How do you store digital photos???

[mountainhouse]

Just wondering what's the most popular method.

[tee_wrecks]

I always travel with the laptop to create my own cd's. There are other devices out there that might be more portable but these old tired eyes prefer reviewing the photos on a big screen before deciding which ones to delete and which ones to photoshop and burn to cd.

[Suzieb]

We carry a portable CD burner with card reader (no PC) and then we can hook it to the cabin TV and watch our pictures while we are in the cabin, and the cabin steward can enjoy also!!

 

Enjoy

[Oma24boys]

...and since I am responsible for mine (I am the one who uses it) and have to tote it, it got to be more of a hassle. I just purchased a refurbished SmartDisk FlashTrax that has a 40GB hard drive from TigerDirect.com...and, it weighs considerably less than a laptop. For the refurbished price of $199 vs the orginal price of $469 I could not go wrong. It has a 3 inch screen to view photos or it can be hooked up to a television. Not only can you save photos but it is also an MP3 player so I can download cruise music instead of bringing a separate CD player. :D I will get to officially try it out in November...

[Photo Dad]

In ths past I used a Digital album (20 Gb) that worked just fine. This trip I plan on using either the Epson P-2000 (40 Gb) or Compact Drive PD70X (80 Gb). I will also back up on a laptop using CDs or DVDs.

[zackiedawg]

Count me in on the portable CD burning devices. I've been using an Addonics MFR, about the size of a CD walkman. Ac or battery powered, card reader for all types of cards and microdrives, can burn multiple sessions on a single CD, and can span multiple CDs from a single card.

 

It hooks to the TV for viewing the burned CDs, ensuring the burn was correctly done and letting you view your photos. It allows you to make multiple copies of your data for security (I burn 2 sets of all my photos and keep them in different locations and luggage). It functions as a portable DVD player, with remote control. It works as an MP3 player. And it plays normal music CDs too.

 

Great little device, and lets me leave the heavy, large, and valuable laptop at home.

[george@sea]

This trip I plan on using either the Epson P-2000 (40 Gb) or Compact Drive PD70X (80 Gb).

 

Do you have a URL where I can check both of the above units out?

 

TIA!!

[george@sea]

I've been using an Addonics MFR

 

Do you have a URL so I could check out the addonics MFR?

 

TIA

[mountainhouse]

Do you have a URL so I could check out the addonics MFR?

TIA

 

Review:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/addonics_mfr.html

Mfg/purchase:

http://www.addonics.com/products/mfr/ (DVD version too)

[Termin8er]

I use the Xterasys 7-in-1 Card reader with 40Gig Hard drive. Only drawback is no screen to preview photos. Other than that very portable. About same size as an I-Pod.

 

If I had it to do all over again I wish I would have known about the Flashtrax simply for the preview screen. But I'm still happy. It cost approximately $200.00 shipped to my front door. You can only purchase them from the Mfgr.

TA

 

http://www.xterasys.com/xm13220.htm

[judynorth]

We used a RoadStor on our recent cruise and it worked like a charm. We downloaded to CD's and then checked the downloads by viewing on the TV in the cabin. It cost us $220 (on sale). It is essentially the same as the Addonics device. Since is functions as a DVD/CD player, we were also able to watch the DVD from our cruise as soon as we received it from the Photo shop on the ship. What fun seeing ourselves and others that we knew on the cruise!

[Photo Dad]

George@sea,

 

Sorry for the delay in a response. I ordered the Epson P-2000 just last night from the Epson website. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=FandB&oid=49164278&category=Products

 

They seem to be the only place with the item in stock at the moment. Mine should arrive this coming week which will give me plenty of time to get used to using it before the cruise in July.

 

Good luck in your research and I hope you enjoy your cruise.

[Photo Dad]

George@sea,

 

I guess I should have read the entire message you posted! Sorry again...

 

Here is the information you requested on the Compact Drive:

http://www.eastgear.com/compactdrive/product.php?p=pd70x

 

http://www.eastgear.com/shop/index.php?currency=USD&cPath=17_66

 

The first link describes the Compact Drive and the second link takes you to the site in Singapore where you can order one. The newest version is scheduled for delivery beginning 1 Jun 05. Hope this is helpful.

[Oma24boys]

We used a RoadStor on our recent cruise and it worked like a charm. We downloaded to CD's and then checked the downloads by viewing on the TV in the cabin. It cost us $220 (on sale). It is essentially the same as the Addonics device. Since is functions as a DVD/CD player, we were also able to watch the DVD from our cruise as soon as we received it from the Photo shop on the ship. What fun seeing ourselves and others that we knew on the cruise!

 

This sounds like a great option for photo storage also...I do like the idea of it being a DVD player!:D

[greatful]

RoadStor has 70mb capacity for CD Epson only 40mb ? Any other major differences

[judynorth]

RoadStor has 70mb capacity for CD Epson only 40mb ? Any other major differences

 

RoadStor writes to a 700+ MB CD. You can keep recording on a CD until it is full and you can also span CDs (if you have a full 1 Gig card). The major difference is that the RoadStor is a CD burner not a portable harddrive.

[greatful]

RoadStor writes to a 700+ MB CD. You can keep recording on a CD until it is full and you can also span CDs (if you have a full 1 Gig card). The major difference is that the RoadStor is a CD burner not a portable harddrive.

 

Thanks for info Judy. Can you tell me what "span CDs means ? Thanks

[judynorth]

Thanks for info Judy. Can you tell me what "span CDs means ? Thanks

 

Spanning CDs means that if the data is too large for one CD it will automatically prompt you for a second CD to hold the rest of the data. If you are downloading a full 1 GB card, one CD will not hold all the pix. RoadStor will automatically span to another CD so that all the info can be backed up in one operation. You don't have to do it manually, which is a pain.

[Photo Dad]

My Epson P-2000 arrived yesterday and I'm very impressed with the display and download capabilities. The slideshow function is easy to use and the battery life is longer than I anticipated. I was able to download over 500 photos, build several slideshows, download almost 150 MP3 files, and still have half a battery left over.

 

I highly recommend this device if you need off camera storage and don't feel you need to drag around a laptop.

[zackiedawg]

RoadStor has 70mb capacity for CD Epson only 40mb ? Any other major differences

 

Greatful,

 

Just wanted to make sure that the difference was understood on these two types of storage units.

 

The Roadstor/Addonics units are CD burning devices...they copy your memory card data over to CDs. You can put up to 740MB of data on a standard CDR, and some can allow up to 800MB.

 

So, if you have a 256MB memory card, you can fit approximately 2-3 on a CD depending on CD size. You will want to make sure the CD burning device you use supports 'multiple session burning', meaning you can drop pics onto a CD at different times until it is full.

 

Spanning allows you to squeeze every last photo that will fit on a CD...once the CD is full, as mentioned, the burner will prompt you for a new CD to continue burning where the last CD left off. The Roadstor and Addonics units both have multiple session burning and disc spanning.

 

The Epson device, as well as others mentioned here are portable harddrives. They have an internal drive, just like a computer, which can fit lots of photos. In the case of the Epson, it isn't only 40MB...it's 40 GB! A Gigabyte represents a thousand Megabytes...so a 40 Gigabyte drive will handle roughly the same capacity as 52 CDs.

 

Both devices offer different solutions, and each works better for some people. The harddrive units are one-piece to carry, and often have small monitors built in for viewing photos. They are very convenient and portable. Downsides would be the danger of a harddrive failure losing all your photos, and inability to make copies for others. The CD units have the advantage of being able to back up your data as many times as you want to feel secure, making copies of photos for friends, and often function as DVD players and music players as well. Downsides include being typically larger than a portable harddrive unit, and having to bring blank media along too. At $179, the portable CD burner units are at least one of the least expensive options (Addonics MFR retail price as of last check).

 

Hope that clears up the difference between the two!

[vhord]

I purchased a refurbished Roadstor on EBay last week for $52. I was a little concerned about it being refurnbished but when it arrived it looked new. Even the protective film was still intack. For the price I felt it was worth a chance.

 

 

There are still many more available. The company that sold it sells them on their website for $189 refurbished!

[judynorth]

WOW! Lucky you. And to think, we paid $220 for our RoadStor.

[Oma24boys]

I purchased a refurbished Roadstor on EBay last week for $52. I was a little concerned about it being refurnbished but when it arrived it looked new. Even the protective film was still intack. For the price I felt it was worth a chance.

 

 

There are still many more available. The company that sold it sells them on their website for $189 refurbished!

 

Great Buy!

[amenuensis]

I WAS going to bring my laptop for storing the digital shots and clearing the memory card, but it's so big and heavy. I did NOT want to spend a lot of money, so I just bought for a mere $25 an obscure device (recommended somewhere else on this board thank you!) called the "i.Perris U2" that will let me just bring my portable Kanguru Drive (70 GIG) that I use for backups at home.

 

I just tested it, it worked great and so easy. It's tiny, fits in the palm of your hand, it has USB ports on both sides, one for Source and one for Target, you hook the camera up to the Source USB port, the Target drive to the Target USP port, press the Copy button and presto it copies all the files to a folder it creates on the Target drive--during this process the lights blink reassuringly and you can hear the drives whirring on both devices. Eventually the lights go off, the noise stops, and you know that it's done. Future copying will result in more folders created which are consecutively numbered, so no danger of overwriting. The target device must have greater storage capacity than the source device.

 

Of course I tested it here because once I'm on the ship I won't be able to confirm that the data WAS transferred. I just rehooked up my Kanguru drive to my PC to check and the photos are now on my Kanguru drive and they are also still on the camera's memory card. So this device is a keeper. Anything to avoid lugging the laptop or spending more money!

 

The down side is I can't view the photos on the tv in the room, but that's not a big minus since I can hook my camera up and look at them on the tv before I do the transfer. So if you already own a portable hard drive (one that doesn't rely on your computer for power, but plugs into a wall socket) you might want to take a look at the i.Perris ...

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265850&CatId=1203&SRCCODE=INKQUIGO&CMP=KNC-INKTOMI

[bruce-r]

amenuensis, that is a pretty clever unit, and quite economical IF you already have a USB hard drive.

 

Me, I always take my iBook when I travel. Travel is the reason I bought the 12 inch model. I watch DVDs on if from the hard drive (saves battery power) on the plane, I can check my email and favorite message boards using WiFi, and the iBook is very useful when it comes to digital photography. I can even burn CDs with it if someone else wants to backup their photos.