DSLRUsers.com

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:41 pm**

I am off os in a few weeks and I was wondering what I should get for portable storage.

I would like the epson p2000 but 700ish is a little too much to justify.

But at a cursoury glace it appears that other portable storage options are comming in around 600

What do others use for this kind of thing and what is the solutions approx cost.

If all else fails I will buy a ton of compact flash cards and be done with it.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:45 pm**

Do a search..there are a few past threads on this topic :wink:

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:51 pm**

Depends what you are after and whether you want a screen to review whats on the PSD.

The PD70x (CompactDrive in Pacific, Hyperdrive in US) seems to be getting some good reviews and is likely what I will be getting soon. One of the Vosonics (cant remember the model) is a similar price and capability. I think BBJ has one of these.

The things that appeal to me about the PD70x is the AA's (with built in charger), 50GB download on a single charge, and 2mins for a 2GB card download to the PSD.

The P2000 is apparently great for image review etc, but is slower on the card download and wont get as many downloads per charge. Plus, as you point out, quite a lot more expensive :-)

However, birddog loves his and it certainly looks to be a great little unit (the P2000 I mean).

Part of this is also going to depend on where you are going overseas and how long you will be away from internet cafe's where you can download CF's and burn DVD's.

HTH
Rob

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:52 pm**

As shutterbug says, a search will yield a number of threads. In case you don't know what to seach for: PD70X, Nexto, or Portable Storage Device - PSD.

Should yield plenty of results. I use a PD70X with 60gb, works great.

HTH,

Andre

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:05 pm**

Hi olrac, I use the Vosonic 3320 with 30GB. Took it to South America with me with no problems at all.

One of my purchasing criteria was that it had to be a compact unit (given I was backpacking and space was an issue), and I think this is one of the smaller units available.

HTH

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:23 pm**

I have two - PD70X and Digimate II Plus.

PD70x is nice and fast and has verification and runs off AAs.

Digimate II Plus is slower, no verification, runs off Li-ion but is cheap ($200 for 40Gb).

I use both to keep a duplicate of all my backups (yup, I'm paranoid).

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:31 pm**

robboh wrote:The PD70x (CompactDrive in Pacific, Hyperdrive in US) seems to be getting some good reviews and is likely what I will be getting soon. One of the Vosonics (cant remember the model) is a similar price and capability. I think BBJ has one of these.

The things that appeal to me about the PD70x is the AA's (with built in charger), 50GB download on a single charge, and 2mins for a 2GB card download to the PSD.

Agree that this is a good unit - I got one (just) in time for the NZ trip, and was thankful I did!

But don't believe the '50GB download from 1 charge' claim - That's not my experience in the field (although actual usage was more than reasonable). The 2mins for 2GB is about right though - this is one fast reader

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:32 pm**

Another Vote for the Vosonic's I have the X'drive Pro 3310 with a 40 gig drive. It has a rechargable battery.
I havnt given it a good run yet, but transfered 1 gig no probs , however I didnt time it.

When I get more time I 'll time it and see how many gigs I can transfer on one charge.

Another bonus , it plays mp3's not awsomely but it plays.

Cost $200 delivered from ebay.

MATT

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:35 pm**

I bought an Epson P-2000 before I went to the USA in December.
The details:
Purchase price from City Software, now eStore = $744.81
less TRS refund - $67.71
Net price = $677.10

The Epson is really easy to use, and with 40Gb hard drive, not that easy to fill up. As you would have read, the screen is exceptional, and therefore you can review your shots (including RAW) during your trip.

I'm delighted with mine.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:37 pm**

People, do we restart the talk of this PSD topic once again?

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:40 pm**

Get a 12" ibook or Nexto

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:58 pm**

Birddog114 wrote:People, do we restart the talk of this PSD topic once again?

Yip, why not?

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:47 pm**

I've just got my claws on a Nikon Coolwalker on eBay. It's Maxwell refurbished stock, came with all accessories plus a Maxwell 12 month warranty all for $350. Works a treat. :wink:

Bob.

.

Posted: **Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:57 am**

Maybe camera makers can take the incredible technological leap and equip their future models with USB host capabilities. Then you could use any USB pocket drive...

40GB for hundreds of dollars? How very yesterday!

Cheers
Steffen.

Posted: **Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:47 pm**

Thanks for all your responses....

I am almost certain i will get a vosonic 6230....

Just have to decide what size...

Posted: **Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:50 am**

Steffen wrote:Maybe camera makers can take the incredible technological leap and equip their future models with USB host capabilities. Then you could use any USB pocket drive...

40GB for hundreds of dollars? How very yesterday!

Cheers
Steffen.

The next new generation of DSLR bodies will have the 100Gb SATA super mini dics built in :lol:

Posted: **Sun Jan 15, 2006 11:37 am**

olrac wrote:Thanks for all your responses....
I am almost certain i will get a vosonic 6230....
Just have to decide what size...

Has anyone on here used one of these?? Just curious as to what the card download speeds like and what sort of download life do you get on a single charge??

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:11 am**

Hi everyone, first post here!

I am looking to buy the PD70x / HD80.
I've looked at the Hyperdrive prices from their website and Australian prices of the PD70x. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but it seems to be cheaper to buy the US version HD80? I imagine it makes no difference if you buy the Oz or US version apart from the fact you will have to buy a US to Oz converter for the AC adapter.
Appreciate any clarification on this?

Edit: Ok, trying to answer my own question on this, I imagine stamp duty and warranty issues would be the reasons to purchase here?

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:09 am**

Collingwood wrote:I've looked at the Hyperdrive prices from their website and Australian prices of the PD70x. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but it seems to be cheaper to buy the US version HD80? I imagine it makes no difference if you buy the Oz or US version apart from the fact you will have to buy a US to Oz converter for the AC adapter

Just the unit costs $149USD while you can get the Aust. PD70x for $185AUD at Jaldigital - http://www.jaldigital.com.au/

Cheapter in Australia, you don't have to worry about adapters, warranty is local and delivery is cheaper. I've seen them cheaper at other places in Australia, but can't remember where.

HTH,

Andre

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2006 1:27 pm**

Hi i can highly recommmend the Vosonic VP2160 from http://www.powerinnumbers.com.au - he also stocks the PD70X ands heaps of other models.

The VP2160 is the cheapest (or was back when i got mine ) and it does the job perfectly and has a verify method throught the LCD. Its only around $200 with a hard drive these days and you dont really need it again after your trip so its better to just spend the cash on something that does the job you need it for.

I would advise AGAINST geting something with a built in MP3 player etc.

If you want music get an ipod shuffle for $100 2nd hand!

Statistics wise my VP2160 nearly lasted 2 months without having to be recharged and i was loading 512MB at a time. I think i did around 13GB all up and i only recharged the battery about 1 week before comming home not because it drained but because i wanted to be on the safe side.

Its a great and very compact unit.

Posted: **Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:55 pm**

Thanks for the replies. I'm planning on buying a D200 which will be my first move into DSLR photography so I need just about all the extras to go with the camera. I'll look into VP2160 as well. I intend to buy a couple of 2gig Ultra II's and a decent PSD solely for image storage. Thanks again.

Posted: **Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:15 pm**

Hi guys - seems like these came 'in with a bang' a few years ago [well, around 6 years ago, actually] - just wondered if anyone has any updates on these 'hyperdrives' - quality experiences; latest/best models etc?

A

Posted: **Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:33 pm**

Hey there; how are you doing?

Are you after the ability to view on the device, or merely storage.

Posted: **Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:50 pm**

hi mate, in a word [f**#ing] cold...

also feeling a bit isolated out west, as you would call it :roll:

... actually it's not only out west, if you were being honest, you'd really have to call it the 'ass end' of Australia - if it weren't for Tasmania, I guess [but since when did Tasmania count - except for GST handouts, that is :shock:

]

... boy I'm on fire today [wow] - couldn't find the right emoticon for that one

and the answer to your question >> 'with screen', if poss.

A

Posted: **Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:31 pm**

OK, great to hear from you. Go and stand in front of something warm.

I'm going to take a lateral approach on this one, especially given the way that technology has gone over the last couple of years.

And in this realm, it's not gone all that far; I've not really seen a new/decent storage device with a screen, for a few years now.

So, that means we should explore other options: an iPad with the camera kit should be able to help with this task, but you'd need to go the whole hog (64GB), and still probably move files somewhere upstream ...

Which leads me to a netbook computer. Prices start at around $300, compact with heaps of storage, much bigger screen than you'd see on any dedicated device, and way more flexible and easily upgradeable. Add something like a Seagate GoFlex drive for extra storage.

Posted: **Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:49 pm**

gstark wrote:Which leads me to a netbook computer. Prices start at around $300, compact with heaps of storage, much bigger screen than you'd see on any dedicated device, and way more flexible and easily upgradeable. Add something like a Seagate GoFlex drive for extra storage.

interesting you should say that, as I was starting to come to the same conclusion ... having a look at 'hyperdrive' and a couple of other suppliers & was really surprised at their pricing - some of the better units at aroun $500-600 - as you say, you could buy a computer for that!!

A :roll:

Posted: **Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:57 am**

added bonus with the netbook you can access the internet for free at lots cafes and pubs, depending where os you are going

Posted: **Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:07 am**

As it happens, I was at JB HiFi over the weekend, and they had a Compaq laptop - AMD CPU based - for under $400.

If a netbook's form factor is too small for you, this might be an option.

They had these in a stack near the door at the Bondi store, maybe 15 or so of them ...

Posted: **Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:32 pm**

gstark wrote:As it happens, I was at JB HiFi over the weekend, and they had a Compaq laptop - AMD CPU based - for under $400.

If a netbook's form factor is too small for you, this might be an option.

They had these in a stack near the door at the Bondi store, maybe 15 or so of them ...

also check JBHIFI

$291 with 250gb hdd

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/computers-laptops/netbooks/acer-aod257-13dqk-10-netbook/649180?utm_source=jb-au-online&utm_medium=20110615-homepage&utm_campaign=20110615-homepage

Posted: **Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:37 pm**

gstark wrote:As it happens, I was at JB HiFi over the weekend, and they had a Compaq laptop - AMD CPU based - for under $400.

If a netbook's form factor is too small for you, this might be an option.

They had these in a stack near the door at the Bondi store, maybe 15 or so of them ...

fantastic Gary ... if only I was a little closer to Bondi [bit of a hike from Parkside SA]

A

Posted: **Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:49 pm**

biggerry wrote:$291 with 250gb hdd

http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/computers-laptops/netbooks/acer-aod257-13dqk-10-netbook/649180?utm_source=jb-au-online&utm_medium=20110615-homepage&utm_campaign=20110615-homepage

I ordered one of these on Thursday and am waiting for them to ship (not sure why it didn't ship Friday as they say they have stock - anyway, I'm not in a hurry).

I heard an ad on the radio yesterday and it appears Hardly Normal have an Acer notebook selling this weekend only for under $200 (one per customer). Not sure if it is the same model.

Posted: **Sat Jun 25, 2011 7:57 pm**

Just have to decide what size...

Advice "buy the biggest you ca afford" it's amazing
what storage space we need nowadays in comparison
with just a few years.

I had a Vosonic and did well, but as the file size of
my pictures grew it became small. Apart from this,
these gadgets don't always read the newest and
faster cards. So, be informed, shop wisely and read
the small print of the specifications.

I damaged the Vonosnic trying to change its hard
drive for one with a bigger capacity. At present I
have a Nexto with 50 Gig and works very well and
it also takes video with an USB, it's fast and functional,
but you need a laptop to see the pictures once installed.
I bought it from Amazon.com. Good luck!

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:54 am**

FWIW Epson are giving away, via redemption, one of their portable storage devices with every 3880 sold at the moment. I think its the 170MB one so very limited usefulness. Maybe its possible to upgrade the drive in it.

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 10:57 am**

zafra52 wrote:
Just have to decide what size...

Advice "buy the biggest you ca afford" it's amazing
what storage space we need nowadays in comparison
with just a few years.

I damaged the Vonosnic trying to change its hard
drive for one with a bigger capacity. At present I
have a Nexto with 50 Gig and works very well and
it also takes video with an USB, it's fast and functional,
but you need a laptop to see the pictures once installed.
I bought it from Amazon.com. Good luck!

Hi there - thansk for that: had a look at the Nexto - no wonder they're good - the one I googled is $1800 ...wow!! as several people have said, in that case, you're better off buying a computer...

FYI, for those who recommend the computer option, I had thought that was the way to go a couple of years ago, and bought a netbook for that very reason [MSI Wind] and it was just way too slow - impossible to load & view images - even jpgs!!

A :shock:

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 11:31 am**

feldy wrote:FYI, for those who recommend the computer option, I had thought that was the way to go a couple of years ago, and bought a netbook for that very reason [MSI Wind] and it was just way too slow - impossible to load & view images - even jpgs!!

Which is why, when I went down this path I bought a MacBookPro 15". I bought the bottom end one, then upgraded memory to 8Gb (3rd Party), replaced the HDD with a 120Gb SSD and the DVD with a 750Gb 7200rpm HDD. I loaded LR3 and CS5 onto it. I do not regret the choice for 1 second. It even fits in the magazine pocket of most of aircraft we flew in. THere was one where it didn't fit, but no big drama. I just put it by my feet for takeoff/landing. >6hour battery life (blue, wifi turned off, screen dimmed) so it lasted all our flights. One was 8 hour, but by the time we were in there air & then had to stow for landing, 6 hours was fine. The only problem was when the seat in front reclined. I had to fold the screen up. Still OK for reading, but no good for picture editing.

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 12:31 pm**

clearly great minds think alike - that was my solution as well [bought the 13" Macbook Pro]; great battery life & crystal clear screen - absolutley beautiful [I hadn't been much of a mac person before then]...

the only criticism I would have is that it was a little slower than I had been expecting, considering its dual core Intel [whatever] whatevers, but I've only got the standard 2 Gb ram - maybe the first thing I should do is double that & see what sort of difference it makes???

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 12:40 pm**

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I bought the Nexto eXtreme 50 G,
but I only paid AUD 500+. Not even the AUD600. I took it to India & Spain
and it's fast, easy to carry and use and very safe. For instance, I was
copying the cards of a friend, who has the setting of his camara to
"start numbering", meaning that he would have the same file names every
time he inserted the same (erased/formated) or a second card, but Nexto
kep creating a new folder for each card regardless whether it was the same
or different card with the same file names - the headache came later for him.

But, once you have copied the photos or video in this drive you cannot see
them unless you hook it to a computer, as you would with a USB.

Please keep this in your mind "we often forget, including me, that the most
valuable item is not the hardware we use for it can easily and expensively be
replaced, but the photo taken because in most cases it can never be repeated.
So, get yourself the best storage you can afford and the most functional for your
photographic needs - everything else is a luxury. Good luck!

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:05 pm**

I pretty much did the same as Greg, only I got the 13" MacBook Pro. I upgraded it to 8GB and replaced the HDD with a 500MB. I'm also very happy with mine and it was just what I needed on my last dive trip to Vanuatu plus it is my main workhorse at home (connected to a 22" LC monitor and I use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse).

I have a weekend dive trip in July to Forster. We'll only be doing 2 double dives. I'd rather not take the MacBook Pro (as I'm not confident with the security at our accommodation. I also only have 1 8GB card for the D300 with the next largest card being a 4GB card. A 4GB card would be a bit risky for a double dive (I often go over 3GB on a single dive) so I had a choice of buying a second 8GB card (~$100) or go for a cheap netbook which will give me other benefits - so I went for the latter for under $300.

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:19 pm**

ATJ wrote:I pretty much did the same as Greg, only I got the 13" MacBook Pro. I upgraded it to 8GB and replaced the HDD with a 500MB. I'm also very happy with mine and it was just what I needed on my last dive trip to Vanuatu plus it is my main workhorse at home (connected to a 22" LC monitor and I use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse).

well sounds like the ram upgrade's definitely priority no.1; the only other thing is that, while I love it, it's still not that light...

I guess in that case, the only other thing to look at would be one of those beautiful Macbook Airs [salivate]... if only i could justify the purchase price to the better half!

A

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:46 pm**

feldy wrote:well sounds like the ram upgrade's definitely priority no.1;

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/A ... ro/Upgrade

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:03 pm**

ok Andrew - thanks for that; have just read that the Macbook Air [which was a bit underpowered] is supposedly going to benefit from some new whizz/bang new 'Sandy Bridge' chip/architecture, so maybe I'll start desperately saving my pennies...

must say the weight [or lack of it] is definitely appealing... also depends whether Mac australia does their usual exhorbitant Aust. price gouging thing, or whether they pass on some of the benefit of the higher A$??

A

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:11 pm**

feldy wrote:also depends whether Mac australia does their usual exhorbitant Aust. price gouging thing,

Actually, Apple Oz's pricing isn't too bad these days. Remember that the US prices you see are ex-tax; add about 9% to those, and then see how the numbers stack.

But the MBA has always been underpowered.

Posted: **Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:21 pm**

gstark wrote:Actually, Apple Oz's pricing isn't too bad these days. Remember that the US prices you see are ex-tax; add about 9% to those, and then see how the numbers stack.

They still aren't great. e.g. lowest spec MBA is US$999 but AU$1199. That's still over $100 more taking tax into account. Take the AU$ into account and it is even worse.

gstark wrote:But the MBA has always been underpowered.

And also limited in storage and memory. As they have flash memory instead of a HDD, you have to go to the top-of-the-line model just to get 256GB. They come with 2GB of memory standard and only go to 4GB.

You'd probably cope with 4GB of memory but you'd fill the 256GB of storage pretty quickly. You'd need to carry around an extra drive.

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:58 am**

feldy wrote:the only criticism I would have is that it was a little slower than I had been expecting, considering its dual core Intel [whatever] whatevers, but I've only got the standard 2 Gb ram - maybe the first thing I should do is double that & see what sort of difference it makes???

actually couldn't get any 'live person' service on the online link, so actually went to a mac shop [not the one where i bought it].

Interesting -this second mac shop was surprised that I had only 2Gb of ram - they thought it should have had 4 Gb at the start... offerred to upgrade it to 4GB [for the outrageous price of $135] or one 4Gb card at [the only slightly less outrageous] price of $110 leaving me a slot free if I wanted to go up to 8 Gb later - chose the latter [ie 1x 4Gb] but suddenly occured to me that these things mostly seem to be done as identical pairs in the slots; it does seem a bit faster, but have i done a significantly sub-optimal thing, putting all the Gb on one side & leaving the other side free??

A :shock:

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:05 am**

feldy wrote:[offerred to upgrade it to 4GB [for the outrageous price of $135] or one 4Gb card at [the only slightly less outrageous] price of $110 leaving me a slot free if I wanted to go up to 8 Gb later

You could have gone to 8GB for US$89.

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:44 am**

thanks for that :roll:

... actually that's the problem when you're not a confident techie [& probably the only reason local shops get any business on this sort of stuff] - ie they didn't show the ram specs for my particular model - I waited a couple of hours for hte supposed 'live-help' person to no avail;

what if I ordered, it arrives in 4-5 days & you find you've got the wrong one? ...you've then got to go through all sorts of refund/replace -type of procedures & for a relatively small amount from half-way across the world, & not all cheap resellers are going to be interested/bothered...

feldy wrote:
feldy wrote:have i done a significantly sub-optimal thing, putting all the Gb on one side & leaving the other side free??

any answer to the original question

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:32 am**

It depends on the way the slots are configured. Some computers have been configured so that they need to be installed in pairs. Some don't. Techs have gotten in the habit of always installing RAM in pairs as that is always safe. But it either works or it doesn't. Your worked, so the only thing sub optimal about it is that you installed 4Gb not 8Gb

OWC, the site ATJ pointed you to above, has an excellent "what memory do I need for this particular box" section.
You need to know what the model identifier is ("Apple"...About This Mac... More Info... Look for the Model identifier in the HArdware overview section - The machine I am doing this on is "iMac9,1") Then just find this number on the site & it will tell you what you need for an upgrade, and often how to do it. BTW you can also get a significant performance boost by replacing the HDD with an SSD (Solid state) drive, but these get very expensive very quickly as you go up in size. That's why I installed a small SSD and an extra larger HDD, but the latter install is not for the faint hearted. Memory is usually a doddle however.

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:58 am**

Another thought.
You got them to take out a 2Gb stick, and replace it with a 4Gb stick. You should be able to put the spare 2Gb stick in the other slot to give you a total of 6Gb. You did keep the old stick didn't you. If they kept it, they should have given you a trade in price.

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:38 pm**

In my desktop, I have a similar setup with 2Gb + 4Gb. I believe only some motherboards support this feature. I think it makes things slightly slower. :wink:

Posted: **Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:42 pm**

Mr Darcy wrote:Another thought.
You got them to take out a 2Gb stick, and replace it with a 4Gb stick. You should be able to put the spare 2Gb stick in the other slot to give you a total of 6Gb. You did keep the old stick didn't you. If they kept it, they should have given you a trade in price.

no that was the thing [bluddy cheapskate Myer] - the original had two 1 Gb's paired!!

A

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