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Digital Wallet

astral

By astral
in Photography and the Arts

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astral Star Member

astral

Posted
Posted

I saw this mentioned in another thread as a way to store digital photos.

Sound like a great little device, when I do not have the notebook with me.

I am also running out of space on my notebook.

I looked it up on the web but it sounds as though it is not available.

Can any one tell me where I can by one and likely price?

Thanks

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Firefoxx Gold Member

Firefoxx

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think you're referring to my reply... when I said "digital wallet", I was referring in general to devices of this type, not the actual product name. There are several products out there, at several prices, with several different feature sets and capabilities.

Things to consider:

1. Price. Cheapest can be around 3,000, without drive, and most expensive is around 20k++ (Epson)

2. Compatibility. What cards it can take. Some, like Sony's, take only a few types, others take a lot more.

3. Usability. Some take ages (10min) to copy data, others take only a couple of minutes. Some will copy only a few gigs and use up all their battery, others will be able to copy 30-40GB on a single charge.

4. Size/weight. Some are more bulky than others.

5. Screens. Some only have status screens, others have screens you can view pics on.

6. Other capabilities. Some can play MP3s/movies

7. Battery. Some use proprietary batteries, others use AAs.

I'm using a CompactDrive PD70x. It's 10k baht, with a 40GB drive. I bought it because it lasts the longest (35GB/charge), copies the fastest (1.5 minutes/1GB), and is the most compatible (nearly all types of memory slots). It has no picture screen (only status), and can't do much else except store (but can also act as a portable HDD and reader). It uses AAs. The Next CF is similar and smaller, but has only a CF slot and uses a proprietary battery.

The Epsons are nice, with large screens, but are very expensive.

The Xdrive family (there are many) are cheap, but their performance is so-so. There are various ones to choose from, some with MP3 capability, some with screens.

Do not consider an Ipod... they're extremely slow at copying data from your camera, and will use up nearly all their charge in one transfer.

Edited by Firefoxx
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Nordlys Gold Member

Nordlys

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Posted

Which make/model is the smallest and the lightest (preferrably 2.5 inch HDD over 3.5 inch) that you can get in Thailand? I don't need a screen or MP3 features with it and 20GB of memory space should suffice. I do have 12GB of memory space with my three memory cards (microdrives) but it'd be nice to have a small backup device just to be safe while on a trip where I don't want to carry my laptop.

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Firefoxx Gold Member

Firefoxx

Posted
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I saw one at Fotofile (the itty-bitty first floor showroom at MBK) which took 2.5" drives. I think the price was around 8k. It's displayed in the glass case in the front.

I recently read an article about the on-assignment backup procedure of one photographer... he would photograph, then copy to digital wallet, then copy to a notebook (at the hotel), then make a CD/DVD copy. This is without deleting the originals, so 4 copies in all.

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astral Star Member

astral

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Any idea of the price, FF?

I have just looked at one in Bahrain.

It did not say the disk size, just that it holds 30,000 images.........?

Cost $450.

I can buy a computer for that.

Bulky too. Bigger than the old Game Boy units.

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Firefoxx Gold Member

Firefoxx

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(An edit: Most wallets actually hold 2.5" notebook drives. The one I mentioned above at Fotofile holds a 1.5" drive)

There are tradeoffs for everything. Most wallets hold 2.5" drives, so if you include the enclosure, space for the reader, and space for the battery, you end up with something quite large, about the size of your hand. The one that I saw that had a 1.5" drive wasn't that much smaller, but of course finding a drive to fit it won't be as easy as finding notebook drives.

I thought I had already mentioned prices?

Xdrives: 3-7k, bare enclosure, no drive, depending upon features

Epsons: 20-30k, with drive, depending on model

Compactdrive PD70x: 10k, with 40GB drive

Nexto CF: 11k, with 40GB drive

1.5" at fotofile: 8k, with drive (it was some time ago, I might be mistaken)

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Nordlys Gold Member

Nordlys

Posted
Posted
(An edit: Most wallets actually hold 2.5" notebook drives.  The one I mentioned above at Fotofile holds a 1.5" drive)

There are tradeoffs for everything.  Most wallets hold 2.5" drives, so if you include the enclosure, space for the reader, and space for the battery, you end up with something quite large, about the size of your hand.  The one that I saw that had a 1.5" drive wasn't that much smaller, but of course finding a drive to fit it won't be as easy as finding notebook drives.

Is there really such thing as 1.5" hard drive?? If so what memory size does it come with and at what price? And does the 8,000 Baht device they sell at Fotofile MBK include the drive or is it just for the case?

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Firefoxx Gold Member

Firefoxx

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Like I said, my memory is a bit sketchy on the one at Fotofile, so don't take my word on the details, but AFAIK, it included a drive... there are such things as 1.8" (sorry, not 1.5) drives, they're the type used in your iPod. They costs roughly twice as much as notebook drives for the same capacity, and have a maximum speed of 4200rpm.

When flash drives get bigger and bigger in capacity, their price also increases, usually linearly. They're not that cheap in the first place, compared to hard drives, so you can imagine how much a 30GB flash drive will cost, compared to a 2.5" hard drive, when just a 1GB capacity compactflash costs the same as a 40GB notebook hard drive.

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Nordlys Gold Member

Nordlys

Posted
Posted
Like I said, my memory is a bit sketchy on the one at Fotofile, so don't take my word on the details, but AFAIK, it included a drive... there are such things as 1.8" (sorry, not 1.5) drives, they're the type used in your iPod.  They costs roughly twice as much as notebook drives for the same capacity, and have a maximum speed of 4200rpm.

But Firefoxx, it is actually the microdrive (4 & 6GB) that was used for iPod mini, which is 1" hard drive, if not 2.5" HDD used for iPod of any bigger storage capacity (and non-hard drive flash memory for iPod Nano and Shuffle). And if the storage device you saw at Fotofile actually uses microdrive as a media its storage capacity is limited to only 6GB at largest AFAIK, and it has to be very small. Are you sure it wasn't 2.5" HDD that was included?

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Firefoxx Gold Member

Firefoxx

Posted
Posted

Old IDE harddrives->5.25"

Current desktop harddrives->3.5"

Current notebook harddrives->2.5"

Drives used in full-sized ipods (not nanos/minis/shuffles)->1.8"

Microdrives->.85"

Again, I'm sketchy on whether the one at fotofile is 1.8" or 2.5", all that I remember was that it was too small to be a 2.5", and that the capacity was around 30GB.

Here you can see the 1.8" drive in an ipod:

http://www.command-tab.com/index.php/ipod-super

Anandtech also has a write-up on 1.8" drives, do a search on the site.

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  • 2 months later...
Peter-phillips Apprentice Member

Peter-phillips

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I just bought one in TUCK-com Pattaya. It's called an Exo - Miracle. The basic unit (multi-card reader, rechargable battery and charger) cost around 2,500 baht - IT city (top floor). It has a simple screen that just allows you to control the card readers. I fitted an 80gig 2.5 drive (loads of people sell them there) for 4,800. They fitted and formatted it for me. Total for 80 gig storage about 7300. Comes complete with a leather wallet cover and is same size a 2 packs of fags!

Haven't timed the downloads from cards yet - but seems ok, especially when connected to the charger. Win XP simply recognises it as 3 drives - 80 gig hard, and 2 removable storage devices - 1 for CF/Micro and the 2nd for most other cards. Manual says it will download 3.5 gigs on one charge. So I will also be using it as a back-up of some stuff if I need to access data whilst away.

I already have 3.5 gig of CF cards so I probably won't need to use it in the field - just with the charger connected back in the "loom" at night.

Peter

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astral Star Member

astral

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Read the small print carefully and watch out for the BULLSH*T factor.

I saw one unit at the weekend that claimed to be able to store 10,000 photos on 1 Gb........... :o

Thumbnails, maybe.

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astral Star Member

astral

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Posted (edited)

Thanks Nordlys.

Your link does not seem to work, so here is an alternative.

It is expensive.

I could buy a new notebook for that money.

After the comments in another thread about IPOD, the

one year limited warranty is a little scary.

Edited by astral
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ourmanflint Gold Member

ourmanflint

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It depends how much stuff you shoot when away from home, IMHO they're all pretty restricted, in that with only 90 mins battery life, they can only download a 1 gig card a few times before the battery runs down. Same with the Epson, which can take 15 minutes to dl one card... rubbish!!!

The best by far is the CompactDrive PD70x which has been tested to download a 1 gig card in less than 2 mins, and will download over 50gigs of cards on one charge... expensive at approx £150 for the 100gb version.

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ZZZ Gold Member

ZZZ

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I use an Archos AV480. 80Gb of memory but cost over 30,000

The thing is it doubbles as a video player/recorder, 4 hours viewing time. Also as a mp3 player, photo viewer and external hard disk, can also play back slide shows on TV. This means it's used all the time for various things so worth the money, if you got it :o

Archos got several models, some very basic for photo storage only and no screen, check www.archos.com for info.

There is a shop on the third floor of Pantip, near the escalator on the right hand side as you enter PP. The shop also sells iPod and Mac computers.

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britmaveric Star Member

britmaveric

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http://cgi.ebay.com/EXTERNAL-USB-40GB-HARD...1QQcmdZViewItem

Hmmmm this might be the solution 50quid or

http://cgi.ebay.com/Portable-Photo-Storage...1QQcmdZViewItem

12 quid, but you need a 2.5 hard disk.

Picked up the 50quid model - works well, and very fast - less then 5min for 1gb. I was wondering how it would manage multiple cards - creates a new folder every time you export to the drive.

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Nordlys Gold Member

Nordlys

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This one just released yesterday from EPSON.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0603/06031501epsonp4500.asp

Price rather on high side at US$650, but being more than just a storage (comes with a viewer LCD) and with 80GB storage capacity, 155 seconds/1GB copy speed (CF) and a battery that can last up to 50GB worth of copy when fully charged (CF), I think it's reasonable.

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