I Pod Photo question

[ronbudway]

I was wondering if anyone is using an I Pod Photo as a long term storage device for

digital photos.

 

I have been thinking of buying an external hard drive in order to back up all the

photos I have on my computer. I do not have a DVD burner, eternal ones cost as

much as an external HD.

 

The only info I have found on the idea warns that they are too slow to download from

your camera. My idea is to download all the photos I have from my computer.

 

Anyone doing this? Any advice for backing up photos (other than on CD, takes too

long, I have too many). Do they compress the photos or do anything else to

compromise quality? How stable is it?

 

Thanks

[phule]

I'm not sure I understand your logic here.

 

A 60GB iPod photo costs $450

 

A 160GB external HD costs $130.

 

The external HD is 2.5x the storage for more than 1/3 the cost..

 

The iPod is not a backup device. The iPod Photo, despite the name, is certainly not a digital wallet for photo storage.

 

B.t.w. you can get dual-layer internal DVD burners for something like $80.

[Greg M]

I thought the IPod Photo sounded good until I started learning more about it. You can't download RAW images, so for anyone shooting RAW and needing a storage unit for trips it's useless. It's strictly for storing images you've already worked to show friends.

 

I bought a very nice external Sony DVD burner on sale from Fry's for $130, and it does the double layer DVD's too. A MUCH cheaper option than the IPod Photo. Even at twice the price it's still cheaper. Even if you buy something like the IPod Photo for storing your images you still want to be able to burn backup discs just in case the HD inside the IPod crashes.

[godfrey]

I love my iPod. It's a wonderful music player and an excellent, fast little hard drive. The

iPod Photo model is a nice boon as a way to carry snapshots around too.

 

It's not a backup or archive device ... way too expensive for that and not its forte. Buy any

decent external hard drive with a FireWire or USB 2.0 interface, or a good fast DVD-R

burner for that. Cheaper, more effective. :-)

 

Godfrey

[ronbudway]

Rob, my logic is, that in addition to having a way to back up all my photos, I would

also be getting an iPod music player, and a little device that I can carry anywhere I go

and plug into a TV to show pictures -- I do not think an external hard drive can serve

that function. Additionally, with the teachers discount I would get, a 30 gig. iPod

(more than I need) is $319 U.S.

 

My question is: does an iPod do anything to degrade the pics. No Raw, OK, that is not

important to me now, but could be in the future. Anybody have any other problems

with it?

[robert_ardinger]

It will not degrade your pictures. There is a new adapter coming allowing direct conncetion to many digital cameras. It will display jpegs. It will connect to a TV for a "slide show". It will play lots of music. The new 30GB model is only a little bit fater than the regular 20GB music only one (slim is nice). It will act as an external hard drive if needed. If you are using a digicam, no RAW files and get the $30 adapter (when released) to connect to your camera you will not only be ably to download images from your computer (as it does not) but also "in the field", directly from you camera. If you shoot RAW it can really only act as an external drive and as pointed out there are cheaper and likely faster alternatives.

[phule]

<< Rob, my logic is, that in addition to having a way to back up all my photos, >>

 

By that logic, it would make sense for me to drive around at high rates of speed with my wifes good china and crystal all over the back seat so I can show people what it looks like and maybe use it once in a while.

 

The iPod Photo is not a backup solution. Showing people your photos, sure, but it is no way to store your photos for backup.

[klix]

Have you looked at other options?

 

You can get an X's Drive Pro with 80gb for $260.

[ronbudway]

Rob B., you are such a drama queen. What an ill-concieved analogy you offer.

 

It might be the equivalent of driving around with an extra set of china that I have just

in case my regular set was destroyed in an earthquake (only an iPod is tiny and by all

accounts quite durable), an extra set that can do other things like hold and play lots

of music and allow me to do things with my photos wherever I may be.

 

Let me guess, you have a problem with apple products?

[Karim Ghantous]

Ron, the only problem I see so far is that the iPod Photo can't instantly display the images you capture from your camera - provided you're doing that. To allow the Photo to display images you need to set it all up from a computer.

 

You can, of course, use any old iPod and partition the HD so that you can separate playable audio/photos from image files (RAW or otherwise). That $30 adapter sounds mighty nice but you will probably not be able to view out-of-camera files directly.

 

Walk into an Apple store, I think, and ask as many precise questions as you can and I'm sure the staff will let you play with one a little. And let us know what you decide!

[robert_ardinger]

>>>>>Ron, the only problem I see so far is that the iPod Photo can't instantly display the images you capture from your camera - provided you're doing that. To allow the Photo to display images you need to set it all up from a computer.<<<<<

 

It is not quite released yet but this picture is of the upcoming $30 adaptor that will allow an iPod Photo it download and display images (non-RAW) from digital cameras (do not know if there will be limits on which digital cameras). The image of the adaptor is from a Japanese Apple ad, posted to this site: www.gizmodo.com , found by a link on dpreview.com;

 

from dpreview-("Gizmodo have what appears to be a picture of the (long awaited) USB connector which will enable an iPod (just iPod Photo?) to transfer images directly from a digital camera. Apparently this little connector will cost around $30. The source appears to be an Apple Japan ad for the device with the tagline "iPod, Meet Camera". We don't yet know if it will be USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed) or USB 1.1, but in most cases the camera will be USB 1.1. I still think it's a pity Apple didn't provide SD / CF slots in the original iPod Photo (think, killer app), but I guess this is at least a step forward")

 

 

It is also mentioned on the iPod Apple site:

 

("Get the most out of your iPod photo. Coming in March, new software lets you:

- Choose new slideshow transitions on the go

- Upload photos directly from your camera using the optional

iPod Camera Connector accessory, also arriving in March ")<div></div>

[ronbudway]

Thanks so much for the answers, I think it might be a reasonable idea to put all my

pics on an iPod photo to give me "piece of mind". No chance of both systems (my

computer's HD and the one on the iPod) failing simultaneously, so, seems like a safe

system. I did not, however, realize that external HDs could be had for so little money.

I'll have to give that route a little more consideration.

[phule]

<< Let me guess, you have a problem with apple products? >>

 

I'm shocked that a "teacher" can produce so much ignorance in such a short period of time.