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Portable digital storage for EOS digital


john_stark

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John,

 

I'm in a similar situation myself, looking to upgrade from USB1.1 Image Bank. Very painful to wait over 200 minutes to download 4.5GB worth of photos...

 

So, make sure you get a USB2 device! If your computer doesn't support it, it's very much worth it to spend $20 to buy a USB2 card.

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Hi John,

 

I've used a 20GB Image Tank G2 and 40GB FlashTrax. I like the G2 but the lack of preview/review screen and small screen for managing 20 or 40GB of files was a little too limiting. So I kept the FlashTrax for its' big screen that can display my EOS 1D's RAW format files, the zoom capability and the easy to use file manager. The FlashTrax also plays MP3s. The only down side to the flash trax is that the battery is limited in how long it can operate the storage device. I only got about 5GB of download before I got a battery warning. Of course it was brand new and the battery had not been cycled at all and it was +6F degrees (I was out and about on a ski trip in Idaho and Canada), outside. Of course you can power it from the wall or from a cigarette lighter socket so this is really not that big a deal unless you are out and about sans vehicle or hotel room. But I suppose this is a problem for all of the portables out there.

 

The Epson is a very nice looking product but VERY limited in terms of capacity. The LCD diaply is very nice but it only has 9GB of free disc space, what's with that? The capacity might grow at some point or someone will hack the system BUT $600 for 9GB is rediculous IMO. I paid just over $400 for the 40GB version of the FlashTrax, this is only a bit over $100 more than the G2 with 40GB disc installed but IMO well worth the money for the large LCD display or TV set playback, much easier to navigate menu system and MP3 playback. If you don't buy a FlashTrax be SURE that whatever you buy has a fast USB 2.0 port in it and that you have the correct USB 2.0 cable type and a USB 2.0 port or your download times will get really, really long.

 

HTH

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If you want a good deal, get the X'S Drive II. (http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/s.nl/c.ACCT139057/sc.2/category.31/.f) I have one and it works flawlessly every time. It copies the CF card (1GB Trascend 40X) at about 1MB/sec, so about 15 minutes for a full card. USB2-PC speed is about the same, pretty reasonable.

 

It comes with no thrills, just stick in the card and hit copy. Battery life has been good to me as well, at least 4 full cards before it even started complaining the battery was getting low.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got one of the aforementionded X-Drive II's. I'll vouch for the quality and reliability. I only haul it around with me when I plan on shooting over 1000 shots though. Right now I have two 2.2 GB CF cards and a 1GB Microdrive. If I shoot RAW with a Medium JPEG in the file then I can get over 700+ images. Most of my shooting is serendipitous so this doesn't happen too often.

 

In dedicated shoots (like weddings et al) it is a good send as I can shoot and bank very rapidly.

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