> > That's sort of where I was going. However I'd keep the > firmware SD internal as a microSD card. Doing so removes > confusion over which is which albeit at the compromise of > a second user accessible slot. > > microSD has become quite cheap and a microSD socket will > add less than US$1 to the BOM cost. The PCB footprint > even including mounted card isn't much greater than a 56 > pin TSSOP flash part yet provides the trivial upgrade/replacement > option as above. > > -john > > -- > [email protected]
I have found there are 4 things that will most commonly render a portable music player unusable: 1) obsolescence, 2) defective internal storage, 3) damaged LCD screen, and 4) damaged headphone jack. You're going a long ways towards fending off 1 and 2 by using a standard type of memory card in place of a soldered in on-board memory chip, especially if you provide that 2nd expansion slot, since doing so allows for twice as much potential future memory expansion. For 3 and 4, if I were designing a player I would want to first build it like a tank, but also make the LCD and headphone jacks both easily user-replaceable. This means the LCD should be connected to the system board via some sort of socket rather than being soldered in directly -- and the LCD used should be the same used on some popular brand and model that the user could acquire in order to scavenge a replacement LCD. Similarly, the headphone jack should be of some standard type that is connected to the system board via lead wires, which can easily be spliced into when replacing a bad jack. --Mark _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_allup_1a_explore_042009
