Digital Wallet

[Dick]

I purchased a 10GB Digital Wallet to use with my D30. I had a chance to give it a field test this past week on a trip to Poland.

The idea was to have two Flash cards(I used a 64k and a 128k) back to back. I downloaded the full card to the Digital Wallet and kept shooting with the other card. A 128k download takes three or four minutes.

The system worked super. I came home with over 700 photos and didn't lose a single one. With a little planning I never felt once like I didn't have space on my cards to shoot to my hearts content.

The digital wallet plugs into a USB port and appears as a separate disk drive so it is easy to organize the files and access them via Photoshop once I'm back to the desktop.

[msvirick]

Does the cost justify this?

[toddb]

I'm getting closer to buy this, and I think it's worth it. I have a 1GB and a 256MB backup card and I can run out pretty fast, especially shooting raw. This would beat caring a laptop around all the time. I like this particular one because I can also use it as a regular portable harddrive, MP3 Player, MPEG1&2 Player out to a TV and also view you photos you taken to the TV (including a zoom function). Since another 1GB car would probably be getting close to $300, might as well get 30GB for another couple hundred.

Pocket Cinema (http://www.snazzishop.com/disk.asp)

I'm having trouble finding info about the download times from the Compact Flash card, their sales people weren't much help. If anyone else have it, could I ask how long it takes to download a full 1GB (or what ever size card you have)?

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hi,

Please also consider the Vosonic XsDrive they are very cheap but amazingly up to the task.
In the Netherlands the 30GB USB2.0 version retails for arround $ 260,00. In the US they will be alot cheaper (due to the 19% VAT we have).

I have first used the USB1 version and was content with it, when I bought the 10D I switched to the USB2.0 version and I'm even more content :D.

A full 512MB XtrHS CF card takes about 3-5 minutes to empty (never clocked it).

All the other brands are fun because they have display's etc. but you pay alot more for something you probarbly never gone use.

Greetings,
Frank

[robertwgross]

J.A.F. Doorhof wrote:

Please also consider the Vosonic XsDrive they are very cheap but amazingly up to the task.
In the Netherlands the 30GB USB2.0 version retails for arround $ 260,00. In the US they will be alot cheaper (due to the 19% VAT we have).

I have first used the USB1 version and was content with it, when I bought the 10D I switched to the USB2.0 version and I'm even more content :D.

A full 512MB XtrHS CF card takes about 3-5 minutes to empty (never clocked it).


Yes, I have one of the older Vosonic X drives, and it takes seven minutes to copy one 256MB CF card. But for less than $140, I can't complain.

---Bob Gross---

[hotmetal]

Also consider an alternative, portable CD writer such as the Apacer disc steno.

Once your cards are written to CD they are secure an can be retrieve on most PCs.

UK price about £200.

ALan

[mkaplan]

hotmetal wrote:
Also consider an alternative, portable CD writer such as the Apacer disc steno.
ALan
I would think that a CD unit would be good protection but:
A) The units are much larger and heavier which at that point I could just buy a cheap lower end Pentium notebook to take with me.
B) How do you save 700MB off a full 1GB CF card without a computer to select which files and then selectively erase only the ones backed up?

[CyberDyneSystems]

msvirick wrote:
Does the cost justify this?

Oh I think so yes!

I have a similar set up but I use the less expensive "X-drive"

Look at it this way. A 1 Gigabyte card costs about $250.00 (I know they can be found for a little less,. or a whole lot more,. but as a reference)

That's $250.00 per gigabyte of image storage.

The X-drive I bought was $219.00 for one equipped with a 30 gigbyte drive.

That's $7.30 per gigabyte of image storage!!!!!!

Use two cards so while one is downloading you allways have a second ready to go. (ie: two 512MB cards is better than one 1 GIG card)

[CyberDyneSystems]

P.S.

20 GB X-drive for $189.00

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=B-VP2060-20-K2

= $9.45 per Gigabyte of image storage.