Wolverine PicPacII, Nexto or similar device?

[advres]

Long story short, I am going on several lengthy trips this summer. I am bringing my camera but only my iPad instead of my laptop to conserve weight/space. So I am looking at a way to offload my cards while away from the comp.

I have used Nexto drives a lot for P2 cards in the past. Liked them but their photo version is still twice the cost of the PicPacII. I don't mind spending the money if it is secure and worth it, but it's just a drive with a reader interface so these things have to be pretty straight forward.

I know the Nexto has better battery life and eSata for when I get back home which is nice, but not sure if the extra flow is worth it? Anyone use either of these devices or have experience good/bad with a similar device? Looking to buy within the next couple weeks.

Thanks.

[advres]

Upon searching more, it looks like the Nexto Extremes (500GB) are all back-ordered everywhere. hmph.

[powdork]

seems like once all is said and done you wouldn't really be saving that much space unless your laptop is oversized. you could easily buy a smaller laptop with more storage and the ability to do all those things apple didn't think you'd want to do with their oversized phone.


also seems like you could skip the storage device, and just go with multiple cards. (although a quick review shows the cost to be a bit higher)

[advres]

Jesus if one fucking thread wouldn't turn into a peecee/apple pissing match I would die of shock. You morons are worse than Apple fanbois. Look, I'm not going to buy a peecee laptop or even an air just for storing media. The ipad will do 100% everything I want on the trip.

An ipad is MUCH smaller than my 2007 Macbook Pro (or any laptop on the market). And MUCH lighter. And has insane battery life. Plus, the only thing I would want the laptop for is to offload the pictures. I wouldn't do any PP on it since I have my calibrated Ultrasharp here on my edit system.

And yes, I have multiple 32G cards. Ever shot time-lapse in RAW? Guess what, there goes any other shots I wanted on the trips. I filled one 32G last week just shooting some lightning and then a timelapse of the storm blowing through.

And the drive I mentioned was 250G for less than 2 more cards would cost. Yeah, real stupid idea getting an external storage device...

Go be a moron somewhere else, this thread is already full (ie me)

[powdork]

just throwing some ideas at you is all.
and i don't see how Gb are different whether they're on a card or other storage device. 8 32Gb class 10 cards would set you back about $500, weigh much less, and remove the extra step.

an ipad is not that much smaller than a netbook.

[advres]

and i don't see how Gb are different whether they're on a card or other storage device.

I never said there was.

8 32Gb class 10 cards would set you back about $500, weigh much less, and remove the extra step.

You obviously didn't see the cost of the PicPacII, or even the 500GB Nexto. Plus, we're obviously not talking about the same thing as you are referencing SDHC and I'm talking CF. The transcends I buy would $600 for 8. Even the more expensive Nexto is half that price and twice the storage.

an ipad is not that much smaller than a netbook.

Yes it is. Especially the headphone size power cable and the tiny power supply.

And look, I shoot not only photos but video as well. You know how much it sucks lugging a laptop in the field when I have my camera, my lenses, my field monitor, my tripod, etc. Having one of these in the field is common for video, so why again would this be a bad idea?

I didn't come here to get in a pissing match about workflow or WHAT YOU FUCKING CHOOSE TO USE. I asked a question about a certain product and if anyone had information about it.

[powdork]

i did see the cost of the nexto, which is why i said the cards would set you back a bit more, but i didn't know you were talking cf.

carry on.

[crackboy]

what about doing something like the eye-fi pro. it will transfer raw files and i think you can download an app to teh ipad so it will automatically download images so you can check your shots. this is assuming you are talking image files, assume it would work for video too

[powdork]

i'm probably being an idjit again since this isn't my field, but this sounds like what you're describing.
iPad HyperDrive
you can view the contents of the cards
750Gb
$249

but this is the sales pitch from the site so i have no knowledge of quality or reliability



edit-after further review, that link went to the Hyperdrive (casing only), meaning it didn't include the actual sata hard drive. so you could either add your own hard drive or get their packaged products which appear to be
250Gb for $399
320Gb for $449
750Gb for $599

or it appears they have the no bling model for
320Gb for $200
500Gb for $250
750Gb for $350
1Tb for $400

[Todds]

This is more an idea for people with SD cards.

EYE-FI makes SDHC cards that have built in WI-FI. A friend of mine uses it with his computer and loves it. He walks in the house the photos are automatically transferred to the the PC - no cables. They now have apps for iphone/ipad and android. I was thinking of using an iphone as a backup device for my photos. I know you are using CF cards. I've seen CF->SD adapters. I don't know how well they work.

[Hugh Conway]

I've an older model Hyperdrive. It was ok back in the day - the AA feature only worked so/so, and in general it was a pos workflow. These days a netbook or something-like that is way more useful at similar $. If Apple would sell a 256GB iPad it'd be perfect. Hell, even 128GB. Until they do, it's not.

[SchralphMacchio]

bumping this thread. I'm in the same boat as advres 2 years ago. Okay, not the same boat, but a small boat in the Arctic for a while. And I'm not sure I want or need a dozen high-speed 32GB CF cards.

Netbook ($400) + CF reader + external 512 GB SSD ($450)?

or

iPad ($500) + ColorSpace w/ WiFi ($250) w/ SSD ($450)?

Any netbook recommends with decent screens for tagging/proofing/blogging images prior to processing back home?

[Todds]

My samsung S3 with a USB OTG cable ($1.00) will let me connect to a USB hub and copy from flash card to USB stick. I guess it would let me copy to external powered drive also, but haven't tried.

Other phones and tablets might also work. I know that the nexus 7 won't let you write to an external drive.

[grskier]

bumping this thread. I'm in the same boat as advres 2 years ago. Okay, not the same boat, but a small boat in the Arctic for a while. And I'm not sure I want or need a dozen high-speed 32GB CF cards.

Netbook ($400) + CF reader + external 512 GB SSD ($450)?

or

iPad ($500) + ColorSpace w/ WiFi ($250) w/ SSD ($450)?

Any netbook recommends with decent screens for tagging/proofing/blogging images prior to processing back home?

You could always rent the cards too:

http://www.borrowlenses.com/category/accessories

[SchralphMacchio]

Thanks, but 4 weeks rental is basically the cost of the card. I'm looking to have about 400GB of capacity.

That's either $500 in cards (I already have 2 x 32's though one is not fast enough for full bursting @ RAW), which can't preview images or check email, or $850 in other hardware that has more long-term function.

Hmmm ... cards would be the lightest weight and cheapest I guess. And I could (hopefully) sell them afterwards.

[Hugh Conway]

Whats the boat have for power? The iPad should draw less current charging and have a longer battery life, it's smaller, lighter, and you can but it in a plastic bag all plueses; on the 1st gen I wasn't impressed with the workflow for handling lots of pictures, it was decent enough for snaps. Depending on the boat journey the ipad could be nice to have for entertainment and passing boardom; it's certainly good for travel. If you could get an 11" macbook air with 256gb or 512gb it'd be almost perfect but the extra $$$$ for the storage are silly apple prices.

[systemoverblow'd]

If you're not opposed to bringing a laptop with you... why not just use the internal drive of the netbook? You can get 500GB drives in netbooks and if the one you buy has a 2.5" sata drive you could throw 1.5TB in there for about $100 yourself. Just make sure it has the 2.5 and not 1.8" drive.

[SchralphMacchio]

Damn Hugh, between that, and the fact that I'm also spending a fair amount of time on planes and trains during the trip ... you're giving me reason to justify my emotional bias

I could probably throw the iPad on my work expenses as well, as I've been needing one for work, and they probably won't mind me taking an iPad on my break.

[SchralphMacchio]

If you're not opposed to bringing a laptop with you... why not just use the internal drive of the netbook? You can get 500GB drives in netbooks and if the one you buy has a 2.5" sata drive you could throw 1.5TB in there for about $100 yourself. Just make sure it has the 2.5 and not 1.8" drive.

Somehow I'm wedded to this idea that SSD is really what I want for data integrity in the arctic, and something I could re-use if I ever do something crazy "Deeper/Further" style. So I could also just upgrade a Netbook to 512GB SSD, but that also means reinstalling the OS and other pains.

and then less sexy than iPad.

[systemoverblow'd]

Then go big or go home

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-MacBoo...item19dab06649

[Hugh Conway]

dimensionally how much bigger is the 13" than an iPad with a keyboard cover? the ipad fits much better in a bag than the netbooks did particularly a backpack. should be able to find cheap-ish dataprepaids for it too.

[Todds]

ipad questions: The ipad needs a gizmo(s) to read CF cards? How fast/slow are they? The ipad doesn't have much storage and will fill up fast you will need to transfer them to another device. Can it write out to another drive?

[SchralphMacchio]

The iPad can connect to a camera, and it can connect to a Hyperdrive, both with the use of the iPad camera-USB connector. HOWEVER, the SanHo Colorspace UDMA 2 can pull images directly off the CF card to the hard drive, AND allow the iPad to connect wirelessly and view the images.

What I really want to be able to do is view, tag for post-processing, and delete off junk. All of that could still be tricky from the iPad.

[Tippster]

ASUS 1225B-SU17-BK 11.6-Inch Laptop ($480)
Lacie Rugged 1TB USB 3.0/thunderbolt external drive ($215)

Less than $700 total and can hold everything you shoot... and do it quickly.

Buying an SSD is overkill. If it's too cold for an HDD then your compooper wouldn't work either, and that Lacie drive is fucking bulletproof. Just bought 2 last week in Boston - needed the Thunderbolt connection for shit-tons of HD Video we were backing up.