Portable Hard Drives

[sbp]

I want to buy a portable hard drive to back up CF cards on long trips. Requirements are appx 250 gig capacity, USB powered, and rugged. Any

suggestions?

[ellis_vener_photography]

I use the Lacie "rugged' portable HDDs.

[tonybynum]

Hyperdrive if youre talking about real portability and one that allows you to directly download cards - portable, light, fast, battery powered, or plug in to car/house, durable, read up on them, they have been around a long time and they are hugely respected. . . mine never has missed a beat. . . .

 

If youre talking about Portable HD's for the computer, take your pick. . . I use Western Digital, but since I got mine a long time ago there's been a lot of new comers . . .

[patricklavoie]

As Ellis, i have a lacie rugged 160 triple interface..love it.

[Brad_]

I've been using <a href= "http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go">OWC On-the-Go bus-powered drives</a> for

various projects since around 2000. They're fast, robust, small, and available in several bus interface options.

[aginbyte]

I'm with Ellis and Patrick; just finished a 5 week trip in France. Put the entire library of about 12,000 RAW shots from the

1DsMark III and 5D on a 500GB LaCie, backed up on two different 250GB LaCie's. Left the laptop hard drive free by doing

this. Great little drives, very inexpensive for what they are offering.

[sbp]

All good answers. To clarify - i already have an Epson P3000 that i dump CF cards into each day. However, i want to back this

up with a separate device. Since the Epson is battery/AC powered, i think a bus powered drive is the way to go. thanks.

[phule]

[[i already have an Epson P3000 that i dump CF cards into each day. However, i want to back this up with a separate device.]]

 

You're planning on transferring files directly from the Epson to an external HD? Are you sure this is possible?

[sbp]

Pretty sure. I can do it now with memory sticks. You open the CF backup file you want to export, and select "move to USB

device". the Epson has a USB port to take external device.

[phule]

That's great, thanks for the update. I had no idea the P3000 could be used as a host device like that. I think I've learned my one thing for today. :)

[sbp]

Rob: this is from Epson's tech support page.

 

How do I backup all files on my viewer to a USB device?

Backing Up All Files to a USB Device

 

This process may take some time, depending on the volume of data in the viewer. Before you connect a USB device, connect

the AC adapter to the viewer and plug it in if possible. If your USB device has an AC adapter, use it to prevent the possible loss

of files during transfer.

 

Open the connector cover on the side of the viewer.

Plug the device into the Host USB connector on the side of the viewer. If the device has a USB cable, connect one end of the

cable to the device and the other end to the Host USB connector on the viewer.

 

Note:

To prevent a possible malfunction, do not use both USB connectors on the viewer at the same time.

 

Turn on the viewer and the USB device if necessary.

On the Home screen, use the 4-way ring to highlight USB Device, then press OK.

In the USB Device Menu, select Copy All Backup Files.

Press OK, then wait while the files are copied.

 

Note:

Not all USB devices (i.e. External hard drives) are compatible. If the viewer does not recognize your device, then it is probably

not compatible. Try using a different USB device.

[vivid_earth_photographics]

Wolverine. I stick the CF card in the Epson 3000 and then the Wolverine. At night I back up onto the laptop. Triple safe. Wolverine has

worked flawlessly for 2 years so far.

[steven_clark]

I'm not a fan of bus-powered solutions for drives. The motors on the base hard disks draw a lot of power on spinup and I've burnt out ports this way.