Compatible 128gb USB Flash drives?

[ukwildcat]

The USB does not remain ON, incidentally, but it will be powered starting when you unlock the vehicle. I haven't checked to see if it has a "timeout" period, such as if I unlock it and then leave it, but I imagine it won't stay on.

I've been using a (physically) tiny Crucial 32GB stick and speed is never a problem, but it seems to have more to do with how many songs are on it.

But this has me thinking.. Is a hard drive faster overall? SHOULDN'T be, but eh..

I was thinking of getting an iPod and keeping it in the cradle for the smartphone, because if I hook up my iPhone I always forget to take it with me (and my job is rough without the phone). Now I should consider more options, I guess..

I don't even know if the iPod will fit / work properly in the cradle.

[Tlon]

I was using my iPhone but have since switch to an iPod Classic 160GB. It works flawlessly. The startup times are instantaneous, and the playback is perfect, and it allows me to play Apple Lossless, which the built in player in car does not play. It also sends cover art. The only thing that would be cool would be if it played video when the car was stopped.

I bought a short black USB cable and it keeps the center console clutter down.

As ukwildcat said, the USB in the center console turns off after about 2 minutes. Strangely, though, it cycles back on after a 30-60 seconds, and seems to go through that cycle a couple of times, and then seems to turn off for good. It turns on immediately when the doors are unlocked, which probably helps with the playback speed.

The only downside I've noticed is that the car does not remember the iDrive state when I turn it off. That is, when I have the satellite radio on with navigation showing and turn the car off, when I turn it back on the car goes right back to playing satellite radio and showing the nav map. With the iPod, it goes right back to playing the last played song in the last played playlist, but takes me to the main menu rather than to the map, where I left off. The split screen display is often changed as well (I usually keep it on entertainment, but for some reason it goes back to vehicle info).

Otherwise, it's great.

[eugeneflim]

SSD drives are infinitely faster than sd cards. SD card speeds are up to 10 MB/s (Secure Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) best case, while SSD drives reach 250 MB/s (best case too). This transfer speed is irrelevant of course when music is playing, but it is important, when reading the whole directory with thousands of songs...