I have a Touch and use it with an external server. It is a very solid performer in this capacity and I'm quite pleased with it.
However, in perhaps a half-dozen tries, I've never been successful in getting the built-in SBS to run well with an external drive with my full collection. (48,000 songs in variety of formats - mostly FLAC with some MP3, M4A and WMA) on either of my backups (Western Digital reformatted EXT3 so the "clever" and hidden add ons are a non-issue.) I have been successful when using USB Flash drives and memory cards, though none of those went past 8 GB.I've essentially lost interest in spending any more time trying to get it to work correctly as a stand-alone since my primary interest in owning it is to listen to music. It does that very well with the external server. The problem is the Touch is not ready as a consumer product for use as a standalone server with an external drive. No player meant for use by non-technical types should have the catalog of limitations and things to check listed in iPhone's message. Alternatively, Logitech should sell a "certified" external drive that people who are interested in this feature could purchase in order to bypass the experimentation and gotchas they frequently now encounter. It would also be fair to list tiny SBS as a beta feature, suitable for experimentation by the small, adventurous segment of buyers, but nothing more in my opinion. Interestingly, Logitech no longer highlights this as a stand-alone player for external USB hard drives. Under "Features" their web site states it can be used with USB flash drives and SD cards. The "specifications" page makes a slightly vague reference to "USB drives" but says nothing more. Perhaps if they would have taken this approach from the start there would have been fewer disappointed customers. -- mlsstl ------------------------------------------------------------------------ mlsstl's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9598 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=81784 _______________________________________________ Touch mailing list Touch@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/touch
