Good backup storage?

[benesotor]

Hi, this is an area I dont know too much about. Are there any cheap backup drives (with CF/SDHC slot) around? I'm visiting some remote places in the future so will need something to store my photo's on without taking a silly amount of CF's.
The only few i've seen seem to be obscenely priced.

Any cheaper ones out there? Also, can they hold video files? Not play them back necessarily but just store the files.

Any help would be very much appreciated, Ben

[Wilt]

I think the best thing now for utility as more than simply data storage is a netbook with 160GB internal drive and a USB external drive as secondary backup media before a CF is ever wiped clean! That combo can be had for no more than a storage/viewing solution, but provides far more functionality for only a bit more weight and bulk.

[iAMB]

+1 I like the netbook idea. After getting my MacPro I am thinking of a netbook to carry around while I am out and about. Serves a nice storage place, and allows you to document some things as well. Nothing fancy, but just gets the job done.

[benesotor]

Hmm, i'm not so sure about netbook, as it seems a bit too big (strange huh), as one of my trips may include trecking in nepal!

[NYPhotog]

Just purchase additional cards. If you are out in the boondocks and your netbook goes down, you are s_it out of luck. And, of course, if your netbook goes down your external HDD is also useless.

[tvphotog]

I dont know what you mean by cheap, but Hyperdrive makes an excellent harddrive for backup with slots for just about every memory format.

For cheap, you can buy the case and install your own laptop harddrive. See this link. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=671532&highlight=hyperdrive+install)

[awdark]

I don't know how well they work, but on ebay and like dealextreme they have some USB OTG devices that let you transfer via usb to a drive. For example this one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13575 I don't have one but I have been looking into them because I have a tendency to fill cards and wish for backup solutions.

[kyen]

A couple of years ago I bought an external drive thinking it was the best way to back up pictures and important documents. BOY was I WRONG!The dumb drive has crashed twice and is now gone for good with all my pictures and documents. I talked to an AMAZING IT guy that works with my dad and he said to use a separate drive in your computer or DVDs. The reasoning behind the drive is that they are lot easier to fix if your computer crashes!

[benesotor]

I like the idea of buying a case and installing a hardrive myself... but hyperdrive is a US store, is there anywhere to buy a case in the UK?

[jhom]

I've been using hyperdrives for several years. I've never had a problem with them. Most importantly, they are fast and convenient to use. You can easily replace the drive when you want a bigger one. A charge lasts.

[SuzyView]

CF cards are very inexpensive now. I have 10 in my case and it is wonderful to keep track of. :) But I don't save on site for events, takes too long. I usually go back to my hotel room and upload to my external hard drive every evening. I have a netbook, and that is really useful that way. Get a good card reader if your laptop doesn't have one and an external drive, I like Passports and you're good to go. Just format the disks every night in camera when you finish with them for the day.

[benesotor]

CF cards are very inexpensive now. I have 10 in my case and it is wonderful to keep track of. :) But I don't save on site for events, takes too long. I usually go back to my hotel room and upload to my external hard drive every evening. I have a netbook, and that is really useful that way. Get a good card reader if your laptop doesn't have one and an external drive, I like Passports and you're good to go. Just format the disks every night in camera when you finish with them for the day.

Well i have a small laptop and a WD passport, but I don't think i'll be taking a laptop up the Himalayan mountains that's all ;)

[SuzyView]

Then buy 16-40gbs of CF cards for under $100 at Costco. That should be enough for a few pictures!

[SuzyView]

I've never hiked the Himalayas and I don't think I ever will due to lungs that don't work great in high altitudes, but when I did hike at Zions and Bryce last summer, I took a lot of CF cards and one camera with 2 lenses and that was it. Worked great. Make sure you have enough battery power for your camera. That's the key. You can always erase some bad shots to make room on your cards, but without power, not happening.

[hollis_f]

I like the idea of buying a case and installing a hardrive myself... but hyperdrive is a US store, is there anywhere to buy a case in the UK?

Got mine (UDMA version) from here (http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodinfo.php?prodid=27382&start=0&thislist=30%7E229%7E361). Not cheap at £243 for just the case - need to add a 2.5" drive like this one (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/320-GB-Western-Digital-WD3200BEVT-Scorpio-Blue-25-SATA-300-5400-rpm-8MB-Cache-12-ms) for £43. But you do end up with a very fast backup solution, 300GB of backup space and the battery lasts a long time. The non-UDMA version (http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/prodinfo.php?prodid=27383&start=0&thislist=30~229~361) is almost half that price.

For the same price as the UDMA you can get around 40GB of CF cards. That's just a few days shooting for me on holiday.

The only problem is that you have all your pix on a fairly fragile hard drive. My solution is to take a netbook as well as the Hyperdrive - so I have two backups of everything (and a nice screen to view the pics). In the past I've travelled with a friend and we've each taken a Hyperdrive. With all that space there's not problem with backing up our cards to both devices.

[benesotor]

Ah you can get hyperdrive in the UK, great. I've found the case (non UDMA... does that matter?) for ~£150. Sound's like a good idea, but can it store video files? I imagine my next DSLR will be HD video capable, and I imagine taking a fair few frames of video, which is why I need plenty of storage really.

[tvphotog]

Ah you can get hyperdrive in the UK, great. I've found the case (non UDMA... does that matter?) for ~£150. Sound's like a good idea, but can it store video files? I imagine my next DSLR will be HD video capable, and I imagine taking a fair few frames of video, which is why I need plenty of storage really.

It's simply a laptop hard drive in a case with card slots. Whatever you can store on your computer, you should be able to store on the hyperdrive.

[hollis_f]

Ah you can get hyperdrive in the UK, great. I've found the case (non UDMA... does that matter?) for ~£150. Sound's like a good idea, but can it store video files? I imagine my next DSLR will be HD video capable, and I imagine taking a fair few frames of video, which is why I need plenty of storage really.

UDMA is only important if you have (or will soon have) UDMA memory cards. The combination of fast cards and fast hyperdrive means shorter download times and subsequent increases in battery life. But the non-UDMA version is still no slouch.

My Hyperdrive copies everything from the card onto the HD. So video should be fine.

[benesotor]

UDMA is only important if you have (or will soon have) UDMA memory cards. The combination of fast cards and fast hyperdrive means shorter download times and subsequent increases in battery life. But the non-UDMA version is still no slouch.

My Hyperdrive copies everything from the card onto the HD. So video should be fine.

Okay cheers, well I can always upgrade to UDMA when I need to. But I think the case and buy a hardrive is a good option, I'll probably do that.
Cheers for replies :)