I'm going to Latin America for the month of March, and I don't know what to do with my photos. Does anyone out there have any advice they'd like to share?
For the gearheads out there, here are my constraints.
First of all, I'm trying to travel reasonably light--I'll only be backpacking a little, but I will be schlepping luggage a lot, and I don't want to lug a laptop. Second, I probably won't have to go more than two or three days without a wall socket for charging.
Wolverine Data's $370 ESP 5000 has a 120GB drive and can show raw image files.
(Credit: Wolverine Data)I'm guessing I'll need about 100GB of capacity. I'll be shooting raw images with an SLR (single-lens reflex), and there should be some mighty scenic spots. On two weeks in Ireland last year, I shot about 30GB of files, winnowing lightly as I went. So here are my options as I see it.
• Option 1 is a portable hard drive with a flash card reader and display.
I've been trying Wolverine Data's ESP 5000, a 40GB model with a screen. I like its ability to review raw images as well as JPEGs, and its battery power seems sufficient for my needs. And I like these for giving impromptu slideshows.
But I found the user interface clunky, and its raw image quality isn't always enough to check focus quality, even with the latest firmware. A 100GB model costs $370.
Anybody have any experience with the Epson P-5000 or similar products? They're even more expensive--an 80GB version costs nearly $700!
One advantage of these devices is that I could also use them to play video and music files and collect photos from others' digital cameras while I'm traveling.
• Option 2 is a hard drive without the fancy display. Wolverine's 120GB FlashPac costs $140. I'd have to rely on the camera for weeding out the dud shots, which probably is OK, but this is definitely the minimum-thrill approach.
And how reliable are hard drives anyway? My photos are precious, but I can say right now I'm not going to carry a second drive for backup.
• Option 3 is a bunch of CompactFlash cards. I have 16GB so far, but getting up to 100GB would cost something like $400 more even if I didn't pay for premium brands like SanDisk or Lexar. Watching the ever-dropping prices on flash memory cards would be depressing, though.
Flash cards have a lot to recommend them, though: are pretty durable, reliable, lightweight, and don't require batteries.
• Option 4 is whatever options readers are about to tell me about. I welcome your thoughts in the TalkBack section below or by e-mail to stephen.shankland@cnet.com.
Seagate's FreeAgent line offers eSATA connections.
(Credit: CNET Networks)If your power strips are as overloaded as mine with cords and bulky transformers, you'll be glad to hear that eSATA--a standard that gives external hard drives the data transfer speeds of internal drives--is untethering itself from its power cord.
eSATA is an external version of the Serial ATA technology used to hook up internal PCs, but today external eSATA drives need their own power supply. But on Monday, the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) announced it's working on a version that will let external drives draw power over the cable that connects the drive to a computer.
The standard, called Power Over eSATA, is expected to be completed in the second half of 2008, and the first devices supporting the standard could arrive as soon as this year, too, the consortium said. The technology should be able to deliver enough power to run a single 2.5-inch drive, said Knut Grimsrud, the SATA-IO president and an Intel fellow, and likely will become a regular part of eSATA products.
"I would expect the powered eSATA (to) quickly become commonplace for applications where eSATA is used," Grimsrud said of the new technology.
The power link could help eSATA catch up to the two most common connection technologies, USB and IEEE 1394 "Firewire," which can power external hard drives. But the groups behind those standards aren't standing still--and of course those connections can link to many other devices besides hard drives.
Specifically, Intel and others are working on a new fiber-optic "SuperSpeed" version of USB that should make its transfer speed to at least 4.8Gb per second, 10 times faster than today's 480 megabits per second. And the 1394 Trade Association is preparing a 3.2Gb/sec specification that should be ratified by February. That should quadruple the current top-end 800Mb/sec IEEE 1394 speed.
Another weakness of eSATA today is hot-plug support, the ability to plug a drive into a running computer. "Some operating systems and/or device drivers might not yet have enabled full support for the hot-plug features that the SATA technology provides," Grimsrud said, and some legacy hardware configurations or product deficiencies can make it difficult.
The Power Over eSATA technology will use the same connectors as current eSATA, but will require new cables to carry the power, Grimsrud said. The current eSATA has data-transfer connections only on one side of the plug, so the Power Over eSATA technology likely will add the power connections on the reverse side, he said.
On Sale Now: $159.99
View the latest prices for Seagate FreeAgent Pro USB/eSATA/FireWire external hard drive (320GB)
Jobo's 200GB Giga One Ultra portable photo backup device.
(Credit: Jobo)Jobo on Monday announced the Giga One Ultra device, a portable hard drive for backing up photos in the field. That's a notch more spacious than the 120GB of the Giga One predecessor or the Spectator device, which unlike the Giga One devices have a color screen.
The drives have slots for a variety of flash memory modules, including CompactFlash, SD and SDHC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro. Photographers can back up their data while on the road, an idea that's especially useful if you're running out of flash card space.
The new models can download data from flash cards more than twice the speed of the Giga One, Gummersbach, Germany-based Jobo said.
The Giga One Ultra is scheduled to arrive at the end of October with capacities of 40GB, 80GB, 120GB and 200GB and prices of $149, $199, $229 and $329, respectively.
Enough with the eensy weensy flash memory drives such as Dell's 64GB model. It's time for a solid-state disk whose capacity is closer to a conventional hard drive with spindles and platters.
Bitmicro offers a variety of flash memory drives and will sell a 416GB model in March 2008.
(Credit: Bitmicro)Bitmicro Networks this week announced a 2.5-inch flash drive with a capacity of 416GB that will be available in March 2008.
Alas, though, the drive is geared for military, industrial and commercial users, not for arming high-end PC owners with bragging rights. Bitmicro's drive is designed to withstand shocks, vibration, and hot and cold temperatures.
Not being a conventional retail product, it's no surprise that Bitmicro didn't disclose a price. But given that the 64GB drive in Dell's Alienware PC costs $920 or so, I'm guessing that it's probably better to remain ignorant.
The company already sells 2.5-inch flash drives with capacities up to 74GB and 3.5-inch drives up to 156GB.
(Via Linux Devices)
- prev
- 1
- next
