Flash Trax Users

[TREVOR GUY]

I'm thinking of buying a mutimedia storage device so that I dont have to buy too many flash cards.The Flash Trax 40Gb looks a good buy at £229.00. Does anyone have any experiencc? Pro's / Cons etc. Any help would be appreciated.

[Robert L Jarvis]

I'm thinking of buying a mutimedia storage device so that I dont have to buy too many flash cards.The Flash Trax 40Gb looks a good buy at £229.00. Does anyone have any experiencc? Pro's / Cons etc. Any help would be appreciated.

I have one which I bought last year so it is the old model.

I have used it extensively on Hols to store pictures and had no problems. Also very easy to download from the memory cards but does accept Sony sticks. I also put on all the birdsongs I needed in mp3 format and found on replay the inbuilt speaker was loud enough so did not need external speaker.
Howver the battery does not last long on mine and has to be recharged about every 4 days or so depending on use. This may now have been improved.

There was another thread recently on here where a couple of folk had experienced problems with the machine ceasing to function and making it difficult to retrieve data. I though have had no problems to date, touch wood.

Operates on your PC as an external drive connected via USB again no problems.

Robert

[TREVOR GUY]

Thanks Robert
Does it come with a standard battery or are spares available. Can it be used direct from the mains supply through the charger?
Trevor

I have one which I bought last year so it is the old model.

I have used it extensively on Hols to store pictures and had no problems. Also very easy to download from the memory cards but does accept Sony sticks. I also put on all the birdsongs I needed in mp3 format and found on replay the inbuilt speaker was loud enough so did not need external speaker.
Howver the battery does not last long on mine and has to be recharged about every 4 days or so depending on use. This may now have been improved.

There was another thread recently on here where a couple of folk had experienced problems with the machine ceasing to function and making it difficult to retrieve data. I though have had no problems to date, touch wood.

Operates on your PC as an external drive connected via USB again no problems.

Robert

[IanF]

I've been considering one as well. Either the Flash Trax or the Epson P2000 which seems to get the better reviews and with the P4000 being launched it may be discounted soon ;)

[Keith Reeder]

If you're only interested in mobile storage, as opposed to bells and whistles, I don't see how you could do much better than this http://www.usbtech.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/184 for £105.

It holds up quite well against the Epson in this review: http://www.usbtech.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/184

[kennygee]

Trevor

I have one of these (http://www.xsdrive2xl.com/) and am very happy wih it. It operates from the mains via the battery charger. No review of photos on the device but gets the job done. Also acts as additional USB hard drive.

Cheers

Ken

[IanF]

They both look a better proposition price wise unless the P2000 takes a steep dip in price.

I'm mainly looking for storage for when away for the weekend or a couple of weeks holiday. I had thought I'd still need a screen to view and delete the photos I didn't want but I dare say at a saving of £200 I could make do with the camera LCD ;)

Both these devices look good alternatives.

[compa]

I have the Flash Trax XT 80Gig and have used it a bit on vacations.

Transfers from CF card to the Flash Trax is a bit slow - you will need to be using more than 1 CF card.

The display is OK to see that the file was transferred and you can identify the shot - but not for any critical examination of the image.

The Mp3, FM and video player is great on planes and such

Battery life was OK - nothing special - I used it mostly in the motel room - connected to AC most of the time. The batteries last longer if you put your mp3s on a CF card - the hard drive doesn't have to run when you play them.

The batteries are built in - non-standard

Bottom line - it works - nothing special - if you just want storage and no viewer there are cheaper options - There should be something better out there. If not now, then soon!

[ed keeble]

I had a close-to-new Flashtrax fatally conk out (drive apparently) on a long foreign trip- but to my knoweldge no-one has reported similar problems. So it's a reminder to keep a separate flash card back-up not of all pics but maybe just of your top 10 or so on the trip, so that all is not lost in the Armaggedon situation.

[Robert L Jarvis]

I agree if you just want to store phoos get one of the cheaper units. About reviewing or editing, there is so mush space this can be left until you get babk home and your pc.

I used my flashtrax in the wild playing birdsong, you can if you want connect an external speaker. But with having the flashtrax I did not need to carry a cd player and cds.

On the flahtrax you can view the photos in full screen and zoom them up to check them out if you want, but the lcd sceen is not up to giving pin sharp detail.

The battery is a buggar though, you can get spares, alternatively if you are able recharge overnight or alternat nights

If you want a measure of versatility then the flashtrax can provid where the straight storage kits can't. It is all down to exactly what you want. As for saving some of your special images on the memory card, then you may as well have dozens of cards rather than a storage system.

[mw_aurora]

If you're only interested in mobile storage, as opposed to bells and whistles, I don't see how you could do much better than this http://www.usbtech.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/184 for £105.

It holds up quite well against the Epson in this review: http://www.usbtech.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/30/products_id/184

I have just bought the Jobo 'Giga One' - which looks very similar to the one in Keith's link above - with 30Gb (£99 @ Warehouse Express). I decided on this because I didn't really want the bells and whistles found in a Flash Trax - the most important thing was easy storage when on holiday/travelling and therefore less things to go wrong!

I haven't used it 'in anger' yet but it copied a CF card with 680 mb of pics quite quickly.

Cheers Mark.

[Keith Reeder]

Hi Mark,

yeah, I noticed that little thing in a WE catalogue I got yesterday with my CCD cleaning kit.

Looks good, as does the price.