I am looking into which type of portable media storage to take on my trip to Italy. They all seem really expensive but I found this on Ebay and am wondering if any of you have experience with this brand or can recommend another brand that is reliable and not as expensive.

Thanks!
-Kate


30GB VOSONIC X'S DRIVE SUPER VP-6210 MULTIMEDIA STORAGE

First off, take a look at Janet's article on traveling with a digital camera. It has some tips and information on the options available.

Here is a review of the storage device in case anyone wants to know a bit more about the portable storage device. I have it's 'cousin' - a 60 gig Wolverine which is the same as the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP216 pictured in the review. In the US, Vosonic may also go by the brand Wolverine.

I have been happy with the Wolverine. I bought it two years ago at Costco and it has traveled with me to Africa and Australia. At the time I bought it, it was less than 200 plus I got a rebate. This was much less expensive that buying a couple of 1 Gig camera cards which were running about $90 each back in those days. It only allows you to copy the photos but that can sometimes be advantage because the device doesn't have to do other things like display the pictures, play music. It may do a better job if it only does a single function.

Do you have an idea on how many photos you might be taking and do you shoot 'raw'? I've seen some great deals on 4-8 gig camera cards. It might be cheaper to just buy a couple of cards to take.

Hi Marta-
I take a lot of pictures and use a high resolution so I can enlarge if I need to without sacrificing quality. I studied photography in school and travel photography is my speciality.
Thanks for your tips!

continuing this thread--any other suggestions for photo storage for a 10 day trip to Rome--person will be using a Nikon DSLR--I think a D50 but not sure--
thinks it would be better to save to photo storage than have number of separate cards --will probably be shooting at least half of shots in RAW...

At some point I need to update that article, although the basics remain the same. I confess I have since broken down and purchased a hard-drive based backup unit (after my Apacer Disc Steno broke, I didn't think it was worth replacing.)

The unit I bought and recommend is the Hyperdrive Space http://www.hyperdrive.com/ The color version is more expensive and not necessary--I am very happy with the monochrome version. I do not use it for reviewing photos but only for backing up. Of course, I always back up in duplicate so I carry this in addition to my laptop. If I weren't taking a laptop, I would purchase a second Hyperdrive Space and back up to both.

Obviously the price increases with the size of the hard drive installed. I would suggest getting more space than you think you would possibly use!

It really all depends on how much it would mean to you if you lost your photos. To me, it would be pretty devastating, so its worth the extra expense of two backup means.

I have also been using the Apacer Disc Steno but it was a little buggy on my last trip and I am tired of the extra weight and so have been searching for a new means of backing up my photos.

I have read many good reviews on the Hyperdrive Space and the Hyperdrive ColorSpace on dpreview. Janet, I was glad to hear that you have been happy with this means of back up. I have been leaning towards the Hyperdrive ColorSpace so that I can actually see that my pictures are on the hard drive.

as matter of opinion--how easy/difficult would it be to download photos at an Internet cafe (my kids won't be taking a laptop with them) to the web site my FDIL uses to send her photos around--fairly well-known but I forget the name now---
she stores most of her photos on her hard drive at home and at that website...
they want to travel with as few accoutrements as possible...

I bought a "cheap and cheerful" photo storage disk from Ebay similar to this one.

It has a 30gb hard drive, multiple slots and a monochrome display. It does not show the photographs themselves, just the transfer process. It is as easy as inserting the card, and pressing the "transfer" button.
I find it almost indispensible on holiday these days - it ensures I have two copies of everything.

It doubles up as a portable HD - very useful if you carry a laptop, or an Asus EEE PC with limited storage.

TimW

thanks Tim--will look around for a US version of that -- looks very handy--gave my FDIL an 8mg Ipod for Xmas and a cable to download her photos to that but have read that is not very easy to do and it is really not that large a memory either...

quote:

or an Asus EEE PC with limited storage.

So, Tim, did you buy the Asus EEE that you were wondering about? Do you like it (assuming the answer is yes!)?

Jonathan

quote:

Originally posted by Janet:
The unit I bought and recommend is the Hyperdrive Space http://www.hyperdrive.com/ The color version is more expensive and not necessary--I am very happy with the monochrome version. I do not use it for reviewing photos but only for backing up. Of course, I always back up in duplicate so I carry this in addition to my laptop. If I weren't taking a laptop, I would purchase a second Hyperdrive Space and back up to both.

Wow! That is a very expensive backup option if you are carring a laptop and using it as a backup.

But they certainly have come a long way when I was using the first one on the market, the Image Bank.

Bill

quote:

Originally posted by Jonathan:

So, Tim, did you buy the Asus EEE that you were wondering about? Do you like it (assuming the answer is yes!)?

Jonathan

No

I was trying to get one before Christmas, and the Sensible pre release price that I saw was at £185 for the 4GB version. When it was finally released, the price was closer to £220, and nobody had stock.

It is available now, but for around £240. I am going to see if the price drops in the next few months or so.

I have acquired an old Sony Viao with a 700Mhz chip which will do for my travel requirements (Email, Web, Skype, Photo downloading and possibly open office to write documents) until I make up my mind.

Tim

When I went to Italy, I took over 3500 pictures over 4 weeks. I used Smartdisk flash trax, the one I had was 40 GB of storage. I was able to set up at home seperate folders for each day that I was going to be gone. At the end of ea day, I downloaded my photos for that day. It has a 3.5" color screen so I could preview as I went. I was thrilled with how it worked. When I returned home, I hooked it up to my computer and there it all was, each day in its own folder.

Sandra

quote:

Wow! That is a very expensive backup option if you are carring a laptop and using it as a backup.

Bill, its not really that expensive...I think i paid about $175 for mine with 80 GB, and at some point I'll probably replace the drive with a larger capacity one, but that's easy to do yourself.

Also, for those of you thinking that you want to be able to see the images (like on the Hyperdrive Colorspace) note that not all units can display RAW files, so its only useful if you shoot jpg. (The Hyperdrive ColorSpace, however, does display most RAW formats. But many of the less expensive units don't.) Just be sure to check the specs before you buy.

I guess I am just paranoid about backup, as my photos are so critical to me---maybe its overkill but for my upcoming trip to Ecuador I'm taking my laptop, a portable hard-drive to back up the laptop, and a few DVDs just in case. Plus the Hyperdrive to have something if the laptop dies. And all will be kept seperately. Yeah, okay, that's overkill

Bill, perhaps I stand corrected...I just looked at the prices on the Hyperdrive site and it seems they went up quite a bit since I bought mine! I didn't get mine directly from the site, but from Adorama here in NYC. It is probably most economical to buy the case and put in your own 2.5" drive which can be bought more cheaply from many sources. (It is really easy to do this...just four screws.)

quote:

Wow! That is a very expensive backup option if you are carring a laptop and using it as a backup.

Bill, its not really that expensive...I think i paid about $175 for mine with 80 GB, and at some point I'll probably replace the drive with a larger capacity one, but that's easy to do yourself.

Also, for those of you thinking that you want to be able to see the images (like on the Hyperdrive Colorspace) note that not all units can display RAW files, so its only useful if you shoot jpg. (The Hyperdrive ColorSpace, however, does display most RAW formats. But many of the less expensive units don't.) Just be sure to check the specs before you buy.

I guess I am just paranoid about backup, as my photos are so critical to me---maybe its overkill but for my upcoming trip to Ecuador I'm taking my laptop, a portable hard-drive to back up the laptop, and a few DVDs just in case.

quote:

Originally posted by Janet:
[QUOTE]Bill, its not really that expensive...I think i paid about $175 for mine with 80 GB

I was looking at the current prices and said to myself that is expensive solution. But I would never think that was an overkill.

When I saw the 120 GB Hyperdrive going for $299, I thought about the money I spent for my solution. For less than $299 I bought two Hitachi 120 GB 2.5 drives and two slim USB cases for them. So when I travel I have two copies of all my travel photos and carry one drive with me in my pocket of my jacket.

I do think being paraniod is a good thing. All the pros recommend backups and having more than one set of the same backup photos. You could say one of the critieria of a pro photographer is being paraniod.

And Janet, enjoy your trip!

Bill