Portable Hard Drives - Availability in UK

[blue_max]

I am looking to get a portable hard drive for my holiday and shortlisted two devices.

The Nexto CF OTG and the Compactdrive PD70X

I'm in the UK and can only find a couple of places that sell them. There were more (Ebay but they are gone now and others) but they are dwindling fast. Does anyone know why that might be?

I hear the compactdrive has a flimsy door flap and maybe can damage hard drives. The nexto seems good but only has internal battery which might be limiting.

Anyway, Onestop-digital have the compactdrive and digitalall have the nexto.

Has anybody got a better source and has anyone tried both?

Thanks for any help.

Graham

[guaranine]

jessops.com has the archos gmini, has 20gb storage plus a screen to view the images on. costs 270 pounds. other option is to buy from b&h and have them ship to you. i got a wolvreine flashpak 7000 (the 40gb model) portable hard drive (reads cf and sd/xd cards only) for 180 usd. you can get anywhere from 20-100gb with this model depending on your budget. no screen to view the images on, but i didn't need that, i really needed the extra space. good luck with whatever you choose.
beth
edit: has internal battery, but mine lasts a long time. went to ireland for 12 days, wrote to the hard drive 2-4 times a day and charged it 3 times the whole time.

[blue_max]

jessops.com has the archos gmini, has 20gb storage plus a screen to view the images on. costs 270 pounds. other option is to buy from b&h and have them ship to you. i got a wolvreine flashpak 7000 (the 40gb model) portable hard drive (reads cf and sd/xd cards only) for 180 usd. you can get anywhere from 20-100gb with this model depending on your budget. no screen to view the images on, but i didn't need that, i really needed the extra space. good luck with whatever you choose.
beth
edit: has internal battery, but mine lasts a long time. went to ireland for 12 days, wrote to the hard drive 2-4 times a day and charged it 3 times the whole time.

Thanks for that Beth. I decided agains a screen model due the cost and limited hd size.

The wolvreine sounds promising, but I don't want to get involved with import charges etc.

My real concern is why supply of the two I mentioned seem to be dwindling - they are surely a good idea and not too expensive (at least compared to compact flash cards).

Graham

[£Note]

Hi

I managed to get a Compactdrive on Ebay several weeks ago after doing a great deal of research.

It is a robust PSD and am highly delighted with the purchase.:D

I have dealt with onestop digital a couple of times and they deliver promptly when in stock and give the option to cancel order if not in stock or wait until stock is replenished.

To date I have not had to use Onestop's VAT refund facility. :)

[claudermilk]

Check out www.eastgear.com That's pretty much manufacturer direct & where I got mine. The PD70X resolved the flimsy door of the PD7X; mine has seen heavy use & still works fine--and if you do manage to damage it, you can get replacements off the same site. As for drives, again I think you are reading very old information about the PD7X that had some issue when the battery got low--that has been resolved as well. I've run mine dead in the field with no problems. So long as you don't beat it around it's pretty much bulletproof.

[blue_max]

Shipping from the States is rather more expensive - and we might get clobbered for import duties etc.

Shame the Nexto seems to have lost the battle to the compactdrive as it's slightly nicer looking, but doesn't have the AA battery advantage.

Thanks all, it looks like I will be ordering a compactdrive as you guys seem happy with yours.

Graham

[Raymate]

Staples have had the SmartDisk FlashTrax on offer, I think the 80gb was £175 and I think the 40gb was £150

http://www.smartdisk.com/eWeb/smartdiskus/www/staticpages/FlashtraxXT.asp

I know it has a screen but it's rather cheap to get a model of that sort with a screen. Do you have an iPod you could use that also.

[blue_max]

Staples have had the SmartDisk FlashTrax on offer, I think the 80gb was £175 and I think the 40gb was £150

http://www.smartdisk.com/eWeb/smartdiskus/www/staticpages/FlashtraxXT.asp

I know it has a screen but it's rather cheap to get a model of that sort with a screen. Do you have an iPod you could use that also.


Thanks for that Raymate. I got one of their 20gig flashtrax (older) models. It took forever, had a dreadful screen and didn't transfer all the files, so it went back.
I don't have an iPod, but have heard they are also very slow.
The compactdrive is supposed to be very quick. Also I think that with some serious capacity, it could become my backup, backup (2nd backup) of my photos.

I guess I think they are rather overpriced for what they actually are, but they virtually have the market to themselves now the Nexto has virtually disappeared.

Graham

[Raymate]

Thanks for that Raymate. I got one of their 20gig flashtrax (older) models. It took forever, had a dreadful screen and didn't transfer all the files, so it went back.
I don't have an iPod, but have heard they are also very slow.
The compactdrive is supposed to be very quick. Also I think that with some serious capacity, it could become my backup, backup (2nd backup) of my photos.

I guess I think they are rather overpriced for what they actually are, but they virtually have the market to themselves now the Nexto has virtually disappeared.

Graham

That interesting about the Flashtrax, I was going to get one next week, think I will not bother, that may explain why they are going cheap. Looks like we are in the same boat.... of to do some more searching :)

[blue_max]

That interesting about the Flashtrax, I was going to get one next week, think I will not bother, that may explain why they are going cheap. Looks like we are in the same boat.... of to do some more searching :)

The newer version is supposed to be better, but I think the shelves may be clear of them now (they were about three weeks ago when I got mine).

To my mind, if it has a screen, it has to be one that I can judge a photo on, otherwise, it's just draining battery power and giving me no advantage. The Epson p-2000 looks like the one to own in that regard, but is rather limited in capacity and quite expensive.

Looks like onestop-digital is going to get my order and dabs.com my order for my hard drive - I like hitachi travelstar (the 5k100 is about £57 delivered and virtually as fast as the 72k drives apparently). Total cost £145 delivered.

Graham

[dxbgal]

I ordered the Compactdrive PD70X online last year .. And have been using it since..
No problems with the battery door as long as u close it properly. I use AA batteries which are easy to get on the go and doesn't need charging..

I only had a problem with it once in just completing 80% of the copying process.. Was resolved by repeating the copying ... Other than that no complains and no problem..

The reason I went with it was for the battery and multiple card reader :)

[blue_max]

I ordered the Compactdrive PD70X online last year .. And have been using it since..
No problems with the battery door as long as u close it properly. I use AA batteries which are easy to get on the go and doesn't need charging..

I only had a problem with it once in just completing 80% of the copying process.. Was resolved by repeating the copying ... Other than that no complains and no problem..

The reason I went with it was for the battery and multiple card reader :)


Thanks for that. Do you remember where you got it from?

Also, how did you know it only copied 80%? Did you not get a comfirmation or something. Did you ever find out why. That would be very worrying if you were to wipe your card and continue.

Graham

[Davinor]

I have the Gmini 400, check out Dixons/Currys digital. the 400 has been upgraded to the 402. The 402 has a video camera built in but they have removed the CF card slot. The preston shop had some of the 400's in stock and where selling them off cheap. Unfortunatly as I have one i did not pay attention to the price. Nice little machine, had it over a year, lives in the camera bag, charge lasts well and you can fit a helluva lot of pics on 20gig.

David

Oh - and it seems really reliable, at least it has given me no cause for concern

Dixons Preston 01772 202110 £199 and they have 2 in stock.

Have a good holiday

OK Back to work :)

[blue_max]

Thanks David,
I would wonder if it had the same drawbacks as the FlashTrax I returned (apart from the reliability it would seem). Namely, fixed hard drive, fixed rechargeable battery, less than helpful screen and poor speed and battery life. It's also twice as much as thay was :(

I had no idea there were so many! There does come a point at which a small laptop seems good value and vastly more versatile :D

I am back to thinking that £150 for a 80gig fast CF HD is not too bad, but probably as much as I would want to pay. I paid that for two 1gig cf cards last year, so maybe it's actually quite good value.

Decisions, decisions.

Graham

[Davinor]

I had no idea there were so many! There does come a point at which a small laptop seems good value and vastly more versatile :D


Downside to a laptop is size and weight - and batteries still leave a lot to be desired!

I don't know what the write speed of Microdrives is compared to flash memory so I cannot comment on whether it is better to go for a microdrive or an external hard drive.

As you said

Decisions Decisions

David :)

[Ian_H]

I have a pd70x which I got from Eastgear in Singapore, it took 3 days from ordering it to it being delivered to the UK. I didn't have to pay any import duty but I may have been lucky;)
Mine has seen some heavy use since I got it and it is working every week at either a circuit or in a dusty forest and so far it has never missed a beat. (Touch wood) I bought a couple of extra end flaps at the same time as I had been told they were flimsy but I haven't broken the original ones yet. The battery life is brilliant and it is very quick at downloading my cards (CF).



Cheers
Ian

[blue_max]

Thank you Ian,

I don't want to blame the messenger for any feedback, but it's good to hear of a positive comment.

I am waiting for them to confirm the actual terms of their shipping. If I can guarantee no additional charges, I will save a fiver and go with them - although they can't ship until the 24th which is cutting it fine for my holiday on the 29th.

Graham

[dxbgal]

Hi,
I ordered mine from www.jaldigital.com.au fast and speedy service.. I was also incontact with the people in Eastgear and they were great but went with Jaldigital because their shipping rate to Dubai was cheaper.. Since ur in UK u may not have a problem..

I ordered mine without a harddisk and picked one from a local store. U could do that and it will minimize the actual value on the package :)

About what happed I am not sure what was the problem,, I guess it was a glitch and it could be from my card, I am still using the cheap CF card that came with my camera, need to grab a nice Sandisk soon ...

Good Luck :)

[dxbgal]

Looks like there is a new model of the PD70X called Hyperdrive...
Worth looking at www.hyperdrive.com