just preference. I don't like apple because they force you to use Apple app store and I tunes and so on. You can only sync with one computer at a time. Its really difficult to transfer downloaded media not from itunes and hope it stays on the device, if you have to do an OS update or something similar. Lost lots of stuff when updating an ipod. Then again maybe it is my lack of knowledge with the ios platform.
I think the number one reason why I wouldn't choose a ipod for this particular use is that it does not accept SD cards of any form. Nor does it have any other choices for auxiliary I/O...(HDMI, Micro USB, etc...)
The whole point of carrying a USB stick in your BOB is because you can store alot of important information on it without taking up much space or weight. But I posit that its only useful if you can find a working terminal. So the solution is to have a SMALL and LIGHT portable media device that accepts SD cards. If you have access to SD cards then you can fill as many of those little suckers up with as much information as you could possibly imagine. Pair that with something like the Rothco solar battery charger and you are good to go..... Until something breaks... Which it will....

[ONGU]

Originally Posted by mgriffen

I'm not thinking of using it so much as an entertainment device but more of a way to store a whole library of useful information in the space and weight of an ipod.

Because of the excellent battery life I have a hard time thinking a Nook or Kobo e-reader (both have expansion slots) wouldn't be a better choice. For pure document storage, even the Kindle will hold a ton even without an expansion slot. Best choice may be both.

[txflyboy]

I have a Galaxy II android phone. If I get one of these $1.99 micro to usb adapters, that should work with all thumb drives for .pdf files and others yes?

This way, you carry one device to play all thumb drives and have a phone too.

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by txflyboy

I have a Galaxy II android phone. If I get one of these $1.99 micro to usb adapters, that should work with all thumb drives for .pdf files and others yes?

This way, you carry one device to play all thumb drives and have a phone too.

YES. You should be able to plug your usb stick into the adapter and presto, access to anything the phone can read out of it.

I'm actually going to order one of those right now for myself!

[mgriffen]

Originally Posted by ONGU

Because of the excellent battery life I have a hard time thinking a Nook or Kobo e-reader (both have expansion slots) wouldn't be a better choice. For pure document storage, even the Kindle will hold a ton even without an expansion slot. Best choice may be both.

Yeah a Nook might be the way. especially if you already have one! Its a little bit bigger than the smaller media player, but as long as you can get a good solid waterproof case and it doesn't take up too much room in the bag.
I feel like the smaller the device the less chance you'll have of breaking it, but that's just my opinion.