Portable digital photo storage devices

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Portable digital photo storage devices

Postby svizzerams » Sun Nov 14, 2004 6:39 pm

Anyone used any of these devices? I'm considering something like this for my next extended trip so as not to have to lug a laptop around.

Coolwalker by Nikon - pricey for GB capacity.

FlashTrax by Smart Disk (so far I like the idea of this one best -feature wise/cost wise) 40, 60, and 80GB capacities

Vosonic makes some devices - but not available in the states

iPod - new photo version up to 60GB now....(have a 40GB 4th gen but info suggests downloading fotos is slooooow - no playback on this device - just storage)

Delkin BurnAway (looks kinda big to me - but can burn CDs from it)

I don't really care about audio playback which some of these seem to tout as a feature.

Any users of any thing like this or have other ideas? Its nice to dump images of CF cards and/or use as back up.....
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Postby Renard » Sun Nov 14, 2004 7:35 pm

Svizz,

Unless you've got money to burn, these options seem kind of pricey to me. IMHO, the benefit does not justify the cost.

Why not just go with additional back-up memory cards (1 GB +) or bring your USB cable, a CD-RW and spend five minutes in an internet café?
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Postby anguilla » Mon Nov 15, 2004 1:12 pm

The problem with the internet cafe solution is that many computers you run into in those places do not have the drivers you need installed to use your card reader. Then you are left high and dry (it depends to on the cafe, some of the newer, fancier ones will not let you download the drivers onto their machines, some won't have cd burners etc- trust me, I have run into all of these)

The i-pod solution is the best in my opinion, although I use mine (along with another external pocket hard drive) in conjunction with my laptop, you can get a belkin card reader and dump the cards straight onto it. Plus, pick up some travel speakers (and one of those FM transmitters for the car) and you have hours and hours of music in any dumpy little hotel or guesthouse you may find yourself in.

If you are not gone for too long though, 2 Gig cards are going for $200 and under, depending on card speed- a hand full of these would keep your pack light and small, just make sure to number them.......
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iPod

Postby svizzerams » Mon Nov 15, 2004 8:46 pm

I've been very impressed with my iPod, clean, simple, intuitive - I picked up a pair of the iMobile speakers in London and used them in Spain. Now I have them here at work and bought the Bose ones for home. It sure beats hauling around CD players, CDs etc etc....

The newest addition to iPod is the 40GB, 60GB photo editions, which had I known were coming might have held out for...I've thought about the Belkin card reader, but reviews indicated it was pretty slow (which may be relative actually as I'm not a professional and not in a war zone).

I've been weighing the pros and cons of investing in the higher capacity CF cards or a dedicated device for storage that is small and portable. Currently have a small army of CF cards of varying sizes. Actually ran out of cards after 4 days in Venice and hadn't brought my laptop - so that is why I'm thinking of other options.

I agree that the internet cafes are quite variable in quality and features. In Ecuador they were soooooo slow. In Venice awesome, in Spain - OK. I always scope out the nearest internet cafes when I get someplace. Just hate the cigarette smoke in them...yuk.
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Postby anguilla » Tue Nov 16, 2004 3:02 pm

The photo ipod is a great option, I don't have it, and I would not drop the cash on it if you already have one- belkin adapter is around $100.

I really would not worry too much about speed- yes, unless you happen to be on serious deadline (which, if you are outside of the US usually your deadline is pushed back because of the time change :)) - slow may mean 10 minutes for a one gig card, but hey, what the hell? You are probably dumping them while bellied up to the bar at night...
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Postby Kurt » Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:16 pm

I don't know squat about this topic.

But I do know that iPod's seem to have a big following and people are finding new uses for them. Check out some of them at this cool techie site

http://www.flashenabled.com/

This dude also has his dog take pictures.
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Postby m4p » Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:06 pm

I leave the house with an iPod full of music and come back full of JPGs. Works great for me. Though I should note that I use the pod to back-up everything on my laptop.
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Postby svizzerams » Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:34 am

m4p wrote:I leave the house with an iPod full of music and come back full of JPGs. Works great for me. Though I should note that I use the pod to back-up everything on my laptop.



What do you use to put the jpg / and back up your lap top to your iPod? That is might cool.

How about jump drives? I bought one just because they are so damn cute - 512 MB you can wear on a string around your neck. Now what more could a geek-girl fashionista pine away for?????
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Postby m4p » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:38 am

Yeah those mini things are pretty cool. Never used 'em though. I just carry a bunch of cards. Then at the end of each day transfer everything to an iBook via firewire. Then drag the folder onto the iPod, also using firewire to back it up. The pod works great, but you may find yourself without any music on the flight home :-(

It doesnt happen much, but when I run out of room I start burning CDRs. Thats pretty time consuming after a long day though. Next book I get will definitely have a DVD burner
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Postby anguilla » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:14 pm

hey mp4,

Gotta say, the dvd player is sweet for watching those counterfeit dvd's in your hotel room, but burning your images at the end of the day takes almost an hour- plus if you have a mac you need a specific type of dvd- i can't remember what the type is, but it is a pain in the ass- big external drive and an ipod will suffice for a couple month trip...

speaking of which where are you now, back in Haiti?
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Postby svizzerams » Thu Nov 18, 2004 6:31 pm

When I was traveling for an extended period of time I took a PC laptop with a CD burner. I use a Canon EOS D-60, which uses compact flash cards. I have PCI adaptor which I use to dump the fotos onto the laptop to clear the cards periodically. I burned back ups of the photos onto CD's and could also give them to the people as gifts (did that in Ecuador and Colombia for the people who hosted me). When I was staying put having the laptop is cool - but hauling it hither and yon - that is pain.

I have the 40GB iPod- about 20GB used for music - that would still leave a lot of room of fotos.

BTW, William your foto work is awesome!!


Anquilla - have you used the Belkin card reader? Do you like it? Some of the reviews for it have been unfavorable. Somewhat polarized - some people say it works fantastic and others say it is unreliable (or complain it doesn't use a particular format). Do you have fotos posted anywhere?
Joan of Arc went to battle with nothing
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...those without swords can still die upon them...

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Postby m4p » Thu Nov 18, 2004 10:49 pm

Svizz: I think youre on the right track with the pod and the Belkin (?) adapter. If you dont need the laptop, why drag it around. If you go ahead with it definitely let us know the results. Id go for it.

And thanks for the nice comments on the pix. I really need to go into some of those recent galleries and clean house and re-edit. Its fun to upload stuff while on assignment, but I always end up with pix that shouldnt be there and also some glaring omissions.

Anguila:Yeah, Ive a DVD player in my book and love it. Doesnt the PowerBook have a burner installed? Its an idea, but a huge price jump from the iBook. And a hour long transfer time isnt too appealing.

Nice stuff coming from you these days in Afghanistan! And your site looks great.

BTW...I dropped you a PM re: the NYC office. Any insight? Drop me a line.

Not in Haiti. Wish I was. Though Im just starting an interesting piece on extreme weather winter surfers in NEngland that could be cool.
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Postby anguilla » Fri Nov 19, 2004 2:49 am

mp4,

Thanks. It is quite fun here- last night we went to one of the few bars in town and had to evacuate half way through our second beer because of a specific bomb threat against the place- good fun.

Yeah, I have the Mac g4 12"- Its a great machine, no doubt, but the price difference between this one and the ibook...I think next time I will go with the ibook.

The surfing project sounds great, you had better get your self a dry suit- I went diving off of long island once in a 7 mil suit in the fall- only went down about 30 feet and almost froze to death. Montauk is a good place to see those guys out trying to catch some waves.

As for our man in NYC- um, I had better pm you about that...

Cheers,
S
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Postby m4p » Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:56 pm

Anguilla:
" It is quite fun here- last night we went to one of the few bars in town and had to evacuate half way through our second beer because of a specific bomb threat against the place- good fun."

That winter surf story aint lookin so attractive now ;-) Have a good time and make good pix man.
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Postby svizzerams » Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:56 pm

m4p wrote:Nice stuff coming from you these days in Afghanistan! And your site looks great.



Is there an address for anquilla's site????

Thanks
Joan of Arc went to battle with nothing
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...those without swords can still die upon them...

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