What MP3 player works best in altitude and cold weather?

Question

My husband is going to climb some 6000-7000 meter peaks this summer and I want to get him an MP3 player so he can listen to music and look at pictures and videos of me and the kids on his trip.

My main concern is the harsh conditions. I think he will mostly want to use it in the evenings in the tent, so it won't be directly outside in the freezing cold. On the other hand, it has to survive long days in the backpack and will be at high altitude for a prolonged period (weeks).

Other priorities are ease of use, battery life, and reliability. My husband is not too tech-savvy and doesn't care about lots of features and gimmicks.

Answer 1

Any of several mp3 players will do. The ever popular iPod Touch for example. I'm not a fan of Apple's iTunes software but their players do have nice screens for viewing videos and photographs (and plenty of internal memory for those video clips).



The altitude won't be an issue but the extreme cold will be. Low temperatures play havoc on the battery life of electronic devices. (That goes for his camera, phone, etc., too.) And obviously delicate electronic devices don't respond well to being slammed around.



So if the mp3 player will be in the backpack, buy or improvise a hard case. The screen will always be a weak point, no matter how rugged the rest of the device is. Simply wrapping the mp3 player in a sock might not provide sufficient protection.



If he'll be away from civilization (i.e. recharging opportunities) for just a few days, he can also consider keeping the mp3 player close to his body. As an added benefit, his body heat will prolong the battery life. If he'll be away for a week or more, the backpack it is. And in that case also add a solar charger to the budget.



Solar charger come in various models. There's everything from fancy small ones like this http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/freeloader-solar-chargers.htm for $80, to DIY jobs like this: http://yosemiteoutside.com/m/Blogs/02EA4A6B-8893-4F3E-87A8-C1E4B24C3AAB.html



I'm sure you'll get more good suggestions here, but for further input try posting this question in the Consumer Electronics section.

---

BB, iPod Touch models use flash memory instead of hard drives, so no worries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod_Touch#Specifications

---

InTheShadows, the iPod Touch also has a lithium battery :-)

Answer 2

It doesn't tend to be the MP3 player that is the problem, as it is the power source.



Ones that have their own internal battery are not necessarily the best at high altitude; instead you want one that runs on removable batteries. To be sure that they will work at high altitude, go for the same type (usually lithium) that climbers use in their headtorches.



Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Avoid Ipods when you want the mp3 player to work at higher elevations...Ipod uses a hardrive and the cold and altitude affect the spinning of the harddrive. Look for any MP3 player that uses a solid state memory..no harddrive.

Answer 4

Put a mp3 cover over it and buy him a samsung mp3 player

Answer 5

SONY, i have found that they tend to have the least amount of damages when going on high altitude trips and they are very durable.

Answer 6

any model from jensen or sony but preferablly jensen i have had the same jensen model for almost 8 years and it works just fine snowboarding walks in the winter and all that good stuff

Answer 7

Hey want to go climb that mountain?



Sure, and if you fall and scream for help I'll be blasting my mp3 player.



Don't use it!