Portable Storage Device - CompactDrive

Rohirrim · September 1, 2005

I would appreciate any thoughts on storing digital photos while traveling. I'm planning a trip to Costa Rica later this year and am looking into my options for storing all the photos I hope to take. In the past I've put them on my laptop, but I'm hoping to travel a little lighter and have been looking at some of the my other options like:

Epson P2000. Seems nice with a nice screen but seems a little pricey.
The Jobo
and the Wolverine

I'm leaning towards the Wolverine as it has the greatest amount of storage for the money.

Any thoughts or experience with these items would be most appreciated.

Thank you,

Richard · September 1, 2005

Steve,

You might add to your list the CompactDrive PD70X. Check out the different options here. It does not have a pic preview, but it has excellent battery life, a built in battery charger and can transfer a 1 GB CF card in just over 2 minutes. I have one and think it is a pretty good value. A 60 GB model is around $US 215.

The Epson has lots of fans, but it was out of my price range.

Cheers,

Andy · September 1, 2005

i think gubbs is interested in selling his p2000, you should pm him

gluwater · September 1, 2005

andy wrote:

i think gubbs is interested in selling his p2000, you should pm him

I just bought one, do you know why Gubbs is selling his?

dragon300zx · September 1, 2005

gluwater wrote:

I just bought one, do you know why Gubbs is selling his?

Because andy wants him to by his laptop

gluwater · September 1, 2005

dragon300zx wrote:

Because andy wants him to by his laptop

You're gettin slow. Gubbs already bought that this morning.

dragon300zx · September 1, 2005

gluwater wrote:

You're gettin slow. Gubbs already bought that this morning.

Between the bird calls and my cabin fever wanting to go take photos up north I guess I'm starting to slip.

Andy · September 1, 2005

dragon300zx wrote:

Between the bird calls and my cabin fever wanting to go take photos up north I guess I'm starting to slip.

gubbs · September 2, 2005

I am going to sell it, reluctantly, it's a great bit of kit. The screen's so good! It allows you to see the oof/not sharp stuf clearly enough to delete it, so you can fully utilize the 40gig. It was fantastic for my trip to the US!

But I can't have everything so I'll post it up later today along with a few other bits and pieces, (10d, Tam17-35, Cokin ND/NDGrad filter set, Canon 1.4 extender, crumpler geekster, Manfrotto head, and maybe a desktop pc

)

ian408 · September 2, 2005

Luke, use the search feature

Lame attempt at humor, I know.

There are a few threads discussing the Epson as well as alternatives.
Just at the top of the page and over to the right, you'll see "Search".
Enter the search terms and you're good to go.

Hope that helps.

Ian

Plasmodium · September 2, 2005

Do these devices display RAW images on their screen as well? The other question is which has the best battery life -- I'll be in west africa for about 2 months this fall, and I'm not sure I can consistently rely on the power there. (yes, yes, keeping the camera charged will be another challenge)

gubbs · September 2, 2005

Plasmodium wrote:

Do these devices display RAW images on their screen as well? The other question is which has the best battery life -- I'll be in west africa for about 2 months this fall, and I'm not sure I can consistently rely on the power there. (yes, yes, keeping the camera charged will be another challenge)

Yep, they display raw files, (check the compatability tables as Im not sure if all formats are supported but they certainly display CRF files) you can't zoom in as you can with jpg's but I don't find that a problem.

gubbs · September 2, 2005

Plasmodium wrote:

The other question is which has the best battery life -- I'll be in west africa for about 2 months this fall, and I'm not sure I can consistently rely on the power there. (yes, yes, keeping the camera charged will be another challenge)

Have a look at the review here

They reckon you can upload 13 1gb cards between charges. I'd say that's about right. On my USA trip this year I was uploading around 2 1gb cards/day plus my wife and I were doing a lot of chimping and still getting away without charging for 4 or 5 days.

LOVEphotos · September 23, 2005

Epson P2000
I am going on a weekend trip ...

And I thought about buying yet another CF card

... I have 2 (1g) and a 512. I shoot raw ... So, on long photo shoot outings (4+ hours) ... I find myself deleting photos or holding back because I'm running out of memory.

I also considered lugging my 12" compact laptop ... but I need to offload my CF cards in the field ... that would require me to leave my laptop in my car ... but, I didn't want to risk my laptop being damaged in my car because of the heat.

So ... I sprung for the beautiful EPSON P2000

I'll see how my weekend trip goes.

colourbox · September 23, 2005

News flash...
Epson P4000 announced yesterday

though I'm sure the P2000 will do for many of us

LOVEphotos · September 23, 2005

P2000 Price Reduction maybe? strap?

colourbox wrote:

News flash...
Epson P4000 announced yesterday

though I'm sure the P2000 will do for many of us

THANKS .... I thought I heard something about a newer version ... looks the same accept a higher powered battery and 2X the hard disk space ... and of course more money (approx $130 more)

I have twenty days to return ... but probably will just stick with the 40GB ... BUT, I do wonder ... with the newer model ... will the P2000 price be reduced

Oh yeah, this may sound silly, but I'm having difficulties trying to get the strap to go thru the strap holder? Any suggestions?

dfdems · September 24, 2005

I went through the decision making process about 3 months ago and ended up with the Flashtrax XT. It works great for what I need it for, it transfers fast from CF, the battery seems to last forever. If you’re still not set on one in particular check it out.

LOVEphotos · September 29, 2005

Weekend trip w/Epson P2000

LOVEphotos wrote:

I am going on a weekend trip ...

And I thought about buying yet another CF card ... I have 2 (1g) and a 512. I shoot raw ... So, on long photo shoot outings (4+ hours) ... I find myself deleting photos or holding back because I'm running out of memory.

So ... I sprung for the beautiful EPSON P2000

I'll see how my weekend trip goes.

Well, my weekend went well ... One day I shot and uploaded 7 (1g) cards.
So, in reality if I didn't have the unit I would have had to buy 5 more (1G) cards to take ALL the shots that I took ... so, the unit definitely pays for itself

:

A small negative - the images are a bit slow to display the first time .. but not such a big deal.

PossumCorner · October 1, 2005

Epson P2000
We bought the P2000 a couple of weeks ago, the 4000 was announced the next day, we were not pleased. Yesterday we used the 2000 extensively, and now we are pleased again. Totally. It is great, we were at three events with three cameras (D70, D50 and Pana FZ30). A Dog-agility competion in the morning, an all-day cricket match, and some time at an Athletics comp. A real shortage of memory cards and lots to shoot, and the day would have been a disappointing disaster without the Epson so it has more than justified its price.

LOVEphotos · October 2, 2005

PossumCorner wrote:

We bought the P2000 a couple of weeks ago, the 4000 was announced the next day, we were not pleased. Yesterday we used the 2000 extensively, and now we are pleased again.

What was your return policy? .. I had 21 days, I still have time return .. BUT, I doubt that I need 80GB of space .. the only reason I would want to return is if the Epson P-2000 has a price reduction.

Glad you are enjoying yours ... it is a very niiiice device

PossumCorner · October 3, 2005

Return Policy
We get a generous return policy: 45 days - so we could have changed it up for the 4000 (still could, but will not, as we are quite happy with it). Also we have tried the store's generosity by taking back the Pana FZ20 with the faulty switch, changed it for a KonicaMinolta Z6, then took it back as the shutter-lag was a pain and the focus action too "jolty" and exchanged it for a Pana FZ30. I thought that was brilliant service. Plus the store (at Knox near Melbourne in Australia) has a couple of pros working there who always take the extra time to be extra helpful.

dragon300zx · October 17, 2005

Photo Storage Help Spend My Money
Ok I eithe rneed to buy more CF cards or a photo storage device. The laptop is great for this in some situations but in others it just doesn't work.

The one I am looking at the most is the

INOi HD182 Photo HardDisk 20GB Hard Drive

Or one of the Wolverine Products

I know alot of people use the epson and it works great but I don't need to view the files on this I just need it for offloading my cards during events. I don't need it to play mp3's either. And I don't need the $500 price tag.

I need to place an order today so I can have it by friday. What do you guys use?

Just ordered a My Media Gear solution. WIll see how it works. Never mind this I will order it tonight unless anyone has a better product to recommend. I seem to have forgot my wallet this morning.

devbobo · October 17, 2005

If I have the money I would buy an Archos AV700...100GB 7" 16:9 ratio screen....what more could you need

http://www.archos.com/products/av_700/

Andy · October 17, 2005

get a maxtor 300gb xternal hd. they're built like a tank and a great value. can be had for cheap! i use 'em, and they're reliable.

here's another choice: it's fun spending your money for once!

dragon300zx · October 17, 2005

andy wrote:

get a maxtor 300gb xternal hd. they're built like a tank and a great value. can be had for cheap! i use 'em, and they're reliable.

here's another choice: it's fun spending your money for once!

andy The external ard drives are good and I'm getting one next week as I have already used 100Gb on my desktop hdd. But I was talking more something portable that I could carry on my belt and backup cf cards while on the fly shooting an event. What I went with is this:

Flash-HD to Go! (40GB)

I almost got an external hdd and a stand alone transfer device but that is too big and bulky and not good in the field. I can upgrade the hard drive on this device by myself as well (seeing as i'm a tech geek). And for the price....

dragon300zx · October 17, 2005

devbobo wrote:

If I have the money I would buy an Archos AV700...10GB 7" 16:9 ratio screen....what more could you know

http://www.archos.com/products/av_700/

I like but way outta the budget.

Andy · October 17, 2005

dragon300zx wrote:

andy The external ard drives are good and I'm getting one next week as I have already used 100Gb on my desktop hdd. But I was talking more something portable that I could carry on my belt and backup cf cards while on the fly shooting an event. What I went with is this:

Flash-HD to Go! (40GB)

I almost got an external hdd and a stand alone transfer device but that is too big and bulky and not good in the field. I can upgrade the hard drive on this device by myself as well (seeing as i'm a tech geek). And for the price....

wow, i've not yet even filled 4gb in one day of shooting. you shoot a lot!

dragon300zx · October 17, 2005

andy wrote:

wow, i've not yet even filled 4gb in one day of shooting. you shoot a lot!

well duh. I actually ran out of space on saturday in mackinaw. I had to chimp in the field to get some extra shots in. and that was spuratic shooting not straight on always shooting all the time like at an event. I can easily go through 5-8 gigs at an event. Side effect of ADD I guess.

Oakley · October 18, 2005

I just bought a CompactDrive PD70X with an 80GB hard drive.

https://www.jaldigital.com.au//catalog/default.php?cPath=27&osCsid=371f767bfde2d484f3c008d3fbc08f22

I wanted something I could use AA batteries with, did not have to have a preview screen, and I wanted something cheap (relatively speaking).

I did a lot of research and this is the best thing I could find.

Right now, I'm backing up my 11GB worth of "my documents" from my desktop to see if I could use it as a backup for my computer after I get back from Thailand. It seems slow....but I've heard when copying from a camera card - it's fast - very fast.

We'll see. I'll write more later when I get a chance to play with it some more.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Oakley · October 18, 2005

Portable Storage Device - CompactDrive
Just bought a CompactDrive and would like (after my trip to Thailand) to use it as a second hard drive to back up my PC. It's 80GB - same size as my hard drive on my PC and I thought this was a good idea.

I'm wordering if anyone has used a PSD for this sort of purpose and have they run into any problems.

With this idea - I think I'm either really smart...or really dumb. Considering my indecision on this, I'm looking to you guys to decide which is true.

:

Thanks for anything you can add to this discussion.

colourbox · October 18, 2005

Well, having a complete and easily accessible backup of your hard drive is always about, oh, 50,000% smarter than not having one. As long as you get software that can sync the two automatically so you don't have to fish around for which files are to be updated, a backup drive a really smart thing to have.

Portable Storage Device - CompactDrive

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