Portable Digital Photo Storage?

[HKMonkey]

I am going to take a trip to Beijing this summer, and will bring my Canon G2 along with me. As I only have a 256Mb CF card, I will definately be needing more. I think the best option is to buy a portable storage so I can unload photos wherever I am. I looked at the Archos Gmini 120 for US$200, but have read that Archos' tech support is virtually nonexistent. Not something you want when you are spending $200. I was thinking about the Apple iPod with the Belkin adapter for CF cards. I trust Apple's quality and tech support as well as Belkin's, but at about US$400 for the kit, is it worth that much more money? Does anyone have any opinions on either? Is it worth $200 to have peace of mind? Thanks!

[kosmos]

Hi,

I will be in China this summer as well (in Canton/Guangzhou) and am planning to bring 2 gigs of Compactflash memory with me. Originally, I wanted 4 gigs (I take LOTS of picture), but it's a bit pricey and was also looking for a portable storage device. I found some storage devices on this following link http://www.offrench.net/photos/articles/portable_storage_devices.php which you can use for comparison.

This looks like an inexpensive option also: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000T71SA/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/104-8565102-6392719

[Drk Orange]

I bought a 30 gig X-drive and am quite happy with it. I cannot describe the support because I have never needed to contact the manufacturer. I think it would be about your $200 mark.

[HKMonkey]

Those all look like decent options, but none seem to be of a well-known manufacturer (at least not well known by myself). Has anyone heard about the performance of the iPod as photo storage. I think its popularity speaks highly of its overall performance...

[HKMonkey]

This is a little off topic, but what brings you to China, kosmos? I live in Hong Kong because my wife is an English teacher. We haven't gotten in to mainland yet, but plan on going to Guangzhou at some time as well. Have a great trip and share some of the photographic moments with us!

[kosmos]

My mom recently purchased a newly-built 3-bedroom home in Canton as she likes to visit every once every few years and I'm going with her this year to do some interior decorating :lol:

Guangzhou is a Westernized city so I won't feel too homesick while I'm there. It's also very close to Hong Kong, which I plan to visit.

Also, I'm really fascinated by what I've seen in pictures -- China's natural secenery is amazing. I'll be seeing other provinces in the southern area and famous sites such as the Li River and Yellow Dragon/Huang Long Valley: http://cssa.mit.edu/worldheritage/h_hl.htm - (you must check that out!) I want to see it all up close and will definitely be photographing a lot :D

[robertwgross]

I think that you will find a lot of discussion here. Search under "portable storage drive". We've discussed several successful brands and models and the strengths and weaknesses of each.

---Bob Gross---

[Ken Fong]

I recently had something like the x-drive called the 'tripper', a 20GB portable drive with USB2 speed but for Compact flash only...about $250. This was also for a trip to China...but the SARs scare cancelled the trip (2003). Now, I've sold the 'tripper' and bought the iPod because I wanted the additional functions (music) and smaller size (and I think I do trust Apple's product design eventhough I am not a Mac fan.) The 15GB iPod and the Belkin reader cost about $380 combined...I would probably only use about 5GB for my music. Now all I need is the trip to China.

[HKMonkey]

Wow, so many people going to China! Ken, do you have the Belkin card reader now, or have you not purchased it yet? I'd love to hear how well it works, because it is so new I haven't found any reviews of it yet. Let us know when you try it out!

[Ken Fong]

I just received the Belkin reader yesterday, so I will give it a try tonight or tomorrow and let you know. The footprint is a bit larger than I thought, so combined with the iPod, maybe the savings in size is not much smaller than a standalone tripper or x-drive. The connection is via firewire, so I suspect the transfer speed should be similar to USB2.

[HKMonkey]

Well, I'm not really concerned with size, just concerned with quality and support. I really think that the iPod is the best in both those categories, but haven't heard about the performance yet. I am not a Mac fan either, but I easily get past those feelings when it comes to the iPod. I'm interested to hear your results. Thanks!

[Ken Fong]

Okay, here are the results for 261MB worth of files (from a 512K CF card) (142 files):

(for reference) Card to PC xfer time via USB2 reader: 8 minutes
Card to iPod xfer time via Belkin: 13 minutes
iPod to PC xfer via USB2 cable: 6 minutes
delete files on iPod time: ~10 seconds

The interface was fairly intuitive as expected. A "photo import" option appears under the "Extras" menu immediately after connecting the Belkin to the iPod. One limitation (which seems to be similar to the other portable drives) is that you can only work with a batch of files at a time, you cannot upload or delete individual files...it's an all-or-nothing operation. On the upside, I suppose this simplifies the operation.

Hope this helps!
-Ken