Which Vosonic PSD?

[Wazza]

I'm travelling to Australia this Sunday, for 7 nights at Surfers Paradise, and 2 in Brisbane. After using my 20D for 2 weeks, with 2x 1Gb Lexar 80x CF cards, I now realise I don't have anywhere near the storage capacity I need.

Now I'm looking through different devices, and see some are pretty good, and some are just insanely expensive.

So I think I have narrowed my choice down to solely the brand of Vosonic.
I've also seen Flying Pete here mention the XS drive is very slow at uploading.
How slow is slow?

I probably won't be transferring pics back during a shoot. But maybe back at my hotel every couple of nights, when the cards are actually full.

http://www.flashcards.co.nz/catalog/index.php?cPath=26&osCsid=113ebb28d8fa7448c875405485937891

The site I would probably purchase them from is this one above.

So now, what's the main difference between the 3310 series and the 6210?

My budget is total maximum of about $500 (on that site). Don't wish to spend anymore. Although it's still a lot cheaper than buying several more CF cards, and I have the benefit of playing music whilst shooting. :D

A final question.
When shooting images, the 20D records it to folders such as my last folder was 161CANON. And included in there are files IMG6101.jpg up to 6200. I see each CANON folder goes to 100 images.
Well the problem is I'm concerned if copying one CF card of say 172CANON ,it will contain say 50 photos, and the 2nd CF card, also contains 172CANON, with the remainding 50 images. Will it just overwrite? Or can you actually create new folders inside the Vosonic device? (So you don't accidentally replace a old folder with a newer folder of the same name, with different images).

Thanks for any help here.

(Even saving some money for the basic 3310 40Gb at NZ$365 seems alright) - As long as it will do the job I require.

[Valki]

Hi Wazza,

I´ll try to answer some of your questions.

The difference between the 3310 series and the 6210 is that with the 6210 you´ll be able to preview the JPG pictures you have taken plus you´ll be able to watch MPG-1 videos or play MP3 files.
I have a previous version of that 6210 and it works really good altough I never get to see my pictures because y shoot in RAW format. Actually if you want a piece of advice, once you have all the storage capacity you can want don´t think it twice, shoot in RAW and proccess it later, at the beginning it look difficult but soon you won´t want to shoot in JPG again.

Regarding the transference of the files to the device, don´t worry it won´t erase any file, it simply creates a new folder for every CF card you copy in it so it´ll never overwrite anything.

I hope this helps. ¿wich one to buy? That´s up to you, the difference of the price is in the slightly smaller size of the 6210 and of course on the capabilities of this one to reproduce JPG, MPG-1 and MP3 files.

No mather wich one you choose any of them will give you all the storage capacity you need when abroad (and we all know how many pictures that mean :). And remember think about shooting in RAW format.

Cheers
Valki

[tim]

I read an article today, perhaps at luminous landscape, saying that there's an epson model that works really well - even on CR2 images. Epson 2000 perhaps?

Just found it - I think it was this (http://www.epson.co.uk/products/digital_cameras/P2000.htm).

[Ikinaa]

...

So I think I have narrowed my choice down to solely the brand of Vosonic.
I've also seen Flying Pete here mention the XS drive is very slow at uploading.
How slow is slow?
...


I have the x's drive pro 3310 .
To transfer a 512 MB Sandisk Ultra II, It took about 9 minutes...

For me speed and viewing pictures isn't the issue...
Battery has power for about 1.5-2 hours, so should be enough

The reason I took the 3310 is because it was the cheapest (about 170Euro for the 40MB version), how good reviews, and had a MP3-Player integrated (I rarely listen to music and am happy with this combo...)

[Paul_O]

I have the 3310 (20GB), whilst it is handy I'm not sure if I'd buy this model again. It's very slow to upload and the battery performance is very poor. I only used it to transfer pics in hotels but used it as an MP3 player on trains etc and was amazed at how fast the battery died. You can buy spare batteries for them but it's an internal battery that requires disassembly of the unit.

I'm sure there are better products out there but I really only needed it for one holiday and it did perform the task I wanted it to. If time's on your side and you have access to AC power, for the entry level price you should find it adequate.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[Wazza]

Tim: I've already looked at the model. The review on dpreview.com said it was like US$499. Whereas the 3310 Vosonic is about US$180 for the 40Gb.

It's not something I will use every single day, but when I take weekend/week holidays every few months as I do from time to time. When I went to Wellington Easter '04, I used just 2x 128Mb cards and a 32Mb. Oh I just wish I had a lot more at the time.

Valki: Thanks for highlighting the key differences between them. On the specs page for both items, all I read was mumblle jumble with figures, operating temperatures, and other facts I couldn't care for. As long as it does the job, I'm happy. :)

9minute download time isn't a problem. Even if I was out shooting, and ran out of two CF cards during some shoot, I couldn't fill another 1Gb card for at least another hour.

Well thanks again Paul, Ikinaa, Tim and Valki.

[robvonk]

Although it's still a lot cheaper than buying several more CF cards, and I have the benefit of playing music whilst shooting. :D

I have the (older) VP300 and i love it but the battery life isn't that good for playing mp3's. It will only last 2 hours. Don't buy it for the mp3 playing capability.

[Kostyanych]

I am seriously thinking about PD7X (http://www.compactdrive.com/)
It does not play mp3, but it looks like this is the fastest PSD (portable storage device) for now.
It uses AA batteries, 2.5" HDD... Looks good...
I have read a couple of very positive reviews about this device...

[Wazza]

I was about to click BUY last night. But I was having second thoughts. The main concern was ordering on a Wednesday night, shipping from the otherside of the country. I wouldn't get it till Friday. And that's if it's in stock. I may look at getting one in Australia. Or duty free, but most retailers only sell the IPOD, and even after 12.5% tax free, it's still double the price of these other devices.

[robertwgross]

Wow. The oldest VP-2030 (which I have) only transfered 256MB in about seven minutes.

Mine sports the massive capacity of 6GB! Geez, I shoot that in a few days now.

---Bob Gross---

[Wazza]

That PD7X doesn't seem too bad. But that's from Singapore. I may just see what becomes available in Australia. Last night shot only 800Mb. Less than usual, and still didn't need to shoot half those iamges.

Was thinking what else I could do with this money.
For the same, could buy a 200Gb HDD, and a 16x DVD-RW.
Currently have a 120+80Gb, and I'm almost full again. And all my old images, 13,000 of them from the Sony are backed up on CD, but still on PC as well. I haven't had time to back anything else up just yet.

[MarkH]

That PD7X doesn't seem too bad. But that's from Singapore. I may just see what becomes available in Australia. Last night shot only 800Mb. Less than usual, and still didn't need to shoot half those iamges.

PD7X and Vosonics are available here: https://secure3.ozhosting.com/powermarket/pm_stores/PINStore/client/default.asp

I bought the Vosonic 2060 from them and bought a 30GB 2.5" drive locally, I was very disappointed with the speed for CF=>HDD (It's actually quite fast for HDD<=>PC and CF<=>PC).

I bought the VP-300 when it first came out and installed my 30GB drive, but the speed had not been improved for CF=>HDD.

I bought the PD7X and moved my 30GB again. Wow! In my camera bag I have a set of spare AAs and another set of AAs in my flash, so I have 2 spare sets of AAs on hand that I could use with the PD7X (if I am not using my flash). I can transfer a 1GB to the HDD in under 5 minutes! With the high speed it is possible to fill my 30GB on one set of fully charged AA batteries.

With the Vosonic you would be pushing it to copy 4GB before the battery died, mainly because it takes so long to transfer the data.

[FlyingPete]

I've also seen Flying Pete here mention the XS drive is very slow at uploading.
How slow is slow?

Yep slow.

The other speed issue is there is no verify function, so to be safe you should copy twice which further slows things down (I have had one bad copy so far, but the second one was fine).

However:


I probably won't be transferring pics back during a shoot. But maybe back at my hotel every couple of nights, when the cards are actually full.


They are fine for that :D That is the main way I use mine, even though it is slow it is a hell of a lot better than a laptop!

I have a 30GB X'S Drive II, I emailed Vosonic to see if the newer ones are much faster here is the response I got:

Dear Peter Lowden,

Thanks very much for your support of our X's Drive II VP2060.

For your information, the copy speed for CF card of X's Drive Pro is almost the same with VP2060, about 1.1M/s. But it is improved on our X's Drive II+ VP2160. The copy speed is about 1.5M/s.

Please feel free to contact me for any other question.

Best regards,

Melody Yeh


Check out www.mydigitaldiscount.com for better prices thatn you can get locally, I got mine for $99US + $20p&p without harddisk.

I can also do some real world tests if you want, but from memory it takes around 30 minutes to do two copies of my 1GB Kingston Elite Pro, it has taken a hour once, but the drive was almost full and badly fragmented.

PM Me if you want to see one in 'the real', I am based in Newmarket during the day!

[FlyingPete]

I almost forgot, battery is an issue 'in the field' you can generally only get three downloads sets (6 downloads) done before you are flat. Not a problem if you are heading back somewhere at the end of the day with power. I get about 1.5-2 hours battery life on mine.

[Paul_O]

Wazza,

If you wanted to wait until you get here, I bought mine from www.mittoni.com.au (http://www.mittoni.com.au) I think they're in Melbourne. If you'll be in Sydney, another place is www.digitalcamerawarehouse (http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse). I've bought from both places and their service is excellent with the goods arriving into Perth next day using express air freight for a very low fee.

Paul

[Wazza]

Anywhere in Surfers Paradise? I will be passing through Brisbane on the 20th, but with a coach driver. So won't be able to stop.

I'm sure there will be a couple of shops around. If worse comes, I'll just go to a camera store, and get them to burn CDs for me. Probably be less than $10 each. So that's another option just for the moment.

Thanks for all the additional info the rest of you.