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NYT on Photo Storage Devices
prostoalex writes "New York Times reviews hard-drive-based photo storage devices for digital photographers on the go: 'The photo vaults in this roundup - the Epson P-2000, Jobo GigaVu Pro, Archos AV420 and SmartDisk FlashTrax - present a wide range of choice in size, shape, bells and whistles.'" (Pogue also discusses Apple's and Belkin's devices to use an iPod for the same purpose; I only wish Apple's worked with the non-Photo version of the iPod.)
as good as these kind of devices get, I can't help but wonder if a sub-notebook would be a better choice in terms of flexibility, I know for sure i'd rather take my ibook complete with it's software bundle rather than try to play with one of these kinds of devices and potentially lose photos.
Business Voyeur
From TFA: WHEN you really stop to think about it, memory cards are a pretty delicate storage format for something as important as your digital photos.
I couldn't find it on their website, but I recently read an article in (I think) Popular Photography where they did some "stress testing" of memory cards. The results? most of the cards withstood submersion in water, drops, baked, frozen, and being run over by cars. As long as they could still be connected to a reader, the data was usually OK.
Contrast this with a hard-drive-based storage solutions which are comparatively extremely fragile. Now, this isn't to say that I'm not going to purchase a HD-based device for a month-long trip this summer, but the cards are vastly more durable, just not as big or as cheap/GB.
"When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind." -- Bill Moyers
I've had an AV480 for about six months, and it's changed my life. Imagine all the great things that Tivo does for you, and then imagine that you can take your Tivo anywhere. My commute has disappeared thanks to being able to watch the previous night's Adult Swim. I'm not stuck watching crap movies on planes, and I don't have to make any excuses about why I didn't make productive use of my time (the main reason I didn't get a laptop...working on the way to work isn't my idea of a good time).
As a photo vault, I haven't given it much of a workout. It certainly does everything it claims to do, but it's best for those who have cameras that use CF type I, as I think worrying about an adapter would be too much of a hassle.
-R
I have the Archos, and found it incredibly useful on a recent trip to Germany. A German friend had some video he had recorded, and I was able to dub it onto my Archos (PAL format).
When I got home to the US, I was able to view it in NTSC format, and have since put it onto a DVD.
I also used it to off-load 2 different cameras, watch a movie, and listen to music.
Oh, almost forgot, I also used it to record a concert via the microphone, and to record a couple of tracks from an LP via the line-in.
I didn't miss having a laptop at all, though I do have a PDA to do laptop-like stuff.
-- Andyvan
A major issue with Apples iPod accessory, as well as Belkin's is the transfer speed from card to iPod!
It takes about 4-5 minutes to transfer roughly 110 MB of information (iPod device - a bit faster with belkin..) While this may not be an issue with casual users of digital cameras (who only have a 128 or 256 card), people who use higher end dSLR cameras with 1GB cards will find they have to wait 45minutes for a transfer!!
Even worse is the battery drain caused by using these devices! That little iPod harddrive was not meant to be spinning for 45 minutes straight!
So for professionals, definitely stick with the dedicated media wallets. Much faster transfers. Larger LCD screens (for certain models), and you won't be killing your iPod battery charge which means more music when your on your shoots.