Finally got my Muvo2 / 4GB Microdrive!!!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Very cool!

Here's the specs....

On the 1DMkII:

1,223 large fine jpegs :shock:

380 RAW files

On the 10D:

Well over the 999 counter limit for jpeg..
563 RAW files on the 10D....

With 1,200 jpegs.. that means that a freh battery and a 4 GB drive are about equal in shooting duration..

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

I'm a happy camper :wink:




Anyways. the BAD news is this folks..
*******************************************
CREATIVE HAS CHANGED THE NOMAD!

The newer Nomads contain MD drives that do NOT contain the CF interface in the firmware... and thus will NOT work in any Camera.

There is are easy ways to tell whether a Muvo2 is compatible from the packaging.

1. Creative says so on the new units! They say right up front right on the package!

2. If the drive DOES NOT come with the little goofy belt pack carrying case.. then the MD Drive WON'T Work!

[dn7elson]

How does it hold up with the 1DMkII on "Uzi" mode? Does the speed of the HD fill the buffer?

[Liang]

How about the power consumption? Will the MicroDrive is a battery eater?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Don't know about power consumption yet.. I assume it is a little more.. but since a MkII battery offers about 1400 shots per charge.. :shock: :shock:

I'm not too worried about it..

As for SPEED!??

Well this seems to be the best kept secret on the NET...

For some reason.. the 4GB MD is one of the fastest cards out there in a MkII!!!! (ironic because I had stopped looking for one assuming it would be dog slow)

But Check out RG's Database;
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007-6896

The fourth fastest brand in the MkII is the 4GB MD drive :shock: :shock: 8) (behind Sandisk Ultra2/Extreme, Delkin Pro, and Microtech X-treme)

My 30X 1GB CF card on the other hand is waaaaaaaay down the list... :roll:

[dn7elson]

For some reason.. the 4GB MD is one of the fastest cards out there in a MkII!!!! (ironic because I had stopped looking for one assuming it would be dog slow)

That is a surprise...albeit a happy one :D

[nosquare2003]

Yes, it's a surprise. The MD speed on other cameras are slow according to RG site.

I'm waiting for the price drop of CF card. Next year?

[DC]

Are you really going to trust 1200 jpegs to one device ? A device that is nothing more than a mechanical, spinning hard disk?

Eggs and a basket spring to mind :wink:

[DaveB]

I have a 4GB Hitachi MB that was extracted from a Muvo too. I dig an informal test with my Pro1 to compare write speeds with my Viking and SanDisk CF cards.

I took 9 large, Superfine JPG's in continuous mode, takes about 10 secs and fills the buffer, then timed how long it took to wirte to disk or card.

Here are the total times:

Viking 1GB 58 secs.

Hitachi MD 4GB 67 secs.

SanDisk 1GB 70 secs.

Tried this several times and got the same results. I was pleased to see that the MD was as fast as at least my faithful old SanDisk card.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Are you really going to trust 1200 jpegs to one device ? A device that is nothing more than a mechanical, spinning hard disk?

Eggs and a basket spring to mind :wink:

Absolutely!

Last year people asked the same question of us oddballs that actually used 1GB CF cards..

...the year before it was the same shock to some that we would actually use a gargantuan 512MB CF card as opposed to a bunch of 128MB cards.

At the same time there were those psychos who trusted the 1GB Microdrives which were at the time about 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of a 1GB CF... most of those pioneering MD drive users still have those drives 2.5 - 3 years later.. and still trust them.

3 years before I bought a 128 Smart media for use in my Olympus,.. much to the horror of others who insisted that I should use no more than a 32MB card...

etc.. etc.. etc..

Been shooting Digital for about 6 years now and have yet to have a single "basket" fail...

And when one does.. I figure chances are I'll be bummed no matter what size card I use...

Lastly,. I shoot mainly RAW.. with the MkII's larger file size.. this 4 GB card gives me what two 1GB cards would for the 10D's raw files...

[CyberDyneSystems]

P.S.

On the other hand...

Last night while swapping in the 4GB MD.. I managed to drop a 1GB CF card :shock: :shock: .... again... :roll:

Clearly there are times when solid state has it's advantages...

I am CERTAINLY going to have to be MUCH more carefull in handling the MD... :wink:

[Cadwell]

P.S.

On the other hand...

Last night while swapping in the 4GB MD.. I managed to drop a 1GB CF card :shock: :shock: .... again... :roll:

Clearly there are times when solid state has it's advantages...

I am CERTAINLY going to have to be MUCH more carefull in handling the MD... :wink:

Dunno why, I've dropped my 340MB and 1GB microdrives many times onto all sorts of surface over the years. I've never had a problem with them. They are not nearly so fragile as rumour would have it. (I haven't dropped my 4GB one yet but I am sure I will).

The biggest danger with large devices as far as I am concerned is the accidental "erase all" scenario. I so nearly did that at the weekend whilst distracted.

[Liang]

Hi CDS,

You taken out the MicroDrive from MuVo2.
Is the MuVo2 still working if you put in the CF Card?

[Liang]

Wow! Just got the MuVo2 4GB MicroDrive. It is working fine in my 300D

[CyberDyneSystems]

Liang,

If you can,. make sure to format the drive in your PC with 32k cluster size. It makes it perform much faster in a 300D than the stock 4K cluster size...


And no.. I have not tried to use the Muvo with another MD or CF card...

[Liang]

I tried put in Sandisk 256MB & Kingston 256MB CF Card in MuVo but it wouldn't work. Too bad. :(

I format the MircoDrive in default 4k cluster. It is slow.
I will try to format it in 32k cluster later.

Thanks for your advice, CDS!

[SDK^]

Photo recovery software can be a life saver :)

[DReb-MO]

I have a link somewhere about how to make other CF cards work in the MUVo. If I find it I will post it. I took a 512 CF card and had to reload the MUVo firmware, obtained on the net from the Creative Japan website, and it worked great. For $200 I have a 4GIG card for my DReb and a nice MP3 player that holds 10 CD's worth of music. I'll look for it but if you search you should be able to locate the information.

[cgratti]

Heres a link for removal and formatting the microdrive...


http://www.pcconsultant.com/microdrive.htm