Portable memory storage on holidays (1 Viewer)

[Dave Williams]

A question for the computer experts amongst us, is this a viable option

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-n102s-netbook-13828785-pdt.html

In the past I have discounted the idea of buying a purpose built storage and viewing device on the grounds of cost preferring just to buy extra camera cards but I don't really want to buy any more as I don't want to invest in technology that might no longer be compatible with my future camera bodies. On a couple of occasions I have taken an external hard drive and card reader and transferred the photos using a hotel or internet cafe computer but that's not always possible either so I thought this might be the perfect answer as not only will it store my photo's but it will allow me to Skype home and browse the internet while I'm away.
I can't take a laptop as my hand luggage allowance is already a headache due to the weight of my camera gear but I thought I might be able to get away with this as it's lightweight and fits in to our document wallet that we keep tickets etc in ( Therefore it's not in the hand luggage when they weigh it )
It has 320gb of storage, the processor is 1.6ghz I think so that should be able to cope with image transfer shouldn't it ? It doesn't have to be lightening fast
It has enough USB points to transfer from card reader to external hard drive if needed too.
The only downside is that I can't load a RAW image viewer in it can I ? There isn't a disc reader/player so I can't down load my Canon DPP programme but that's probably a good thing because I would drive my wife Claire mad if I spent my evenings playing on that however, it is nice to do a spot check to make sure you are happy with what you are taking. It usually takes me a few days to be able to judge light conditions when I travel somewhere sunny.
Anyway, opinions would be gratefully received.
cheers Dave

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

When I go on trips I take a Samsung netbook with me for emailing and for storing pictures, writing notes etc. It does all these things perfectly well. You should be able to buy (or maybe borrow) an external CD drive pretty cheaply (I bought one for less than £20 a couple of years ago), which means you can download your Canon programme. Not sure about the RAW image viewer, though I'm also not clear why you think it wouldn't work.

 

[robinm]

I have a netbook for storing pics, keeping records etc and web/email access. It has a built in card reader. I also take a USB memory stick and back up all photos to that too.

 

[Dave Williams]

Thanks guys, appreciated.
It's not that long ago people were paying more than twice as much for a little photo viewer with only 32mb of storage. At least a netbook has other uses too.
I'm off to Curry's to pick one up !
Dave

 

[Gwynn]

For just viewing RAW files you could try this http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26829 or something like FastStone Image Viewer which you can download

Gwynn

 

[davercox]

And doesn't Irfanview support RAW ?

 

[GrahameNZ]

Hi Dave,
It will be easy enough to get DPP onto your netbook.
Just load it onto one of your SD cards on your computer then put it onto the netbook.
You could use a usb memory stick as well if you have one.

 

[Dave Williams]

Thanks everyone for your tips.
It did occur to me that my 16gb SD cards have a bigger memory than any discs.
I tried downloading the Canon codec but it wouldn't run because the screen resolution is too small, I then tried Windows Live Photo Viewer and the smaller of the two options offered works. The model of Notebook I have bought just sneaks inside the minimum required 1gb memory and 1.6ghz processor requirement.
It's a bit slower than my laptop but all in all I'm very impressed. Total weight 1kg but small enough to not to have it in my hand luggage when they weigh the bag!