Hyperdrive - not good

[rhys]

I used my Hyperdrive while I was away. It did work but it was rather hard to get it working, necessitating removal and reinstallation of the batteries several times as well as flicking the power switch several times before it started. When I returned home, I had not used all my memory cards so I transferred from the cards to my computer. Doing so I found one file was corrupted which explains why Canon Zoom Browser threw its hands up in the air and refused to cooperate. I went to the Hyperdrive and it wouldn't start from batteries at all and would run only from the transformer. I think that thing is probably a complete waste of money as I don't think it's going to last much longer even though I have used it only twice! Anyway, I located the corrupted file on the hyperdrive and it wasn't corrupted so I assume that the hyperdrive somehow corrupted the file on my memory card. That's not good! Fortunately I did recover the file.

On the whole, I'm getting the feeling that the Hyperdrive is a neat idea that doesn't quite work. I'm planning on spending money on more memory cards and I'll toss that hyperdrive in the trash (it's not 100% reliable so it's worthless).

[olz]

I understand how you feel. I had a somewhat identical experience some time ago. Considering the price of CF cards I don't think I will bring my PSD travelling next time. Four 8gb CF cards will keep me going for a long time.

[nadtz]

I've used mine rather extensively over the last year and had no problems. Have you tried contacting hyperdrive about the problem(s)?

[rhys]

No. The build quality does not impress me greatly and - if you noticed - the company is now making a different model so they obviously found problems with the old version.

I don't feel contacting a company over a year after buying a product is going to be worthwhile and I'd rather just write it off and move on. I guess I could always sell it on ebay after having erased the data very thoroughly.

With the price of CF cards these days, it makes more sense to use several 4GB CF cards. My hyperdrive is the 40 GB model so 10x 4GB cards not only costs around the same but are lighter and more dependable not to mention durable. The only use I could put the hyperdrive to is as a data store but there are better solutions.

[jestergx4]

I have been using the HD for almost a year (Aug 2006) and have never had any problem with it. The only issue that I've ever had was the Sany 2700MaH Nimh batteries that came with it. It only lasted me up until decemeber of last year when it will no longer charge. Therefore, when I try to download my pictures, I would get error #20 (with a sad face on the LCD). However, luckily it comes with a cigarette lighter and ac/dc power adapter/charger. I emailed hyperdrive about it, they issued me an RMA, and exchanged me a brand new sanyo batteries at no charge, except only for the cost of an envelope, a few stamps, and a few weeks of corresponding emails and waiting for the replacement batteries to arrive.


I have been generally happy with the Hypedrive. I purchased it barebones, and I fitted an 80gig HD to it. I used it many times, and took it to many trips, and it gave me no technial issues. I was a bit disappointed that the HD was replaced by "Space". oh well I'd say. I chose hyperdrive because the of the reviews given by other POTN'ers here. Plus the fact that it was economical and practical for me to use. A color photo/lcd viewer would have been nice, but that would increase the cost plus it would eat of alot battery juice. the HD was also generally light and compact.

my $0.2

[sparksdjs]

I first used my Hyperdrive on a trip to the UK last summer, dumping about 45GB of RAW shots to it. I had my laptop but it only had ~8GB free space so I used the Hypderdrive as a seperate HD for working on shots, etc. Worked great and was very convenient. I had traded off buying the Hyperdrive vs putting a larger drive in the laptop but went with the Hyperdrive because of its portability. It's been rock solid for me and I've been real happy with it.

Dave

[ScottE]

My Hyperdrive also failed. When I got back from a trip it would not boot using either batteries or the transformer. I took it to a computer technician who removed the hard drive and retrieved the photos, but he could not repair the Hyperdrive. He did not consider the construction quality to be very good.

I did not contact Hyperdrive for a replacement because I did not want to get another one and risk losing pictures or not being able to back up during a trip.

[jestergx4]

Sorry to hear. I wouldnt know about the drive that came with the hyperdrive. I purchased the drive from newegg.com.

My Hyperdrive also failed. When I got back from a trip it would not boot using either batteries or the transformer. I took it to a computer technician who removed the hard drive and retrieved the photos, but he could not repair the Hyperdrive. He did not consider the construction quality to be very good.

I did not contact Hyperdrive for a replacement because I did not want to get another one and risk losing pictures or not being able to back up during a trip.

[DimensionZero]

I too had problems with my drive where I had to turn the unit on and off to get it working right, but I've determined that it was more the fault of the batteries that came with the unit than anything else.

When the batteries are fully charged it works great, but after maybe 3-4 uses, problems start to arise. I think getting new batteries rather than using the Sanyos will fix this.

[nadtz]

In regards to build quality build quality, I've dropped my drive a couple times on grass/rocks/indoor flooring and its just kept going. I did not get the unit with a drive, and the batteries are ok at best (and have been replaced), so these were never issues for me.

As for the newer space, the hyperdrive was ~2 years old or so when the space was released, perhaps they just updated? Most manufacturers do that surprisingly enough! Obviously some people haven't been happy with theirs, but I've been very happy with mine and it seems others have been as well.

[rhys]

I'm narked that it will corrupt files on the memory card and that it's such a pain to get it to work with batteries. The former raises questions about reliability and the latter about usability. I'd hate to be taking irreplacable photos then to find I'm out of card space and then that my hyperdrive won't power-up then for Elvis to appear beside Lord Lucan both riding side-saddle on Shergar.

I might buy a 2.5" drive caddy to use for data storage and simply transfer the hard disk because that seems OK then sell the Hyperdrive empty. As for in-the-field storage, I'm sticking with 2x4GB 50x Transcend at the moment.

[Zilly]

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