Topic: Looking for a portable HD/CF reader (Read 12175 times)

DeanC · « **on:** November 28, 2006, 07:57:55 pm »

I'm looking for something like this, ideally with a battery power source. Can anyone point me at something in Canada or the US?
Nextodi

jani · « **Reply #1 on:** November 29, 2006, 06:08:14 am »

Epson P-2000 and P-4000 are canonical responses to this question; they have the storage space, understand many raw formats, and have a pretty good screen for viewing your images.

Henrik Paul · « **Reply #2 on:** November 29, 2006, 06:33:42 am »

I could actually refine this question, because I've wondered about the same thing.

I remember Michael sometime in the past mentioning a gadget that's without a preview screen - it just eats CF-cards, downloads the contents and stores them. I have come to the conclusion that, while those Epsons are drool-icious, I can't afford them, even if they could show Nikon D200 NEF:s (which, I'd remember, they don't). So, just a portable device that would empty CF:s to a HD, nothing more, is what I'd need.

I'm going away to Thailand for two weeks in January, and I'm worried that my 5GB of memory cards isn't enough.

Addendum: Upon closer review, this Nextodi thing would come close, however it seems to have many fancy features that probably just make the gizmo cost a bunch in excess. Is there a dumbed-down version of this somewhere?

augg · « **Reply #3 on:** November 29, 2006, 06:44:20 am »

I love my jobo gigavu pro!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...oughType=search

dan

DeanC · « **Reply #4 on:** November 29, 2006, 07:33:39 am »

I should have clarified that I am really just looking for a cf "emptyer." I am in need of storage more than anything else, and agreed, ones that can show photos are very drool worthy, I just can't justify the extra cash.

In my case, I'll be going to Africa for four months, though photography is not the primary purpose of the trip. I'm thinking 100gb minimum. I HAVE found soem cases into which you can put any 2.5" laptop HD, and they have built in card readers. Hovering around $60-80 CAD, you can then buy any size HD you want and put them together. I can't find reviews of said products anywhere, and even simple ones with a HD already installed seem inordantly expensive.

Likely this is the route I will go, as I will have my laptop along for viewing and editing of photos.

Thanks for the tips, and I'll put up links to the product I do end up buying.

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #5 on:** November 29, 2006, 10:02:37 am »

I've been quite pleased with my Hyperdrive HD80, which comes in various sizes up to at least 100GB.

Update: I just checked their website (http://www.hyperdrive.com) and they seem to be out of the HD80, having replaced it with an Epson clone, with viewing screen, called the Hyperdrive SPACE. You can either get the case only (insert your own hard drive) for $149 U.S., or get one with hard drive installed in sizes from 60GB (at $239) to 160GB (at $359).

My HD80 seems well-built and has worked flawlessly for me, mainly on a six-week trip to Italy last spring. Mine has slots for either CF card or SD card, with a nice cover that protects them from dirt and damage when not in use. I first explored it because of someone else's suggestion on the LL forum.

Eric

mikebinok · « **Reply #6 on:** November 29, 2006, 08:20:13 pm »

I'm fond of my Vosonic 8360. Cheaper than the Epsons (which appear to be outstanding) last time I checked. In the US, they are available from mydigitaldiscount and probably from other places.

I like the screen so that I can be SURE that the device did actually transfer the files properly. I don't feel comfortable using these things otherwise. As a side benefit, watching tv shows on the thing during long plane flights is very convenient....

feppe · « **Reply #7 on:** November 29, 2006, 08:50:28 pm »

Quote

I've been quite pleased with my Hyperdrive HD80, which comes in various sizes up to at least 100GB.

Update: I just checked their website (http://www.hyperdrive.com) and they seem to be out of the HD80, having replaced it with an Epson clone, with viewing screen, called the Hyperdrive SPACE. You can either get the case only (insert your own hard drive) for $149 U.S., or get one with hard drive installed in sizes from 60GB (at $239) to 160GB (at $359).

My HD80 seems well-built and has worked flawlessly for me, mainly on a six-week trip to Italy last spring. Mine has slots for either CF card or SD card, with a nice cover that protects them from dirt and damage when not in use. I first explored it because of someone else's suggestion on the LL forum.

Eric
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Hyperdrive SPACE doesn't have a viewing screen; it's what the poster is looking for: a portable hard-drive to dump pictures to. I'm planning to purchase one soon as it and its predecessors have positive reviews.

I never understood the need for a screen on such a device, unless you really want to squint at movies or photos on small low-rez screens for some reason. The only reason why I'd need it is for verification purposes, but Hyperdrive has CRC checking which is more reliable. The screen seems to triple the price and slash the battery life to a fraction.

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #8 on:** November 29, 2006, 11:27:04 pm »

Quote

Hyperdrive SPACE doesn't have a viewing screen; it's what the poster is looking for: a portable hard-drive to dump pictures to. I'm planning to purchase one soon as it and its predecessors have positive reviews.

I never understood the need for a screen on such a device, unless you really want to squint at movies or photos on small low-rez screens for some reason. The only reason why I'd need it is for verification purposes, but Hyperdrive has CRC checking which is more reliable. The screen seems to triple the price and slash the battery life to a fraction.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=87774\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You're right, my bad. I read their website too hastily: "Large LCD screen for file browsing & operations." Even the older HD80 has a small text screen for telling you what is happening.

I agree completely about not missing an image screen at all.

Eric

Graham Welland · « **Reply #9 on:** November 30, 2006, 06:50:22 am »

Quote

...

I remember Michael sometime in the past mentioning a gadget that's without a preview screen - it just eats CF-cards, downloads the contents and stores them. I have come to the conclusion that, while those Epsons are drool-icious, I can't afford them, even if they could show Nikon D200 NEF:s (which, I'd remember, they don't).

...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=87675\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Actually, my Epson P-4000 is quite happy to display D200 NEF's, D2X NEF's too. You can't zoom or view histograms with any raw files but you most definitely can view any Nikon NEF format. Zoom and histogram functions are only supported with JPG files.

If you can't view D200/D2X NEFs then you need to go to the Epson support web site and download the firmware upgrades to bring you up to v4.51.

It would be nice if the P-4000 could read CF cards faster but it's really easy to get into a workflow where you just pop in the card and transfer the images while you're on the road and put another card into the camera in the meantime. You can let the transfer occur unattended and the unit will power itself off when it's finished according to your power saving settings.

It would also be nice if you could select an entire folder to delete via the GUI rather than having to delete all of the images manually (not an issue when connected to your PC/Mac obviously).

Given the price of the Epson, I've found it to be a great asset when on the road. The 80GB capacity is ample for most trips and I've found the unit to be pretty robust - I've dropped mine a number of times in it's case (in the car, car seat projectile, out of the car onto the sidewalk, off hotel bed onto floor etc) and it's not had any issues at all - so far at least

Henrik Paul · « **Reply #10 on:** November 30, 2006, 07:05:20 am »

Quote

Actually, my Epson P-4000 is quite happy to display D200 NEF's, D2X NEF's too. You can't zoom or view histograms with any raw files but you most definitely can view any Nikon NEF format. Zoom and histogram functions are only supported with JPG files.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=87816\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the correction.

Graham Welland · « **Reply #11 on:** November 30, 2006, 07:08:29 am »

Quote

Hyperdrive SPACE doesn't have a viewing screen; it's what the poster is looking for: a portable hard-drive to dump pictures to. I'm planning to purchase one soon as it and its predecessors have positive reviews.

I never understood the need for a screen on such a device, unless you really want to squint at movies or photos on small low-rez screens for some reason. The only reason why I'd need it is for verification purposes, but Hyperdrive has CRC checking which is more reliable. The screen seems to triple the price and slash the battery life to a fraction.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=87774\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hmm, these bad boys look very useful, particularly since they are fast and go up to 160GB. Even though I have the Epson, I would agree that most of the time the preview functionality is unnecessary. It is nice to be able to review what you've shot on a bigger, better LCD than the camera but it's slow to navigate.

David White · « **Reply #12 on:** November 30, 2006, 11:43:03 am »

Quote

It would also be nice if you could select an entire folder to delete via the GUI rather than having to delete all of the images manually (not an issue when connected to your PC/Mac obviously).
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=87816\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I just deleted a bunch of folders from mine without having to delete each image. I just move the curser until the folder I wanted to get rid of is highlighted and then select Menu and Delete.

bcf · « **Reply #13 on:** November 30, 2006, 12:00:41 pm »

Why not the Nexto itself?

I have found the Nexto to be very reliable. I used it without a glitch while travelling extensively in India, Cambodia, Laos... It's also extremely quick to copy a CF card, has a copy-verification mechanism, and is rather compact (smaller than the Epson units).

The current model has reached the end of its life, but a new, even quicker model, should be realeased within a few weeks (look up "Nexto" on dp "Storage" forum).

Highly recommended.

Tim Gray · « **Reply #14 on:** November 30, 2006, 12:13:39 pm »

Another vote for the Hyperdrive HD 80 - inexensive, super battery life and very fast.

Nill Toulme · « **Reply #15 on:** November 30, 2006, 12:28:45 pm »

What do you guys use to back up these gizmos when you go off to Thailand for two weeks for Africa for four months?

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net

feppe · « **Reply #16 on:** November 30, 2006, 12:29:21 pm »

Quote

Another vote for the Hyperdrive HD 80 - inexensive, super battery life and very fast.
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I just realized the new Hyperdrive SPACE has li-ion batteries, ie. you need a charger. That's yet another charger I need to lug around while travelling.

Jonathan Wienke · « **Reply #17 on:** November 30, 2006, 12:34:02 pm »

Quote

I just realized the new Hyperdrive SPACE has li-ion batteries, ie. you need a charger. That's yet another charger I need to lug around while travelling.

The alternative is carrying around several weeks/months worth of batteries, hoping you can buy disposable batteries in remote areas, or carrying around rechargeable batteries and their charger. What's the big deal?

Andrew Larkin · « **Reply #18 on:** November 30, 2006, 02:15:29 pm »

The HD80 (aka PD70X) and the Nexto both use a system for copying a CF card using direct DMA between the card and the hard drive.

This results in near "theoretical" transfer rates (possibly excluding any proprietary tricks on particular CF cards requiring special firmware support).

Pretty much all the other devices copy blocks of data from the card to internal memory, then drop the block onto the hard disk.

There are two things that flow from the DMA-transfer design:

1. Very fast backup of the cards - near to unbeatable as it closely approaches "theoretical".

2. Very good battery life - the hard disk is the bit chewing the electrons, so by shortening the time to copy the card, you shorten the time the hard disk is running.

I have a Nexto and have been considering the PD70X (HD80) because of the use of AA batteries.

The reality is that I have had extremely good life out of the Nexto's battery and by the looks of the claims for the Hyperdrive Space, they have upped the ante. Plus, you can still run the unit from AA batteries in an external pack (or an external pack with 3xLithiums for 300gb of backups - what size hard disk were you planning to have again?).

Looks like Christmas for me...

Andrew

DeanC · « **Reply #19 on:** December 01, 2006, 09:45:57 pm »

I'd be game to use the Nexto, as I have heard good things, but I can't find it in Canada, and have only five weeks before I leave (GASP). I've only just switched over to digital this month, so I'm trying to catch up with all the issues. As to backing up the portable unit, I'll be burning the best images onto CD, as I have no DVD burner. I'll also be able to use high speed internet fairly frequently, so thebest ones will be uploaded to a friends server.

I'm open to other suggestions.

Author Topic: Looking for a portable HD/CF reader (Read 12175 times)