Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Reader?

I am looking for a good portable storage unit for my digital photos and vids, while out on hikes and vacation.

I was looking at this Apacer cd211
http://www.ocheaven.com/article/0411/readgoodarticle.asp?id=1995

Then I started to see ones with builtin card readers, which is what I will use with it the most anyway.
http://www.memorylabs.net/vovpxsumupls.html

Just found this adaptor, looks rather nice. Cheap alternative.
Bad thing is, you can only copy all of the contents i think, sence its just one buttone and no display.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265850&Sku=I302-1006&SRCCODE=GOOPROD&CMP=OTC-FROOGLE

Anyone have any experience with any units like these?
I would really like to find one that has the card reader builtin, but comes with no hard drive, sence I have a hard drive to put in it.
They use 2.5" laptop drives.

~John

i would want to do that with one of these
http://www.epinions.com/pr-Casio_Exilim_EX-Z55_Digital_Camera/display_~full_specs
and a 1g flash memory card, i think i would ruin a hard drive, but then what would ruin a hard drive, would probably wreck this too.
WHY
cause then i could take pics also, its super small, and has a mondo screen on it, and does audio , and has a speaker.
there are similar versions of exoslim things, with less picture pixels.

but no MP3 player :-(
i think if your going to go player only, the mp3 features would be great.
If its ONLY for pics, i would want a 6" screen, or just a fat wallet with pics in it, cant much break that, and it doesnt need batteries

you didnt state all of your intended purposes for this item?
do you want data transfer capability, like an IPOD
do you need a built in cell phone?
should it have a keyboard?
What kind of run time do you need?
is this just an external for your laptop? how about a DVD drive, lotta pics can be stored on it.
why wouldnt a PDA do all that , plus GPS finder, personal organizer , games , e-mail- web, and of course CPF forums ,music and the whole kit and kabootle?

if your only in well lite places with it, how about these new LCD screens that are like Game boy screens , using available light reflected through them , which saves LOADS of battery juice by not running the one thing that takes lots of power, the Cold cathode light.

i am still waiting for the laptop that the back folds down, revelaing a white screen for solar reflective lighting , of course they could put solar pannels in the drop down, and reduce consumption to a mere minimum. no CCT , and solar suplimental.
where is the laptop that is portable even? they dont even work outdoors :-( without a shadey place to see anything.

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

The main things I need this to do it...
1. Dump all photos and movies from my Canon A95 camera. or get the data from teh cams card via a card reader.
2. Be able to do this with no computer needed.

I am not concerned with viewing photos on it at all.
I have a Pocket PC for that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The "on the go" otg USB support is what I am after, thats what lets it copy the files from card readers cameras, etc without needing the computer.

I have a 60gb drive on the way to place in one of these units, if I can evern deside what I want.

Right now, I think I may go with the Apacer cd211. Even though it has no card reader builtin, it is small and priced really well.

I just want to be able to dump the pics and vids to a storage devive while I am on hikes and vacation.
I can easily take over a gig of pics and vids in a day.

I already have a 1gb card for my camera, and a 256MB card as backup.
and no, its not enough.

~John

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Check out this one - http://www.eastgear.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=17_66&products_id=310

Main advantage is that it uses AA alkaline/rechargeable batteries & also serves as a charger for AA NiMHs in itself.

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

i see, you need major portable storage, cause 1g of memory is just a start /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Hm, that is an interesting one.
I had seen it before, didnt notice it would charge the batteries though.
I like the AA battery format alot, vs the others using Li-Ions, sence I could make a battery swap while on a hike.
Though the others say they last at least an hour of continuous use, so thats plenty.

I have noticed one major drawback on these units that have builtin card readers,,,, none of them have OTG "on the go" USB support.
Which allows you to plug in just about any USB device, and copy the data off it.
That would allow me to just bring the camers USB cable and plug it right in, or, bring along a small card reader.
It makes it more versitile. I just like this builtin reader stuff

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Decisions, Decisions /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

John,

if you are not in a hurry there are a zillion devices becoming avaiable in the coming weeks/months - USB OTG is still new and so far I haven´t seen an OTG w CardReader device yet, so far its either or, there might be such devices being displayed on the HK Electronic show or Taipehs Computex later this quarter - lets see whats shows up ...

The reasoning behind might be that IF you have the card reader installed you might not need the OTG functionality and IF you have the OTG function you not necesarily need the card reader as you can still install it externally but usually would connect the cam directly anyway - I have both such devices under review but again nothing combining both. The only exception being a HD Juke Box sold here in the market which had an SD card slot AND claimed OTG functionality as well - not sure how well those functions were implemented though.

Be sure to see if you can get some reviews for the device you consider - the "Databanks" (HDD with CR) tested so far all lacked in raw USB port speed quite severly when compared to simple USB enclosures (like 8MB/s vs >20MB) and the vendors when questioned claimed that no competitors are better, the OTG enclosures I tested so far using the VIA chipset (ALI seem to have abandones theirs) do much better performancewise.

You can still use the 60GB drive in its enclosure until the good stuff shows up to run it off the PC/NB for now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Klaus

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Klaus,

I agree, I think thats why you dont see any with both features, they figure if you have one, you dont need the other.
Little do they know, I want EVERYthing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I may wait alittle while, but will HAVE to have something by July, when my week vacation is planned.
The Apacer is small, good runtime, and about $60, so, Im not loosing a WHOLE LOT if its outdated soon, and I have to buy somethgin else. As you said, if it has OTG then it doenst HAVE to have a reader in it, sence I can plug the cam right into it, or bring a small card reader with me.

I wont be happy with anything I get, I know that hehe. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Which OTG enclosures have you tested? and which did you like best?

~John

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

John I was stuck with this for a long time also. I have given up and use my laptop. My next laptop will be one of those small ones about 4 lbs and smaller then a sheet of paper and about 1.5 inches thick. You can run anything on it with a nice screen to boot.

I know for some people they can be a bit large, but again way more useful in the long run. But it is a bit more money, but if you might need both seems like the way to go.

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

yup, it's just a matter of taking the card out of the camera & putting it into the portable HDD with built-in card reader (which is what i thot you wanted in your 1st post) as opposed to having to plug a cable into your camera then into the OTG portable HDD. The advantage of the former is that you can continue shooting if you have another memory card whereas with the latter your camera has to remain attached for however long it takes to do the transfer & you have to remember to bring & not lose the cable. The other advantage of the CompactDrive PD7X is that is if you're out in the field, you can use more readily available AAs rather than be dependent on a proprietary built-in battery that needs to be recharged every so often.

Some of the OTG portable HDDs that I've seen so far don't even come with a LCD display to show the status but just a couple of LEDs IIRC.

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Brock, I would love to get rid of my huge heavy laptop and get a reaaaal small one. but, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif
and I dont use it THAT much, to just tify it.

flashlight, I ordered an Apacer cd211 it has a diplay, and builtin Li-Ion cell. has OTG
It will let you move files on and off of it, create folders etc. It was abotu $65 shipped, and I will be placing a 60GB drive in it.

The reason I want OTG over the builtin card reader (if i can only have one) is that otg is more versitile.
I can use just the cam, a seperate card reader, mp3 player, HD etc.

I bought a tiny card reader that looks just like a Pen drive /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif you plug the card in the side of it.

Ill post here with pics etc, when I get it all setup.

~John

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Any news here?

Re: Best Portable Photo Storage Unit with Card Rea

Doh!!! sorry guys, forgot all about this. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

I did end up getting the Apacer unit.
http://www.ocheaven.com/article/0411/readgoodarticle.asp?id=1995
And slapping a 60GB drive in it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



Larger version: http://www.jtice.com/albums/Electronics/elec_toys_02.jpg

Its pretty nice for the $$$.
It has a builtin Li-Ion pack, so you can be out in the middle of nowhere and dump down your photos.

There are other small drive enclosures that have the OTG USB stuff,
but they are basically just drive, with no display etc.
Some have battery packs, so you can at least not be dependant on a power source.

The main thing I liked abou the Apacer is,
that is has a few buttons and a display.
This allows you to select what files you want to transfer, and where you want to copy them to.
It can be alittle hard to use, with the small display, and limited input, but you can do it.

This is really nice, so that you can catagorize your files alittle.
Maybe you have music on there also, and want to make a seperate folder for your photos, no problem.

As I said, I bought a tiny card reader, that looks like a Pen drive.
I dont like plugging the cameras in, to dump down photos.
I find it alittle slower, and it uses the cameras battery power while transferring.
I also dont like messing with the data cable,
but you can do that if you like, just turn the camera on play mode, and plug it in.

The Apacer can act as a regular drive also.
When you plug it into your computer, it automatically knows its hooked to a computer,
instead of a camera, or card reader, etc.
It will show up as a drive on your computer.
Now you can cut and paste, or drag and drop files till you heart is content.

If you guys have any Questions feel free to ask.

~John