Travel? Card Reader/Storage?

c18913 · July 17, 2006

I'm going to Belize and Guatamala for two weeks in August. I don't want to have to take a laptop.

So, my questions for you globe trotters....Has anyone had good luck with a card reader/storage device? What kind? What's your best recommendation for getting photos off my 20d's memory cards?

Thanks!
--Christy

gus · July 17, 2006

G'day c..i use one of these portable drives. Mine is now 2 years old & even with its new battery ...is good for only 4x1 gig CF card download. It came with a 12 volt charger for a ciggy lighter though so as long as im near a car/bike ...its fine.

I would assume the newer models have better batteries. Also just handy after the holiday to have a portable HD of that size on your desk.

troglodite · July 17, 2006

I see nice reviews of the Epson P-2000 & 4000 everywhere...

http://www.epson.com/ under photography

gus · July 17, 2006

Also heaps of info in our search function.

rosselliot · July 17, 2006

I use my ipod with the camera connector. very convenient...

I love my IPOD!!!!

- RE

W.W. Webster · July 17, 2006

troglodite wrote:

I see nice reviews of the Epson P-2000 & 4000 everywhere...

The P-4000 has been superceded by the P-4500. According to an Epson rep I spoke to, it was only ever an interim/short term model, and accordingly was never imported into this country, although it did see the light of day in the US and in some other markets.

hgernhardtjr · July 17, 2006

I personally like the Hyperdrive (currently backordered again until July 24 as it has become VERY popular ... it was easier to get a year ago when there was no waiting). Here's their home page: http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/index.php . I use the $239 60gb, but it is available in several hard drive sizes (see their "store" tab).

Mike Lane reviews it here at Digital Grin: http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1359602

tsk1979 · July 17, 2006

c18913 wrote:

I'm going to Belize and Guatamala for two weeks in August. I don't want to have to take a laptop.

So, my questions for you globe trotters....Has anyone had good luck with a card reader/storage device? What kind? What's your best recommendation for getting photos off my 20d's memory cards?

Thanks!
--Christy

Here's what I use
http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=32462

meewolfie · July 17, 2006

I'm really interested in these devices as I'll be traveling to Uganda and Kenya for two weeks early next year. We're going to be trekking on foot through the mountains, so I don't anticipate that we'll have easy access to reliable power for days at a time.

A few questions - do these have color preview screens? Or is the LCD display more of a status providing interface?

What about failure rate. Has anyone ever had the device "successfully" load all of the images from their card, only to find out later that there isn't anything on the drive? Or that the files on the drive are corrupted? It would be heartbreaking to travel with a device like this counting on it's reliability only to get home and find out that you didn't have the photos from your trip!

Mary

pathfinder · July 17, 2006

meewolfie wrote:

I'm really interested in these devices as I'll be traveling to Uganda and Kenya for two weeks early next year. We're going to be trekking on foot through the mountains, so I don't anticipate that we'll have easy access to reliable power for days at a time.

A few questions - do these have color preview screens? Or is the LCD display more of a status providing interface?

What about failure rate. Has anyone ever had the device "successfully" load all of the images from their card, only to find out later that there isn't anything on the drive? Or that the files on the drive are corrupted? It would be heartbreaking to travel with a device like this counting on it's reliability only to get home and find out that you didn't have the photos from your trip!

Mary

Mary, this is a concern of mine also. I do not really trust any of these devices.

I do use an Epson P-4000 and I really like it. The review screen is nice also.

But I would NEVER trust my files to be stored ONLY on it.

I always record the files on the P-4000 and somewhere else whether it is on the hard drive of my laptop or DVDs os somewhere.

The price of Compact Flash cards continues to fall, so sometimes I just carry a few extra cards and do not erase them until I return home and have archived them on my hard drives at home.

colourbox · July 18, 2006

meewolfie wrote:

What about failure rate. Has anyone ever had the device "successfully" load all of the images from their card, only to find out later that there isn't anything on the drive? Or that the files on the drive are corrupted? It would be heartbreaking to travel with a device like this counting on it's reliability only to get home and find out that you didn't have the photos from your trip!

Nobody who knows anything about hard drives expects them to be 100% reliable.

I have read that because the Hyperdrive is more affordable, some pros carry two on their belt. Each card is offloaded into one, and then the other. The chance of both drives failing simultaneously is low.

If you happen to have the additional equipment, space for disks, and can spare valuable travel time for disc burning, you can do what other pros do which is offload a card into the device and then also burn the same card to a DVD that is mailed home.

ian408 · July 18, 2006

The P2000 is a great little device. The battery life sucks if you're using it
to chimp though. Carry two batteries.

tsk1979 · July 18, 2006

colourbox wrote:

Nobody who knows anything about hard drives expects them to be 100% reliable.

I have read that because the Hyperdrive is more affordable, some pros carry two on their belt. Each card is offloaded into one, and then the other. The chance of both drives failing simultaneously is low.

If you happen to have the additional equipment, space for disks, and can spare valuable travel time for disc burning, you can do what other pros do which is offload a card into the device and then also burn the same card to a DVD that is mailed home.

I built my own device because then I had the freedom to put in a HDD which I trust. In this case Seagate. I dont know what they put in those readymade things, but in what I assembled, I know its a genuine seagate notebook drive and chance of faliure is less.

ziggy53 · July 18, 2006

tsk1979 wrote:

I built my own device because then I had the freedom to put in a HDD which I trust. In this case Seagate. I dont know what they put in those readymade things, but in what I assembled, I know its a genuine seagate notebook drive and chance of faliure is less.

TSK,

Would you mind sharing your method for construction?

Thanks,

ziggy53

dancorder · July 18, 2006

ziggy53 wrote:

TSK,

Would you mind sharing your method for construction?

Thanks,

ziggy53

Just follow the link in his/her earlier post (http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=32462)

:

juliejules · July 18, 2006

I have the hyperdrive, and I bought mine with a 100 GB hardrive, but you can get it as a case only, and then install whatever hardrive you like.

It doubles as AA battery charger and CF card reader.

I've never had it lose pictures, but I've only had it a couple of months. So far I haven't had to erase the CF cards before verifying on the PC that I got all my pictures, but I came close last weekend and I had a hot flash just thinking about it.

It has a tricky user interface, so I had to keep the manual handy until I got used to it.

You can't see the pictures with it, you can only count the files.

PossumCorner · July 18, 2006

Christy we've used the Epson 2000 for 18 months with no problems. Would also like to buy a hyperdrive as a belts-and-braces backup shortly. There are some good reports on the hyperdrive at http://www.nwpphotoforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=3609&an=0&page=0#3609 (including from d-grin members there).

tsk1979 · July 18, 2006

dancorder wrote:

Just follow the link in his/her earlier post (http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=32462) :

Its his

And its a similar solution to hyperdrive. You can fit your own HDD. If you are spending a lot of money on that trip, spending 80$ extra on a backup HDD is not a problem.
Get two HDD's and copy files on both. There is a very very slim chance, that both disks will fail catasthropically.
Same problem of faliure can happen with CF cards, Laptops, even the camera, so there is a risk, but having 2 HDDs will cover you from hard disk faliure pretty well, and when you have spent 2000$ on a trip, an extra 80 wont really hurt.

meewolfie · July 18, 2006

Nobody who knows anything about hard drives expects them to be 100% reliable.

Having worked in IT for over ten years (the early ones doing desktop support), I've rebuilt desktop machines and am quite familiar with hard drive reliability. I've had some that have worked faithfully for years - other's that have been nothing but trouble. Funny thing - is the seagate drive in my desktop machine at home failed shortly upon arrival. Then the replacement drive failed! The third one has been running well for a few years now.

When I posted that question, I knew someone was going to give that answer. What I was really looking for was any feedback on their level of reliability - has anyone encountered persistent problems? Have they had to have their drive repaired/replaced? Or have the drives for the most part been fairly reliable?

With any of these electronic devices, we risk failure. Heck - my camera could fail halfway up a Ugandan mountainside. I realize I won't get 100% reliability out of any of my equipment. I was simply hoping to get feedback from current users of the equipment.

I may just bring along a drugstore, 35mm, throwaway camera. In case I have MAJOR equipment failure!

Scott_Quier · July 18, 2006

I'm not sure this solution will work for you, but I do the following:

Carry as many 2GB+ CF cards as possible
Download from the CF cards to a P-2000
Recycle the CF cards only if I absolutely have to
When I get back to the hotel (base of operations), download from the P-2000 to a laptop.

If I never re-cycle the cards, I have 3 copies of each image. Of course, on long trips/vacations, it's hard to afford the requisist number of cards.

I've had the P-2000 for about a year and have had no problems with it (yet).

claudermilk · July 18, 2006

I have had a hyperdrive (PD70X) since before the US ditributor got started--bought direct from Eastgear. I have run literally tens of thousands of images through it (nearly 8,000 in one go on a busy weekend recently). I have yet to lose ONE file...that is 100% reliability of transfer of all files it succesfully downloaded. I have twice had a failed transfer--both times the drive detected and indicated the problem, so no data loss at all, I knew not to erase the cards. First time was low battery, second was drive fragmentation; the solution to the first is obvious, the solution to the second is I now format after dumping the files to the PC (and verifying).

The only failures I've ever read about was a couple during early days with the PD70X--and that was due to old, dying drives being put in them. Fresh drives were put int & they worked flawlessly.

I will soon be upgrading the drive as I have filled it a couple of times and have some longer trips scheduled later this year, so 40GB isn't enough. The swap will be simple. BTW, mine shipped with a Samsung drive in it, but you can order an empty & put whatever you want in there.

In any case, to directly answer the OP question: The HD80/PD70X has basically been dead reliable & I have no reason not to trust it.

I applaud the motivation on that DIY rig, but I personally would not trade. The separate drive, reader, and battery parts seems like such a PITA in comparison to the single unit device made for the purpose, not to mention several added failure points.

gus · July 18, 2006

meewolfie wrote:

. What I was really looking for was any feedback on their level of reliability - has anyone encountered persistent problems? Have they had to have their drive repaired/replaced? Or have the drives for the most part been fairly reliable?

I have an X-drive with a lap top HD in it. Its been to hell & back & still works like the day i bought it. Has stored maybe 50 gig in its time. Never fails me.

colourbox · July 18, 2006

tsk1979 wrote:

I built my own device because then I had the freedom to put in a HDD which I trust. In this case Seagate. I dont know what they put in those readymade things, but in what I assembled, I know its a genuine seagate notebook drive and chance of faliure is less.

The Hyperdrive hard drive is user-replaceable or even available with no drive, you add your own 2.5". If I had to choose between a home-built device and a Hyperdrive, I'd choose the Hyperdrive because its drive interface, control software, and power system are designed and tested as an integrated unit for the specific purpose of reliable photo transfer, and you can read all about it on their site. And the AA batteries are much more flexible than the lithium-ions in the units that have a battery-draining screen.

I'm not saying you haven't carefully specced and tested yours, only that they probably spent a lot more time and resources perfecting their design for demanding pros.

badtz · July 18, 2006

Another vote for the hyperdrive, couple things that havent been mentioned are 1) long better life 2) speed. I've used ipods/other devices in a pinch previous to getting my hyperdrive and it the cats pants in terms of battery life and speed. The only comperable device i've read of is the nexto CF which is pretty hard to get (I kind of dont trust ebay). A 2 week vacation with a 60gb HD resulted in 1 recharge and amazing ease of use. Granted its not a chimping device, but I have a laptop for that. I do honestly trust this device enough that Id contemplate getting another and travelling with 2 hyperdrives instead of a laptop if lugging around a laptop on a long trip were ever an issue. Well suffice it to say Im very happy with mine, hope that helps at least a bit

claudermilk · July 19, 2006

I think you meant long battery life. I can vouch for that; that marathon photo shoot I mentioned used the heck out of the drive. Basically a 14-hour day of solid shooting: fill the card, dump to the drive, format card & repeat every 5-10 minutes. It worked without complaint for three days of this. All I did was recharge in the hotel overnight--a second set of batteries probably would have made even that moot. My only problem? The drive was too small.

wxwax · July 19, 2006

See if you can get a copy of this month's Digital Photo Pro magazine. They do a short piece on a number of portable hard drive options.

Hmmm, looks like they have it online, too.

goodcrna · July 19, 2006

Does the Drive support RAW files (Canon)?

claudermilk wrote:

I think you meant long battery life. I can vouch for that; that marathon photo shoot I mentioned used the heck out of the drive. Basically a 14-hour day of solid shooting: fill the card, dump to the drive, format card & repeat every 5-10 minutes. It worked without complaint for three days of this. All I did was recharge in the hotel overnight--a second set of batteries probably would have made even that moot. My only problem? The drive was too small.

How about RAW files? I understand that this device doesn't allow you to view the images. Have you found that to be a problem? I could wait to see the photo's, but if I dont have my laptop I wouldn't be able to see the photos in my room. Do those of you who have the EPSON make use of the viewing, or is it just an unused option?
I realize the price difference too. THanks, this has been a most informative post.

Greg Good
Grand Rapids, MI

BigAl · July 20, 2006

Another thumbs up for PD70X. On a recent trip to Europe I took over 1000 pics (RAW+large jpeg) and my wife about 150 with a Sony F707. The fact that it could take both CF cards and Memory Sticks without adaptors was a huge plus. I was impressed with speed (I only have 2x512MB CF cards), as turn around time was never an issue - even with an itchy finger.

I charged it twice in 3 weeks, although the second time was not really necessary. A useful feature not mentioned is that it can be used as a reasonably fast charger for AA batteries.

claudermilk · July 20, 2006

goodcrna wrote:

How about RAW files? I understand that this device doesn't allow you to view the images. Have you found that to be a problem? I could wait to see the photo's, but if I dont have my laptop I wouldn't be able to see the photos in my room. Do those of you who have the EPSON make use of the viewing, or is it just an unused option?
I realize the price difference too. THanks, this has been a most informative post.

Greg Good
Grand Rapids, MI

Because it's not trying to display photos, it doesn't care WHAT the files are. Truly, they can be anything--it's just copying data. RAW is fine. I don't need to see the shots until I get back to my PC for processing, all I need is a big "bag" to dump them to so I can continue cycling my CF cards.

Scott_Quier · July 20, 2006

goodcrna wrote:

How about RAW files? I understand that this device doesn't allow you to view the images. Have you found that to be a problem? I could wait to see the photo's, but if I dont have my laptop I wouldn't be able to see the photos in my room. Do those of you who have the EPSON make use of the viewing, or is it just an unused option?
I realize the price difference too. THanks, this has been a most informative post.

Greg Good
Grand Rapids, MI

As noted in a previous post in this thread, I have the P-2000 but I NEVER use the photo preview. I put a card in the machine, turn it on, start the dump, and place the P-2000 into a pocket while I continue shooting with another card. The P-2000 will automatically shut down after some period of time, so by the machine has shut itself off by the time I'm ready with another card.

mercphoto · July 20, 2006

goodcrna wrote:

How about RAW files? I understand that this device doesn't allow you to view the images. Have you found that to be a problem? I could wait to see the photo's, but if I dont have my laptop I wouldn't be able to see the photos in my room. Do those of you who have the EPSON make use of the viewing, or is it just an unused option?
I realize the price difference too. THanks, this has been a most informative post.

I have the Epson P-2000 but I actually regret the purchase. Occassionally I use the screen but only seldom. It is a very nice screen but all I really want is a storage device. For that it is expensive and it is slow. Transferring from the card to the device is very slow, and I was led to believe the P2000 was relatively quick. And transferring from the device to my computer is very slow as well.

It will show me my RAW files but only because the RAW file has an embedded small JPG in it. Therefore you cannot zoom into a RAW file, you can only zoom into JPG's. Also note that as new RAW formats come online you will need to update the firmware in the device to show the new RAW files. Yet another reason why proprietary RAW files are a bad idea.

Travel? Card Reader/Storage?

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