Mobile storage.

[benyl]

Check it:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/06/digital-focis-photo-safe-compact-storage-for-photogs/

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/03/20070306091500687.jpg

[Pihsiak]

looks close to actual size

looks very similar to this but smaller
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10077554&catid=20238

[BerserkerCatSplat]

The transfer speed seems rather slow, 4min. for a 265MB CF card. Fine if you've got another card to shoot with in the meantime, but I'm just impatient.

[benyl]

But look at the price...

[lint]

what does that include though? 20gb? 40gb? I would have gone with an older hyperdrive instead. Rechargeable AA's, transfer 16gb on a full charge, fast transfers, and confirmation of completion.

[turboMiata]

this is really cheap. 40GB for $139 with USB rechargeable Li-On batteries? You can't go wrong.

I still believe in buying CF cards myself though. Flash memory pricing is so cheap these days. a 4GB card is $150.

[Thaco]

why would you take pictures on to a flash card and then transfer them to a less reliable media device? (hdd's are not known for reliability)

the point of using CF cards are to avoid reliablitiy issues, and if you dont care about reliability you'd probably be better off with microdrives.

[lint]

Originally posted by Thaco
why would you take pictures on to a flash card and then transfer them to a less reliable media device? (hdd's are not known for reliability)

the point of using CF cards are to avoid reliablitiy issues, and if you dont care about reliability you'd probably be better off with microdrives.

so after you finish taking photos, you NEVER transfer them to a desktop computer, that has a hard drive, that is less reliable than your CF cards?

[turboMiata]

Originally posted by lint


so after you finish taking photos, you NEVER transfer them to a desktop computer, that has a hard drive, that is less reliable than your CF cards?

agreed. utilizing cheaper, less reliable storage is very common. that's why we also use them as backups.

some pros copy the images off their memory cards onto these drives after shooting so they have their images in 2 separate places. makes sense to me.

[Mitsu3000gt]

You can buy 200gig USB2.0 external hard drives for ~$100 on sale all the time, but this this is smaller and purpose built. Fairly cool.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by lint


so after you finish taking photos, you NEVER transfer them to a desktop computer, that has a hard drive, that is less reliable than your CF cards?

yes, and then directly on to tapes and dvds, before i wipe my cf card.

[lint]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
You can buy 200gig USB2.0 external hard drives for ~$100 on sale all the time, but this this is smaller and purpose built. Fairly cool.

Not the same thing. A standard USB external drive doesn't have a card reader, nor are they self powered like these backup units. Buying a backup unit that allows you to install your own HD is a nice feature though.

[lint]

Originally posted by Thaco


yes, and then directly on to tapes and dvds, before i wipe my cf card.

And what do you do when you're on holidays? You lug all that equipment with you?

Though if you can't see the value in a small portable backup unit, ah well then.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by lint


Not the same thing. A standard USB external drive doesn't have a card reader, nor are they self powered like these backup units. Buying a backup unit that allows you to install your own HD is a nice feature though.

Yup I know, that's why I said this one is purpose built :)

This is a pretty cool device, definitely something to think about.

[C4S]

I am thinking of buying one .. well .. I forgot to buy one from HK .. way cheaper .. lol ..

Actually .. my friend is thinking of bringing them from HK, and sell them here! should be good business! :)

[turboMiata]

Originally posted by C4S
I am thinking of buying one .. well .. I forgot to buy one from HK .. way cheaper .. lol ..

Actually .. my friend is thinking of bringing them from HK, and sell them here! should be good business! :)

hey, hook me up with one!

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by C4S
Actually .. my friend is thinking of bringing them from HK, and sell them here! should be good business! :)

Yeah, because if it's one thing HK is reknown for, it's reliable electronics! :clap: :clap: :rofl:

[clem24]

Hey do they actually carry the digital foci stuff in HK? Most of the stuff there is off brand (like my "digital partner", lol). Cheap but works. The Digital Foci Picture Porter is one hella sweet device. Played with it for a bit. Nothing beats getting to see your pictures on screen and knowing it's safely on the device, unlike this one.

4mins for 256 sounds WAAAY to slow. The battery will be drained in no time. Even my no name digital partner can easily beat that.

And to Thaco, what the heck are you talking about?!? If I went on vacation for 2 weeks, I could easily take about 20+ gigs of photos. 4 weeks, well, even more. I am NOT going to have that many storage cards. My digital partner holds 20GBs. I paid about $100 for everything. The equivalent in CF cards? About $1,000. More if I want a good reliable CF card.

Microdrives? How do those even compare? The only reason why those were popular in the first place was that they had greater capacity than regular CF cards back in the day, but the Microdrive advantage no longer exists.

[Melinda]

I have something SUPER similar to this. It's built by Nikon and it's especially for digital photo storage. It's got a nice color LCD screen for previewing photos and you can plug your card right into the device, even put your photos into different folders for easy access and sorting later. Mine's 30 gigs which really isn't bad for the average photog. They're actually really nice to have. I rarely use mine though, I usually just keep lots of memory with me. I'm actually thinking of selling mine if anyone's interested.

[clem24]

Yeah? How much? :D

[lint]

Originally posted by Melinda
I have something SUPER similar to this. It's built by Nikon and it's especially for digital photo storage. It's got a nice color LCD screen for previewing photos and you can plug your card right into the device, even put your photos into different folders for easy access and sorting later. Mine's 30 gigs which really isn't bad for the average photog. They're actually really nice to have. I rarely use mine though, I usually just keep lots of memory with me. I'm actually thinking of selling mine if anyone's interested.

I've got a 40 gb Flashtrax that is great when travelling, but same as you, it just sits when I'm at home. Been thinking of selling mine as well.

[Ferio_vti]

What about renting it out?? I'm sure most us don't need one very often either, aside from vacations.
I was thinking of getting a Zen Vision W or an Epson, but again, I'd never use it regularly.
Rent it out for a few weeks or whatever. I'm sure you'll make back your money ;)

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by lint


I've got a 40 gb Flashtrax that is great when travelling, but same as you, it just sits when I'm at home. Been thinking of selling mine as well.

Haha, yeah I got a 40gb Flashtrax too that I've been considering selling for a while. It's just so damn useful, but I never use it that often.

I got no problem with renting it out; it wouldn't be the first time.

[Thaco]

if you want one of these you might wanna consider this one. it's cheap, and you can specify your own drive size.


http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.781

[clem24]

I actually use mine all the time. I use it instead of a flash drive. I can shuffle stuff (like pics and mp3s) between my home and work computer easily.

So yeah, they're like sports cars: very very useful one minute, and completely useless the next. I just want one with a color screen that actually allows viewing.