Portable Storage Devices

[I4ani]

Hi,
Any body got one, or used one, normally I take a laptop to download images to, but would like to/need to cut down on weight, so considering one.
Thanks in advance
I4ani

[postcardcv]

I've got and use a Flashtrax XT, it's very straight forward to use and with a 40gb harddrive is handy for a few days away. Download speed from a CF card is quick enough (~8mins for 2gb card) and uploading to the pc is also very swift. The only negative for me is the shockingly bad quality of the screen, I certainly wouldn't trust it to evaluate images on. The only use I give the screen is checking a card has downloaded before re-using it. From what I've seen the Epsoms have much better screens so if you need that it would be worth paying out for one, if not then save some cash and get a cheaper model.

[I4ani]

Hi Postcardcv,

Many thanks for reply, not to concerned about view quality as long as it shows it is transferring the images, but what about the power source, is it a rechargable battery (how long does/will it last)?
2.Can it be recharged from car socket/mains or both?
3. Any ideas as to the down load capacity (gigs) for a full battery charge? ie, download one in number 4 gig card, is a recharge is required?
Sorry to burden you with queries, but you are the only one to answer so far.
Many thanks again for your input.
Cheers I4ani

[simon]

[QUOTE=I4ani;1092829]Hi Postcardcv,

Many thanks for reply, not to concerned about view quality as long as it shows it is transferring the images, but what about the power source, is it a rechargable battery (how long does/will it last)?
2.Can it be recharged from car socket/mains or both?
3. Any ideas as to the down load capacity (gigs) for a full battery charge? ie, download one in number 4 gig card, is a recharge is required?
Sorry to burden you with queries, but you are the only one to answer so far.
Many thanks again for your input.
Cheers I4ani[/QUOTE


Hi I4ani

The flashtrax does has a Lithium ion rechareable battery which seems to hold up quite well but i've not used mine to much as yet. They come with a mains charger you can buy a vehicle charger as an extra , i bought mine thro Warehouse express but they don't seem to sell them any more. Check out this link

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/photo/flashcards/mass.html

for other options

[I4ani]

Thanks Simon, will do as suggested.
cherrs I4ani

[postcardcv]

I see Simon has answer about the car charger (I've not bothered getting one). As for battery life, it's fairly good. I've not tested it extensively but have loaded ~15gb on it and it wasn't giving up, at that stage I recharged to be on the safe side.

[I4ani]

Thanks Postcardcv,
As long as I can download 3 or so 4 gig cards per charge I think that will do.
many thanks I4ani

[Markulous]

As a side note on in-car recharging: I use an invertor (12v->240v) and just take my mains chargers for camera, laptop, photo bank, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all! |=)|

[I4ani]

Thanks Markulous,
regards I4ani.

[Swissboy]

I have been using a Vosonic VP8360 for my recent 3-month trip. Been very pleased with it. The screen is not as good as on an Epson, but it is much more compact and cheaper. It comes with different hard drives. I ordered one with 160 GB, but I only filled about 50. Mainly due to the many short films I took. Otherwise (i.e. without videos), much less capacity would have been sufficient. Anyway, it's good to have spare space. The same device is, apparently, sold under different names, e.g. Wolverine. Vosonic also has cheaper models without a picture-checking screen. I originally intended to buy one of those. But I'm glad I spent a bit more as this gave me peace of mind actually seeing the downloaded pictures. I bought a spare battery, but never needed it. Two or three 2GB SD cards should be downloadable with one charge, plus some viewing. It came - aside from the usual - with a convenient stand (which I left at home), a fine sturdy box (which had room to also store extra cards and the spare battery) and with a car plug-in connecting cable.

[I4ani]

Many thanks Swissboy, I will look at the spec/price and compare it wih some of the others I have short listed.
regrads I4ani
PS just checked spec , which says it takes raw (but certain models) does this include Nikon NEF?

[Markulous]

PS just checked spec , which says it takes raw (but certain models) does this include Nikon NEF?

You'd need to check - especially for your specific camera model.

I never had this problem as no one supports the Sigma SD10, so got an Archos AV140 (mainly for MP3s but handled my trek and trip to Oz) and latterly, XDrive (purely for backup of SD10 and Canon 350D)

[Swissboy]

Many thanks Swissboy, I will look at the spec/price and compare it wih some of the others I have short listed.
regrads I4ani
PS just checked spec , which says it takes raw (but certain models) does this include Nikon NEF?

All I can say, it worked very well with my Panasonic FZ8, both stills and videos. But I never tried RAWs.

[I4ani]

Markalous and Swissboy,
thanks to you both for the input, I am still looking, and will make a decision soon, "best cheapest" will win no doubt, still thinking if I really need to see the play back of the images which some offer.!!
regards I4ani.

[Sleeper]

Hi
I have been looking at the Archos range of PMP

Excellent screen and reasonable prices which also offer other facilities.

Anybody got any experience with these?

http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5/archos_705wifi/index.html?country=global&lang=en

[Swissboy]

Hi
I have been looking at the Archos range of PMP

Excellent screen and reasonable prices which also offer other facilities.

Anybody got any experience with these?

http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5/archos_705wifi/index.html?country=global&lang=en

Looks way too big for what I wanted. My Vosonic measures only about 13.5x7.5 cm. The screen is about 9 cm diagonal. So the 405 Archos would be about the same with respect to screen size.

[Sleeper]

What about the 605? Seems quite thin to.

[baillieswells]

I have been using the Vosonic VP8390 which has a brighter screen than the VP8360.One can view both JPEG and RAW photos, and I think TIFF (which I do not use). When on holiday I back up my CF cards each evening, but have enough cards not to have to erase any. This means the Vosonic is being used as a back up copy, as well as a viewer. I prefer to download after connecting it to the mains, and if abroad have a mains adapter. This also keeps the battery fully charged, in case I wish to download in the field. I do have a spare battery, I bought a Uniross which is much cheaper than a spare Vosonic battery.

[Swissboy]

I have been using the Vosonic VP8390 which has a brighter screen than the VP8360.One can view both JPEG and RAW photos, and I think TIFF (which I do not use). When on holiday I back up my CF cards each evening, but have enough cards not to have to erase any. This means the Vosonic is being used as a back up copy, as well as a viewer. I prefer to download after connecting it to the mains, and if abroad have a mains adapter. This also keeps the battery fully charged, in case I wish to download in the field. I do have a spare battery, I bought a Uniross which is much cheaper than a spare Vosonic battery.

I suppose the VP8390 is in the range of the Archos 605. Both seem excellent if you want to use them for display purposes as well. In my case it was mainly making sure the download had worked OK. So in the end, it also depends on how much you want to spend. I'd certainly not get the VP8360 which I have if looking at the pictures were a major reason for getting it. I really wanted a compact, sturdy and reliable storage device, but one with capacity to spare and with a display to check if it had worked. And of course, every few months there is a better model for the same price.

[postcardcv]

there are some bargain portable storage devices in the WHE sale - http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/specials/Jansale.html a 20gb Flashtrax XT for £40 seems like a steal to me.

[Bjornpdx]

Hi,
Any body got one, or used one, normally I take a laptop to download images to, but would like to/need to cut down on weight, so considering one.
Thanks in advance
I4ani



I've been using a Digimate 3 for a while. There's no photo display and you have to provide your own hard drive (2.5in). It does show you that data is being transferred, though, and it has a battery level display. I had an old lap top hard drive that I installed and it works great.
Costs about $36. I just noticed that they seem to be out of them at the moment.

http://www.meritline.com/usb2-0-digi-mate3.html

[Leo S]

I've been very happy with my PD70X : http://www.compactdrive.com/product_info.php?products_id=31