Portable storage while travelling

[shanhz]

hi all
apologise that this topic probably has been discussed many times, but just need a quick answer as i would be travelling very soon and don't have the luxury to read thru so many pages. need to get the device within a few days - and don't intend to get many sd cards which some suggest.

what is a good form of storage (i suppose it has to be a harddisk) that i can use to download my photos while i'm travelling? power access is ok, and altitude is not high. just dun wan to bring my laptop which takes up space since i have to bring cold weather clothes and lots of infant stuff.

don't need to view the photos on the go, but must at least have some LED indication to show that photos have been downloaded and i can delete them fr my sd card. budget hopefully not more than SGD200. space is not critical, 20GB is more than enuff.

thanks.

 

[ortega]

i still say get more SD cards, light small and cheap
also less likely to get damaged

 

[Big Kahuna]

A bit over your budget but I think item 2 or 3 are well worth the consideration :thumbsup:

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/newsview.php?id=2643

or

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/newsview.php?id=2630

 

[ortega]

more memory cards also don't need batteries and/or charger

 

[Octarine]

more memory cards also don't need batteries and/or charger

And they don't have mechanical parts inside that could be damaged.
I fully agree, more storage cards are the easiest way. One could argue that the price per GB is much better for HDD storage - but price is not always the main criteria. In terms of weight the memory cards are unbeatable
I also pondered about getting such an external HDD with viewer .. but many people have laptops and adapters, Internet cafe's can easily burn CDs for small money (as backup or for easy viewing). I don't need any HDD in my camera bag.

 

[giantcanopy]

I myself go with an OTG harddisk.

If you are into taking multiple shots to make a pan or you are taking multiple bracketted shots for hdr, having a card a day will be pretty expensive. Gotta know how much you are likely to shoot and estimate the media you need from there.

Ryan

 

[shanhz]

I myself go with an OTG harddisk.

If you are into taking multiple shots to make a pan or you are taking multiple bracketted shots for hdr, having a card a day will be pretty expensive. Gotta know how much you are likely to shoot and estimate the media you need from there.

Ryan

thanks to all for answering. i think i won't be having extreme panning or multiple exposures, likely that a 2GB per day is enuff.. and i'm gg for 6 days. tot $/GB better to get HDD? but maybe ya, space/weight/convenience and safety wise, cards still the best..

 

[giantcanopy]

thanks to all for answering. i think i won't be having extreme panning or multiple exposures, likely that a 2GB per day is enuff.. and i'm gg for 6 days. tot $/GB better to get HDD? but maybe ya, space/weight/convenience and safety wise, cards still the best..

Ah. In that case getting more cards might be a cheaper option. A good OTG casing or one with LCD preview will cost much more. Smaller and more hardy to survive shocks than a harddisk. Just make sure you do not lose them!

Ryan

 

[CS TAN]

One thing everyone recommending to have more memory here did not take into account is the backup issue. If you are traveling to a once in a life time place and after half the trip suddenly realized your SD card is corrupted or down right dead, then how? No amount of money can buy back all the precious shots that you have and that's when a Portable Storage Device becomes a life saver. Of course, if you are carrying a notebook with you during the trip and download all the images religiously every night then that's a different story.

For important shots, I will always ensured that I have at least a backup copy. So, I would recommend a PSD even if you have plenty of memory cards.

 

[shanhz]

One thing everyone recommending to have more memory here did not take into account is the backup issue. If you are traveling to a once in a life time place and after half the trip suddenly realized your SD card is corrupted or down right dead, then how? No amount of money can buy back all the precious shots that you have and that's when a Portable Storage Device becomes a life saver. Of course, if you are carrying a notebook with you during the trip and download all the images religiously every night then that's a different story.

For important shots, I will always ensured that I have at least a backup copy. So, I would recommend a PSD even if you have plenty of memory cards.

i guess if it's like one card a day, even if it dies on you, that's just one day gone out of many. painful but i guess not that unbearable. and.. most likely you would be reviewing your photos as you go along, so you would realise that the card is corrupted quite early. of coz.. back up PSD always better lah

 

[CS TAN]

Well, with today's memory capacity going up to 32GB. You will have situation that you are just using one card for the entire trip. As you add more pics onto the card and delete some of the oof ones on the go, the chance of a corrupted memory card is there. Of course, in most cases, you can still use recovery software to salvage whatever is left but it is not a nice feeling if it happen to you at the end of a memorable trip.

 

[GavinTing]

200 bucks can get you way more than 20gb of SD cards o.o Safer, too.

 

[Fotophilic]

I had a similar problem like u a year or so back. I bought more memory cards instead of getting those harddisk cases that can read cards. I nv regretted my decision.

Some reasons I rejected the idea of HDD:
1) shock prone, survival rate after being traumatised is low. Needs protection.
2) the cheap enclosures u find usually eats batteries like nobody's business. U need some batteries to get and using and going for the long run.
3) the good enclosures are really good, but price is too high. Unjusitifed returns on assets (for me lah).

Some reasons I bought memory cards:
1) dirt cheap (i use normal speeds ones, low cost, no need high speed unless for events)
2) pretty ok resale value
3) reliable
4) small easy to store

Another way i tried and worked well is to just bring a card reader and maybe some CD-R or DVD-R. If u have access to computers (e.g. hotel, cybercafe, etc), u just burn them inside. Of coz, that is if u can access computers.

I hope this helps.

 

[icebox]

If you do get a portable storage, do consider those that lets you review the photographs later, and maybe provide integrity check after copying. The cheap ones will just copy over and tell you nothing more. Which can be scary if some files were not copied properly, and you won't know till you get home after a long long trip.

 

[Big Kahuna]

This could be the turning point for the portable storage display unit

http://sg.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/newsview.php?id=2647

The price should come down pretty quickly like memory card :thumbsup:

 

[dhyk2008]

Hi

I think you have missed the point about backup the data, can your memory cards do backup?
Bring a card reader is for you to view the photos, but still is not backup and carry a cd-R and DVD-R must trouble than a HDD, beside you may need to install software to copy your photos to CD.

 

[Gizmore]

Well, with today's memory capacity going up to 32GB. You will have situation that you are just using one card for the entire trip. As you add more pics onto the card and delete some of the oof ones on the go, the chance of a corrupted memory card is there. Of course, in most cases, you can still use recovery software to salvage whatever is left but it is not a nice feeling if it happen to you at the end of a memorable trip.

if backing up is the motivation then i certainly think that a portable harddisk isn't the best solution since the probability of a fail harddisk (due to mechanical knock) is higher then removable getting corrupted media like sd or cf.

yeah, you have 2 sets of pictures. but the probability of failure is not reduce much really.

 

[night86mare]

if backing up is the motivation then i certainly think that a portable harddisk isn't the best solution since the probability of a fail harddisk (due to mechanical knock) is higher then removable getting corrupted media like sd or cf.

yeah, you have 2 sets of pictures. but the probability of failure is not reduce much really.

thing is, you shouldn't be romping around with your hard disk in your bag.

what my concern is more of loss of the media itself, rather than data loss, etc. these are unavoidable when they happen, and are entirely up to chance, etc. how often have you dropped your hard disk or sd card? i haven't ever dropped any, and it's been more than a year for both.

like i say, if you lose your camera bag, at least you have the pictures so far taken back in the hotel room. if someone breaks in and steals that, then you must be one unlucky guy, and should just go and buy 4d.

 

[CS TAN]

if backing up is the motivation then i certainly think that a portable harddisk isn't the best solution since the probability of a fail harddisk (due to mechanical knock) is higher then removable getting corrupted media like sd or cf.

yeah, you have 2 sets of pictures. but the probability of failure is not reduce much really.

I think we are talking about using the PSDs while traveling. If you are at home, you can always put the pics in all sorts of media. Burn extra CD/DVD, copy them to your computer HDD, backup to the images to those cheapo external USB HDDs, put them in your SANs, using card reader to copy the pics to other memory cards, etc...

But, if you are on the road, especially during vacation, you don't want to lug around your laptop computer. So, tell me, what option(s) do you have that doesn't involve HDDs? If people are concerning about cost of a PSD, they certainly will not go for SSDs. Burning CD/DVD on the road is not a good idea either since it is also very easy to crush your CD/DVD inside your luggage.

 

[Gizmore]

I think we are talking about using the PSDs while traveling. If you are at home, you can always put the pics in all sorts of media. Burn extra CD/DVD, copy them to your computer HDD, backup to the images to those cheapo external USB HDDs, put them in your SANs, using card reader to copy the pics to other memory cards, etc...

But, if you are on the road, especially during vacation, you don't want to lug around your laptop computer. So, tell me, what option(s) do you have that doesn't involve HDDs? If people are concerning about cost of a PSD, they certainly will not go for SSDs. Burning CD/DVD on the road is not a good idea either since it is also very easy to crush your CD/DVD inside your luggage.

i was merely replying (countering) to your earlier post since you mention something like corrupted cards and that a portable HD would be a good backup to whatever pictures that you may have taken during once in a lifetime travel.

anyway, there's equal risk of portable HD failing due to mechanical knocks while it is inside a luggage. (Just the mode of failure is different)