Using iPods and External Hard drives at altitude

Hi

I had my ipod in Tibet last year (a 60gb photo Ipod). First day in Lhasa (3600m) and the damned thing wouldn't work. I listened to 5 songs and then the Ipod crashed. I met lots of people who had the same problem as I. Apparently, some IPods{ the hard drive work on an air cushion and high altitude (i.e lower atmospheric pressure) buggers them.

I was in Patagonia a couple of months ago and again I had problems with my Ipod (a totally new 60 Gb photo Ipod as I had to replace the one I used in Tibet). It wasn't the altitude this time but vibrations. I was cycling with my girlfriend (on the Carretera Austral - a very bumpy unpaved road) and after two days, this new Ipod was dead. Really annoying. My girlfriend was using a Sony mp3 player (20GB) and after cycling 3000km to Ushuaia on very bad roads, it is still perfectly working.

In conclusion, Ipod are far too fragile for any 'rough' travelling. Get something else. It's a real shame as I really like Ipods (design, usability...), but as far as I'm concerned I will use them in the confort of my home and not for travelling.

Hope this helps.

DOM

Can I just check with this.... does the ipod ever work again once it's been that high?
Or is it just you can't use them when you're that high?

last time I was in LP, my Ipod wouldn't work and I thought it was because the electricity system in the house we're staying was so old, that the connection to recharge it did not last enough. Now in the US it's working fine again, so I'm not sure that is the drives so much as the quality of electric installations?

I have a Virgin MP3 player with internal harddrive which works fine in central La Paz (3600m), as do the (internal hard drive) iPods of most of my mates, although one had an iPod go pop at this elevation. Solid state players are not generally affected as it's something to do with a change in electrical resistance between drive platters as a result of reduced air pressure (around 70% of normal at these altitudes, and reducing exponentially as height is gained). However, I've heard several tales of folk busting their (IHD) MP3s/iPods at the airport up in El Alto (4060m), so it's getting a wee bit marginal approaching 4000m for sure.

I had a lens problem with my Canon camcorder after staying for a night and a day above 5000 m. A bubble appeared in the lens (I didn´t know there was a liquid inside the lens). Now I have a Sony with a 30 GB hard disk, and the manual says I can´t use it above 3000 m. As I used my Canon many times at above 4000m before, but for just a few hours, I think it is safe for a short time.

The problem are the gaskets in lens and hard drives, they are designed for some difference in air pressure inside and outside to assure tightness, and probably 3000 m is the limit. The same with watches, now I have a watch which measures altitude up to 10000 m, so it is safe at any altitude I would ever go.

Apparently this only happens with I-pod's/MP3 players with a hard-drive & not with Flash-based-players. Ofcourse the main disadvantage (for me) would be that you can only get those up to 8 Gig instead of 30-60 Gig for the others.
On the other hand it's pretty risky to put all you photos on your "I-pod-device", because if this get's stolen or damaged, than you stand to lose everything all at once...

I'm still thinking about which one to buy for my trip to Peru-Bolovia-Brazil-Colombia-Ecuador. All advice on this matter is very welcome!!

PS I have a decent discman that can play mp3-cd-roms but as I'm travelling alone I think this + cd-case will take up a lot of (unnecessary?) space & weight...

My new Gen 30GB ipod worked fine all the way through Bolivia and Peru this year - including passes up and over 4500m. But some of my mates had theirs crash - generally older ipods though.

I did a little research on this as I've just bought a new ipod and am planning on taking to La Paz and Cusco.
It appears this is due to the head on the hard drive "floating" on a small aerofoil and when you get up higher where the air is thinner it is harder for it to "float".
This can cause it to touch the disc and hence the clunking noise you hear.
Although it's difficult to avoid unless the case is very well sealed, most of the drives are designed so that it shouldn't cause any lasting damage and will return to normal when you descend to lower altitude.

to #8: which one did you buy & why?