Card transfer without lappy.. doable?


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crapex

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Aug 11, 2007
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sry for my newbiness.. erm i'm going on a trip say 3 weeks or so, i'll be shooting from my slr and my pns so need to transfer photos out from a CF and an SD card.. I dont own a lappy (will have to buy one if its the only way) so......

is there any other way to transfer photos out of memory cards into portable hdds without going thru a lappy? :)


thanks alot!!
 

There is something called a portable photo storage device. They got a card reader build in and some got LCD screen. They contain a HDD and is able to transfer the pictures from the card to the HDD directly.

For. e.g.

http://www.eastgear.com/store/photo-storage-devices-c-44.html

If you do a search there should be many more similar devices. I don't use these so.. no comments. ;)


sry for my newbiness.. erm i'm going on a trip say 3 weeks or so, i'll be shooting from my slr and my pns so need to transfer photos out from a CF and an SD card.. I dont own a lappy (will have to buy one if its the only way) so......

is there any other way to transfer photos out of memory cards into portable hdds without going thru a lappy? :)


thanks alot!!
 

thanks.. theres 40-80gb and various brands.. anyone can recommend any specific ones? and is it reliable?? if its too expensive i might get a $600 intel atom lappy instead.. any suggestions? if i shoot in raw and movie from my pns i'll easily hit 6-10gb a day :( its not going to last me 3 weeks.............
 

It's as reliable as any other portable HDD: don't drop it. But think about future usage. If you only need a storage device for a short period either try to rent / borrow or see that you can use it afterward as well. CF cards are cheap nowadays, mechanically more stable and don't need any power supply.
Apart from that, think twice whether the amount of data that you are going to create is really necessary. Processing Gigabytes of RAW is no joke and if you are only doing basic adjustments then JPG will be fully sufficient. Switch to RAW when it is really needed.
 

why do you need to transfer the photos out of your cards?

some photo developing shops has a burn to cd service
cheapest way is to buy more memory cards
 

i'll be travelling overseas for about 3 weeks.. think i'll make full use to shoot most often :) i figured out if i burn 4gig on photos (hdrs and panaromics, so many things in mind to shoot) and easily 4gig on video from my pns a day on average, my cf/sd cards are not enough :(

i'll vry likely easily end up with 100+gig of photos, i've elimated the idea of buying more cards due to the amount i'll need. I dont own a lappy so its kinda problematic :(

was looking at other cheaper options if available :D, if worst come to worse portable photo storage devices add up close to a lappy price it might be wiser to get a cheap lappy ($600+)?
 

Asus Eee PC.Cost only few hundreds.Run on intel atom.Downside from normal lappy is the disc reader
 

but i think most lappy if not all come with only memorystick or sd card slots

any lappy that have CF card slot? i dont think so right?

if there is, please share!
 

Can try Digimate II. It is compatible with many formats of memory cards, CF, MS, SD, etc. It costs $50 from OP, HDD excluded. Has simple 'shock mounts' inside to reduce 'concussion' to the HDD. Can accept SATA HDD up to 160GB only (which is hard to find today as everyone is going for 320 or even 500GB but you can still find one in those smaller shops behind the 'main streets' of SLS as they still do repairs for lower end PC). The 160GB costs around $80. If you should buy one, remember to bring the adapter along as you would need to charge the battery should you really have that much to backup. As far as I know, this is probably the cheapest.
 

digimate seems to have very bad battery life

for portable hdd storage devices, other than the usual suspects which come at premium prices, i.e. canon/epson

you can try this brand called vosonic. eastgear sells it.

alternatively, buy more cf/sd cards, or be more selective in shooting.

i don't even shoot 160+ pictures after a 7 day trip.
 

yay thanks for all the ideas! now i hav a rough idea..

the vosonic and eastgearII looks like the thing i need! :) shall go hunt them out at eastgear and OP!

Thanks everyone!! haha.. hope i dont kena CARROT at sls.. gosh i hate that place!
 

do your pricing homework before you go.

if you are buying common product, call up, ask for quote, ask whether include gst, remember staff name.

if they charge you higher than what they quote and it was the best price, just walk away, don't bother bargaining. there are 8000 ways to protect yourself as a consumer. the ones who kena carrot are usually people who did not bother, so in some ways, they asked for it. don't end up like them. :)
 

There are some by epson and canon. Portable HDD with Great LCDs and raw playback capabilities. Cost much more even than a new netbook though.
 

thanks night! couldnt agree more.......... :) shall begin my hunt tml.. have a sudden urge for a netbook tho.. shall see wad happens.......
 

My humble suggestion: don't need get a netbook if you don't really need it yet. If you sure, then get it.

Bring a normal potable hard disk. Card reader. Use any available PC to do the transfer. I would suspect, throughout 3 weeks, you will at least access to any public pc (paid or free) a few times.

Bring a few more memory card.
 

I would be careful about connecting your HDD to a public computer to download. Who knows what else you might be downloading at the same time.
 

I would be careful about connecting your HDD to a public computer to download. Who knows what else you might be downloading at the same time.

Ha ha, convenience sometimes comes with a risk :bsmilie: Yet, doesn't mean 'what else' is totally unavoidable.

With money everything is fine - buy the necessary lar top / notebook, then go. But if budget tight, just have to compromise.
 

I usually bring 20GB of cf cards whenever i go for less than a week or a small lappy for 1 week plus.
I don't shoot raw so I dun really have many problems with storage space.
 

sry for my newbiness.. erm i'm going on a trip say 3 weeks or so, i'll be shooting from my slr and my pns so need to transfer photos out from a CF and an SD card.. I dont own a lappy (will have to buy one if its the only way) so......

is there any other way to transfer photos out of memory cards into portable hdds without going thru a lappy? :)


thanks alot!!

Where will you be going. The last time I went for a backpacking trip in Thailand, I just drop by a photo shop and burn all my photos into CD regularly, if such facilities is available in the place you are going, you could try this
 

I'm using Ovation external 2.5" HDD. It has a built in card reader n u slot in your CF card, press a button, all your pictures are backup t the HDD. Have been using it for 2 yrs. Still serving me well. Remembered it didnt cost me much.
 

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