image tank on a budget..please help

[felix21685]

hey guys,

theres a 80-90% chance i will get to attend the F1 race at Indy on June 19th,
i will have access to press passes (i believe)

i need a image tank,

here are my options i guess:
ive got a 20GB mp3 player thats USB 2.0

I can get one of those usb bridges and just wait it out while it transfers the pictures, havent been able to find one thats truly usb 2.0
so im leaning away from this solution,

or i could invest in a PSD like some ive seen on ebay etc.
get one of those and get a 2.5 inch hard drive to put in those,
then i wouldnt have to carry around a card reader and my mp3 player.

what do you guys suggest i do. i am on an EXTREMELY TIGHT budget..
thanks for your help guys

[robertwgross]

what do you guys suggest i do. i am on an EXTREMELY TIGHT budget..

Hit on your local camera friends that also use CF cards. If each friend loaned you one card for the event, then you would be covered.

---Bob Gross---

[felix21685]

lol Bob,
hes going with me :) i don't know anyone else..

[felix21685]

ok this should help,
ive got an old laptop sitting around which's main board went out 13 months after my dad bought it..came with a 1 yr warranty.. cool huh :)
well its a 2.5 inch 10GB hard drive so it would be ok to use in a PSD so im still looking for something like that any thrifty suggestions ?

this is the best deal i have found online.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18872&item=7519478099&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
problem is all the others are for australia or the UK only...

[loon]

hey felix. i use something like this just a different brand. i bought it on ebay (uk) and use a 80gb hard drive. most people here dont like it cos there is no viewing of pics - so you cant be sure that its transferred successfully. but i am cheap and an amatuer so its ok for me. i have not had a failure yet.:D something like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18872&item=7515181936&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

i considered using my ipod but its too slow and chews up battery apparently.

[gasrocks]

For about US$200. I have an X-Drive II (make sure you get the II not the I) 60gb. Works well. My plan was to only use it in the car on an inverter. The built-in bty pack lasts for about 4gb download. Want more portable? get the external 8 AA bty pack adapter (I use PowerEx 2300ma bty,) good for about 22gb download.

[Longwatcher]

Currently the best image tanks are apparently
1. Epson P2000 (probably more then you need or want)
2. Nexto (has fastest CF card to device speed, but no picture viewing)
3. all sorts of devices, like PD7X, Wolverine flashpac, X-Drive, etc..

I highly recommend the following thread from DPreview for seeing comparison side-by-side. Does not include all available, but shows a lot of them.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1023&message=13466517

Or this one is potentially better.
http://fhoude34.free.fr/PortableHD.htm

Other then cost, you should look at speed of card to device write speed (presuming you have fast CF cards), battery life, and capacity.

Just my opinion,

Trivia: please note that sometimes the accessories for a device can make a huge difference in feature ability. As example my Delkin Picture Pad has one of the worst battery lifes of any of the devices, but with a AA battery pack can outlast some of the best on the list. It also is not the fastest to the computer as is, but with USB2.0 attachment it is one of the fastest. However, nothing can solve the now relatively slow card to device write times. It has been out for 3 years though.

[felix21685]

do you guys think most of these would work fine with a 8 or 10 GB hard drive?

should there be problems with using a smaller HD?

what if its already formatted NTFS ? you cant go back to Fat after that can you ?

[rokclimbertx]

maybe a flashtrax? i have a 20gig one that seems to work really well... plus you can view the images... with 2 cf cards i can still shoot while one transfers...

[felix21685]

i wish i could get one but its not exactly cheap. i dont have that kind of money to spend right now.
ive got that 10GB hard drive id like to put to use. i dont know we'll see

[felix21685]

update i bought a image tank off of ebay that i will try with my hard drive which i already own.

[DavidEB]

if your MP3 player is an iPod then you can just get the belkin CF card adapter.

[felix21685]

its not an ipod..i would never get one of those
i have a jetaudio M3 20GB and it works as a 20GB jumpdrive if i want it to
i can listen to FM radio and encode it to MP3 on the fly , i can digitally encode on the fly if i hook up a cd player to it for instance and it was cheaper than the ipod and CNET.com or whatever the site is picked it as the top or one of the top mp3 players last year when i got it..
i love it..

[robertwgross]

I have one of the old original X-drives with a tiny 6 GB hard disk in it. It seemed like enough space at the time. Also, it seemed fast enough at the time.

Times change.

---Bob Gross---