Portable Hard Drive

<p>Phil has stated that he wants to avoid bringing a computer and is looking for advice on portable hard drives/viewers. The portable hard drives by Sanho, Jobo, etc. come in bigger storage capacity sizes than the average netbook or even notebook computers (without also bringing some sort of additional external hard drive). 40 gigs is on the low end for the portable viewer devices. They go up to 500 gigs and are small (about 5 x 3 x 1 inches). I'm assuming that he either isn't concerned with internet connectivity, or has a phone that handles that need, and doesn't need to edit images while away and view them on a large screen. My vote on the portable stand alone devices is Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA (which come in 120 to 500 gig sizes). It seems several other people like these devices as well. The well reviewed Epsons are nice but way more expensive.</p>

<p>I use one of the Epsons, and I think it's great. The screen is very good, and it allows you to stop worrying about deleting bad pictures on the camera. That situation also means that if you delete one and then decide that doing that was a mistake, you can download it from the chip again. The battery lasts a long time, and the data transfer seems reallly fast. You can also get a car charger. Epson sent me this accessory free.</p>

<p>Of course a device which is only a hard drive and doesn't have a keyboard or large display will be smaller than a notebook of similar capacity, but does it allow you to make redundant backups? If not, then it's extremely risky unless you are only using it as a backup and keep the images also on the flash cards. Hard drives can fail from day one till they've been used for days and I would never ever rely on a single hard drive as the sole medium for storing images. So at least get two of those portable viewers and make the redundant copies.</p>

<p>I would suggest a couple of 8 GB Pen Drives and a laptop. Cheap and easy to carry (Errr.. the Pen Drives)</p>

<p>I have used one of the older Hyperdrive units (HD-80) for years with great success. It's battery life is outstanding and I can't imagine the newer ones are worse. I have used it on trips to the developing world where battery charging isn't always an option and good high-capacity rechargables lasted for weeks of downloads.<br>

For trips where I will be in civilization and have the option to plug in I've started taking along a Netbook (HP Mini) and card reader since it offers net access and other "regular" computer functions in addition to backup capacity for about the same price.</p>

<p>I have a hyperdrive unit and it works well. I also took a netbook and portable HD on a recent trip to Africa, and there were no problems.<br>

I woldn't count on burining to CD oe DVD if you wnat to make a long term backup. I have some home-burned CD;s that went south in less than two years.<br>

Bill pearce</p>

<p>I have a hyperdrive unit and it works well. I also took a netbook and portable HD on a recent trip to Africa, and there were no problems.<br>

I woldn't count on burining to CD oe DVD if you wnat to make a long term backup. I have some home-burned CD;s that went south in less than two years.<br>

Bill pearce</p>

<p>Buy a laptop, not necessairly an expensive one.</p>

<p>Buy a partable hard drive.</p>

<p>Buy enough cards to cover as many photos you will think you will take. So you do not have to erase images while on your trip.</p>

<p>Buy a waterproof cases to hold your SD cards...one for unused cards kept in your camera bag...one for cards as you nearly fill them.</p>

<p>When I did this, I used basically one card per day, copied it to the laptop, and backed that up to a hard drive, daily. I then "retired" the used cards to the waterproof case and kept it securely in a shirt pocket. The had drive was kept in my camera case and the laptop in the locked luggage bad back in the motel. Had that been stolen I still would have had a copy on the portable hard drive, in addition to the memory card still with the image. Thoughts were to carry the laptop in my photo backpack but that was too heavy when hking up mountains.</p>

<p>I did not want to cary a laptop on the trip but tultimately glad I did so. I could check images daily as my son and I took them, in addition to mailing a few images back home for my wife to see. But we were fortunate to find a place with wireless internet to do that. One mistake was not thinking of or taking an adapter in order to plug the power supply into a two-prong outlet. All the outlets were two prong in the motel except for one. So we lucked out there.</p>

<p>I am not a professional photographer but I second Ilkka on this - I would never rely on a single backup. So either one backup device and keeping the cards (that can get quite expensive really quick and is only an option with either large cards (which I don't use either for the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" reason) or up to a certain GB limit. The hyperdrives seem to be more reasonably priced than the Epsons - though two at 500GB still cost a cool $1000. Two 500GB notebooks cost about one-fifth of that and are about the same size (a bit smaller actually). A netbook adds about 2-3 pounds to that. Unless backpacking, this really shouldn't be an issue. I usually have enough cards to last me a day in the field, and then backup in the evening in the tent/motel - the notebook and the drives don't need to be with me during the day.</p>

<p>Dieter mentioned that "two 500GB notebooks cost about one-fifth" the cost of two HyperDrives. Only if you buy them off the back of a truck somewhere. The cheapest 500gig notebook I can find is $600 and most with that amount of capacity are in the $800 to $1,000 range. He also commented that a notebook is "about the same size or a bit smaller" than a hyperdrive. A 500 gig hyperdrive is 5 inches by 3 inches by an inch. A 500 gig notebook is 15 inches by 10 inches by 1.5.</p>

<p>Sorry, typo - I meant to state 500GB notebook <strong>hard drives</strong> . Should have become clear from the context though - as I mention in the following sentence an "added netbook". It obviously makes no sense to purchase <strong>two </strong> notebooks and then add a netbook. My apologies nonetheless, shouldn't type faster than the brain can think.<br>

So to be clear this time around, a 500GB notebook hard drive is around $100 and about the same size as a hyperdrive (smaller actually). A netbook costs around $300-400 and weighs in at around 2.5lbs (I omit the power supply since that one needs to be carried with the hyperdrive or Epson viewers as well) - the size is around 10.5-12" - about the size of the notebook drives side-by-side. The size of the netbook's hard drive is irrelevant since it doesn't participate in the backup scheme - that's what the two external drives are for - though the internal one if large enough can provide additional redundancy. <br>

I can see that a hyperdrive might be more convenient if backup in the field is required - for me that has never been an issue as I carry enough cards for one day of shooting - backing them up in the evening. Of course there is a small risk that a card gets damaged or lost during the day - but I figure that cards usually fail while in the camera and I store my cards in hard cases - when I need a new one, the one from the camera takes its place in the case (and no, I have never mixed them up new and used ones). So, I don't have an urgent need to carry my backup solution with me at all times, maximizing portability and minimizing weight hence aren't that important to me. YMMV.</p>

 

<p>If you are at all worried about dropping this equipment or maintaining it in a dusty gritty environment, please consider a solid state drive. That's what NASA puts in space - solid state. That means no spinning parts to harm, no places for dust & grime to jam up. They are becoming affordable, and they are practically bulletproof. It's what I would want to use in the field. </p>

<p>I like the netbooks better. I tried one of those handheld readers and it was way too slow for my Canon 5D Mark II files. I guess they are not UltraDMA capable yet. I use a small 3.5" external drive on mine so that I don't have to transfer again when I get home to my main computer. Don't like long transfer to Card Reader then another transfer to computer before ai can burn a CD. With a netbook I can do some editing, print or burn CD on the spot.</p>

<p>I've just checked out and Bhphoto has 8Gb Sandisk Extreme III SD @ 55$. With 220$ you'll get 32GB of space in a very tiny format, i.e. no additional weight to carry around.<br>

Finally if you're running out of space you can always delete the bad shots: I really don't think you (me, everybody of us) can shot 32 Gb of photos (means about 2700 shots in RAW) and all of them are worth a print or to be post here on Photo.net.<br>

By the way I've two 4GB Sandisk CF cards for my D300, and by now it's enough. If needed for a trip I'll sure consider to buy an 8GB or more card but not something bigger and heavier.</p>

<p>Regards,<br>

Vince</p>

<p>While I have a Hyperdrive Space and a Nexto Extreme unit for backup and am very satisfied with them, I would probably go with a netbook solution these days, since they're way more versatile (e-mail, etc). On the other hand, the netbook is still significantly bigger than the Hyperdrive or Nexto. Personally, I would not chose the Epson or Giga Vue units, I think they are way overpriced for what they can do, but of course your mileage may vary.<br>

Have a nice trip,<br>

Andy</p>

 

<p>Another user happy with the Sanho Hyperdrive Colorspace. I don't use the unit frequently, but when I do go on a long trip and don't want to take my PC it is a god-send.</p>

<p>However I do think that the latest generation of small netbooks will soon make these obsolete.</p>

<p>I also can't help but think that, these days, buying say 10 or so 8GB/16GB cards is not so expensive and very, very light and small compared to any of the above devices.</p>

<p>The last 1 terabyte drive I owned was a Sun disk array system the size of a fridge, used 3 phase power and cost $1m 1998. My daughter just bought one the size of a book for $150. And this is just for photos? What wasteful technology.</p>

<p>I also recommend the Hyperdrive. I have the older model, the HD 80. If you shoot RAW, 80 GB is not big enough for a long trip. I would buy the largest GB you can afford especially if you shoot RAW. Ideally, you should have two of them, or one of them plus a laptop with an external hard drive. You should always have two copies of each image in case there is a drive failure, loss of a drive, etc.<br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>Ilkka said:<br>

<em>"If you rely on a single hard drive for storage without having either a flash card backup (SD in your case) or a second hard drive, you're inviting massive disaster. Hard drives have problems and you could lose all your work in an instant if you keep just one copy."</em><br>

<em><br /> </em><br>

Absolutely. Last time I looked at these dedicated back up devices, I was amazed that none of them offered the simple and indispensible attribute of being able to attach a cheap usb external drive so that you have a second copy of the data. Obviously there are power consumption issues if the external drive's usb-powered, but without a second copy of the data, a single "backup" device is close to useless - unless you're someone who trusts hardware never to fail, which could only apply to someone who hasn't used much hardware.</p>

<p>Be well Aware...I have the misfortune to own both Epson-2000 & an Epson-4000, and they only read normal "old" SD card's..they cannott read the new style SDHC (high capacity) card's...the resolution of the Epson's is unequalled..the colour is stunning. However, both of these units read Extreme4 CF cards just fine...but high capacity sd cards are a no no...ok?<br>

I have just purchased the Samsung N140 notepad...160GB, 11 hours battery life, 10" screen & only 1.2kg in weight...you dont even know you'r carying it, and for luck it has bluetooth and an SD card slot...google it & see for yourself. In South Africa it cost R4000-00, which would be, I beleive in $'s about $350 to $400</p>