travel back-up

[elizabeth]

hi. a friend is off to Australia. She has lots of SD cards but wants a temporay back-up option. She has looked at the Epson P3000 card reader, viewer, memory storage unit. But it is a bit too expensive. Is there a card reader/memory storage unit (she doesn't need the viewing capability) that she could use to temporarily back up her images until she gets home and can upload to her Mac.

Thanks in advance.

[baderms]

I have one at home and when I get there tonight I can send you the information on it. It has a 20Gig HD, no viewing but it can copy Flash & SD cards. It's only about $100 if I remember correctly.

[baycruisers]

From Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/HyperDrive-Memory-Backup-Storage-Device/dp/B000VYY1N2
(copies to hard drive)

From Cyberguys:

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/SearchDetail.asp?productID=20939
(copies to CD-R)

[elizabeth]

thank you both. Mark, i'd love to see the specs on what you have. Then it is off to shop.

elizabeth

[ricklepage]

Elizabeth:

I just looked at this same thing for a trip that I took, and, quite frankly, I ended up just buying an additional two high-capacity (8GB) CF cards instead. It was a lot cheaper, and I didn't even get to the second card.

I was tempted to go with the storage unit as a backup option, and that would be the primary reason why I would go with one of the cheaper units, but it was one more thing to carry and charge while I was on the road.

I tested one of the Epson units, and it was great. For showing pix, there's no better unit, but you definitely pay for that screen.

[elizabeth]

thanks Rick. My friend is new to photography and i am working to impress her with the value of having back-up. I think she has enough cards for the trip so she won't have to erase pix to take more. But she wanted to be able to have a second copy in case the cards go south (oh, bad pun - they will already be south in Australia). That's why i was hoping to find a relatively cheap small unit that would allow her to produce/keep a second copy of her pix.

When you were looking, did you find any unit that might fill the bill for her?

thanks. elizabeth

[baderms]

Elizabeth, sorry I didn't post the information last night but I got home only to discover after some test that my monitor has died. I'm going out tonight to get a new one and will post the info then.

[Chuck S.]

I purchased a Digital Foci Photo Safe II (80 GB) for a vacation trip where I thought I might need it (left the laptop at home). I wound up not using it, so I can't recommend it with assurance. There have been some horror stories of folks relying on this device (and others), then losing all their photos when the device malfunctioned.

If faced with the choice between using a large storage device and a number of SD/CF cards, I would probably choose.....both! I'd back up all the cards to the large storage but not erase them unless I absolutely ran out of cards and didn't have a place to get more. Not the cheapest solution, but photos are priceless. (When we evacuated Houston before Hurricane Ike, the car was full of photos and photo albums (prints, CD's, and computer hard drives); no other possessions rose to that level of importance).

[baycruisers]

My approach has been this: buy high quality, name brand cards in 2-4 gb capacity, fill them half way, and switch to a fresh card. That way if there is an error on the card you don't lose as many images. With the right software and luck you may not lose any images if there's a glitch.

Another possibility is to find an Internet cafe or connection and upload them to a mass storage site like Mediafire, Xdrive, etc. That could be time consuming so you might limit your uploads to the most promising looking images.

SD cards are relatively inexpensive, small, and durable. I also recommend a solid memory card case. I like the one Pelikan makes.

[Inspeqtor]

SD cards are relatively inexpensive, small, and durable. I also recommend a solid memory card case. I like the one Pelikan makes.

Mario,

Could you post a link for one of the Pelikan cases you are referring to for SD cards?

Thank you :)

[Edmund]

I use the Lowepro hard metal case which holds Eight SD cards. I bought San Disc 4GB High Capacity cards on sale and rebates from Adorama in NY for $19 each after rebates from San Disc. I just saw that they are on sale again for around that price at Adorama.
http://www.adorama.com/IDSSD8GE3.html
Sale ends in a few days but they go and off all the time.
http://products.lowepro.com/product/PixelPak-V1,1993,42.htm

Eddie:)

[Inspeqtor]

Eddie,

Thank you! According to the website Best Buy is supposed to handle them, so I think I will go check it out this weekend. Save on SH that way.

[baycruisers]

Here's a link:

http://www.pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=0910

or

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/222045643.htm?utm_medium=productsearch&utm_source=google

I mistakenly said the manufacturer was "Pelikan" and not "Pelican."

[Inspeqtor]

Mario,

Thank you again! (no wonder I could not find Pelikan! <grin> :D)

I am at work now, so will look into these in more detail when I get home.

[elizabeth]

If faced with the choice between using a large storage device and a number of SD/CF cards, I would probably choose.....both! I'd back up all the cards to the large storage but not erase them unless I absolutely ran out of cards and didn't have a place to get more.


Thanks to you all. I agree with you Chuck. When I travel, I keep the images on the card and also back them up. I use a Epson P3000, but my friend doesn't want to go that high - price-wise. I am definately encouraging her to keep them on the cards, if at all possible. I will also have a look at the larger storage units that have been mentioned.

cheers. elizabeth

[baycruisers]

Mario,

Thank you again! (no wonder I could not find Pelikan! <grin> :D)

I am at work now, so will look into these in more detail when I get home.

Yeah...Pelikan makes art supplies. Not quite the same thing...

I will say that PeliCan makes excellent products. We have a couple of their equipment cases on our sailboat. They're well made, durable, and reasonably priced when you consider the cost of what you're protecting.

One thing I like about the Pelican SD case: the foam rubber inserts can be removed. I removed one and was able to put in a small SD card reader (Micromate). So, everything's in one place.

[baderms]

Here's the link for the backup device I told you about. Sorry for the delay, work is crazy. http://www.inoi.com/English/hd182.asp

[elizabeth]

Here's the link for the backup device I told you about. Sorry for the delay, work is crazy. http://www.inoi.com/English/hd182.asp

thanks. I will have a look - also at the PeliCan case, for both my friend and for me.

And work can get that way. we are having a long weekend here in Canada - Thanksgiving comes early here.

thanks again. elizabeth

[Inspeqtor]

Eddie and Mario,

Thank you both for your posts on cases for the memory cards. I picked up a LowePro case at Best Buy yesterday, although I really liked the looks of the Pelican better. Best Buy did not have the Pelican. LowePro Will do just as good a job I am sure.