Portable Hard Drives

Does anyone use a portable hard drive to download their images while on a
photo expedition?

If you do, what model do you use and how is it working out for you?

 

I have a strong recommendation against using an iPod with the Belkin
Media Reader. Overall the idea is good, but it is slooooooow. Slow
enough that I'd rather buy more CF cards (the reader wasn't mine, it
was borrowed. Odd, since for other transfers the firewire port on the
the iPod is rather fast).

 

I have an old Nixvue 20 gig digital album.....only had to use it once.....so
far so good.

mark

 

I use a FlashTrax Device from SmartDisk that is pretty good aprt from battery consumption
(3hours of constant use ut at least it`s rechargeable!). It has a 40Gb Harddrive, 3 1/2inch
screen, will show jpeg,bmp & RAW files of many cameras & also play MP3 files & suitable
encoded AVI files (www.smartdisk.com for more details) Zol.

p.s. The 20Gb unit was out of stock when I bought mine but then the 40Gb model was only an
extra $40 (bought in the US) (Z)

 

I just bought the I/O Magic 20GB drive. Looked at a lot of them and this
was the best deal and seemed plenty adequate for what I needed (plus I
got a really good deal on the price). Can't tell you any more yet.

It certainly is easy to use.

 

Vosonic Xs-Drive II. So far without problems.

 

I use a Delkin Picture Pad. It has only a CF slot, so I use a 4-in-1 adaptor
to dump off my SD cards.
My current settings for jpg files off my Minolta Z1 are around 700k to
1Meg - and it transfers at around a picture per second (or a little less).
Quite adequate for me.
I use it often with friends that I meet on the road to show them my
pictures - mainly on a tv - as the little 1.5inch screen is a little
restrictive.
It also enables me to move and rename files with a windows-like interface.

It's only USB1.1 so it's not amazingly fast communicating with a host PC,
but if I wanted the speed, then I'd buy the USB2 or Firewire attachment.
Battery life is not what I would call amazing, however, 90% of the time I'm
around a power outlet. The manual claims quite a few transfers from a full
charge, however I've never had to do anymore than 2, as I have a couple of
256Meg SD cards, and it's a big day when I fill both of them.

The other big plus is that this unit is a "mass storage device" (same as the
Dimage Z1 camera).
This means that it requires no drivers on a PC (except for win95/98) - it
appears as another drive in windows explorer and can be used just like any
normal hard drive.
I use it for transferring large files from computer to computer, and also
have it stocked with software that I'm taking back to Australia with me from
various friends.

Only things I wish it had:
- bigger screen
- ability to play motion jpg files (MOV) because it's a bummer that I
can't view the little movies that I take with my Z1.

....that's my 2 cents worth.

-Craig

 

Most are too slow, or the hard drive can't be upgraded, or it needs an
expensive adaptor to read many memory card types, or is simply too
costly. The best buy out there, by far, is the amazing VOSONIC
X'S-DRIVE PRO VP300.

It reads every card currently out there, *without* having to buy an
expensive extra adaptor: Compactflash Card type I/II, Microdrive,
Smartmedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital, MultiMedia
Card, *and* xD cards. It also plays MP3s, but it's a worthless
afterthought implementation.

It does not have the absolutely fastest card reading speed out there,
but it's better than most. And, it's very fast transferring to/from
the PC, via USB2. Only thing that sucks: The damn LiIon battery. I
wish these things used standard AA NiMH cells, but I don't think any
current digital wallet uses AAs.

If you have an old spare laptop (2.5") hard drive, you can get the
VP300 *without* an installed hard drive for only $120+$5 s/h from
http://the-discount-shop.com/default.php?cPath=74 If you don't have a
spare laptop hard drive, it's still cheaper to get it without HD, and
buy one from someone on http://www.pricewatch.com/menus/m101.htm For
example, the savings is about $20 for a 20GB, $65 for a 40 GB, and $60
for a 60GB.