Portable Storage

[Squeaky]

I have just been reading a 'posting' about an Iomega 'Fotoshow' device for downloading my 'cards' to whilst on holiday .... I may be a bit 'tic' but do not seem to be able to find much information about it and cannot find any on sale in the U.K.

When taken at 'Raw' the 10D will quickly eat up my existing stock of cards.

I usually take about 40-50 shots each day and I am considering goint to Thailand for about three weeks.

Any ideas?

[Longwatcher]

I went to the iomega site (US version)
Iomega fotoshow was in their legacy department, meaning no longer sold. looked fairly antique in terms of capacity. It basically functioned as a Iomega 250MB zip drive. Most of my CF cards I use have more capacity then that.

I recommend an X-drive (for price) or a Picture Pad (Delkin or Nixvue (I have the Delkin version) for features. Each of them have a 20+gig capacity, with the picture pad running with 60gig versions. The x-drive has whatever the current laptop drive capacities are at.

I have used a 30gig Delkin Picture Pad for nearly a year now and my only complaint had been the internal battery. I recently got the USB2.0 attachment (they also have a firewire attachement) and I picked up a "AA" battery pack so no more loss of power issues. Very reliable. The newer versions have a full (file-to-file comparison) or quick verify (file name comparison). I have always used quick verify with no attributable loss of images from the picture pad. The latest firmware for the picture pad also allows viewing of 10D RAW files on the device or connected TV. You can also do slide show viewing on a TV (although it goes somewhat slowly).

The X-drive is essently a multi-card reader (including CF cards) and a portable laptop hardrive. No additional features.

I highly recommend the Picture Pad, but the X-drive is about half the price.

[RichardSimon]

About a month ago, I purchased an empty X-Drive (the VP2060) and loaded it with a 40Gbyte hard drive. The cost was around $100 for the X-Drive, and ~$120 for the disk. The X-Drive included a nice case, and power adapters for AC and DC (12V automobile) operation.

My experience has been very positive. I usually shoot with a 1 GByte IBM microdrive; the battery on the X-Drive could easily do 4 - 6 full downloads from the microdrive before needing a recharge (and it has a meter to warn you if the battery is getting low). It takes around 10-15 minutes for the X-Drive to copy a full 1GByte IBM microdrive to the 40GByte disk I installed in the X-Drive.

I take the X-Drive with me everywhere, so I never have to worry about running out of storage. On a recent trip to Aruba, 1500 Raw files used ~12GBytes of the 40GByte capacity. If you take 50 shots/day for 3 weeks in Thailand, a 20GByte drive would work for you.

It was extremely easy to install the 40Gb hard drive into the X-Drive case. The X-Drive worked well with both a Windows ME machine and a Windows 2000 machine. I didn't need to install any extra software drivers.

Some things to be aware of when using the X-Drive:
(1) Mine seems to be very sensitive when copying files - bumping the unit almost always causes an error. I don't know if this is related to the microdrive, the brand of hard disk or both; the solution is to set it down, or hold it gently while copying.
(2) I try to keep an eye (or ear) on it when copying, so I can confirm if the operation ended in success; there is no way to review the files on the X-Drive without a computer. After copying the files from my camera, the next step is to delete all the files from the CF card!
(3) I haven't tried it at USB 2.0; at USB 1.1 it seems to move files about as fast as my microdrive.
(4) There is no way (without a computer) to determine how much space is left on the x-Drive. Instead, one must keep track of the number of times files are copied over, to give an approximate estimate.

Have a nice trip!

[Longwatcher]

Based on the above info on the X-drive.
I should let you know that the picture pad has a display screen so you can review files, see pictures, see how much room is left. delete individual files or folders. copy files/folders to a CF card (very useful to me as I use the same cards in my ipaq to listen to music, which I store on the picture pad). It also lets you know the progress of a download, verify and then delete the card.

I also have downloaded files while having it stowed in my bag while walking. worked fine, but it does seem to take longer, which leads me to suspect there is some form of bit error checking during downloading, preventing errors. Definately can handle some roughness.

I am only using 256meg cards, but they take 2-3 minutes each so if it holds a 1gig would take 8-12 minutes to download (about the same time).

Obviously I am a fan of the picture pad.
Current price listing are
$440 for 20gig
$500 for 30gig (what I have)
$550 for 40gig
$640 for 60gig (I don't think they have a 50gig)

The negative (other then price) versus the x-drive. The picture pad does not have native USB2.0 support (just 1.1) or accept anything other then CF cards except as an accessory. The accessories allow USB 2.0, firewire, and all card types (I think). They run about average of $50-75 each type.

The Nixvue versions seem to be about $30 cheaper.
The only differenc I am aware of between the two is the Nixvue is silver and says Nixvue. The Delkin is shiny black and says Delkin.

[CyberDyneSystems]

The photoshow has more features for sure.

I went with the X-drive for price and USB 2.0 since my PC has it,. and the USB transfer to the PC is FAST.

Either way,. even with the Photoshows higher privce,. on a doller per gigabyte basis they are dirt cheap compaered to flash cards and so much easier to bring with you than a laptop.

[mjordan]

I like the Image Tank G2. It doesn't have a display for images, but has a lot of other features. Here is a run down on it:

* USB Mass Storage Compliant
* Fast USB 2.0 Interface
* Backlit LCD panel
* Saves on buying extra memory cards
* Firmware updates available via download from website
* Supports both PC and Mac formats
* Battery charge level indicator
* Internal rechargeable 7.2V Li-Ion battery
* Copies data to and from memory cards to self-contained hard-disk without the need for a computer
* Up to 44 downloads of a 256MB CompactFlash card on a single battery charge.
* Displays when files are successfully copied
* Displays available hard-disk space
* Built-in file management functions
* One year international warranty


It has an attachment for an external battery and running/charging off of your cigarrett plug as well.

Mike

[SoCal69]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
I went with the X-drive for price

I also went with the X's-Drive II based primarily on cost. I am usually not away from a computer for long periods of time, but for those few occasionas, I wanted something simple to store images. I only just bought it, and I will let you know the transfer speeds once I have used it a few times.

The X's-drive II also has many of the same features some of the others do, including most of the features Mike mentions above.

Total cost for the 20GB version was $190.00, which included tax and the car charger as well. I hope to put it to good use soon!