Picture Storage on Location

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happycranker

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Hi, I wonder what the opinion is on picture storage when you are travelling, do you use a laptop, a storage device like Epson P5''' or like me loads of memory cards. I have just seen the new MemoryKick Si which looks good and a reasonable price compared with the Epson, I have just returned from a trip to Cambodia and Thailand and had to buy some more memory cards while on transit in Bangkok due to many of the temple shots being taken with multiple exposures for HDR purposes. Which has made me think about the best way to go in the future.
 
I think devices like the P5''' are too expensive for the role they play. I have lots of SD cards and I do tend to fill them up on a trip. However Camera cards are small and not very durable. I would rather not trust my only copy of my precious photos to something so transentory. On an extended trip, I bring along my laptop. If I did not have a laptop, I would purchase a netbook which can do far more for about the price of a P5'''. A quick check of prices at Amazon shows the P6''' (8'GB) at ~$55' USD while a Dell Inspiron Mini 1'11 (16'GB) is ~$3'' USD. So, for $2'' USD less, you get double the HD space, email and internet.
 
Thanks guys, I had thought that a laptop/netbook would be a good place to start and with an external drive should give enough redudancy. Mind you I have yet to have a card failure, but it is only a matter of time I guess!
 
On my last two overseas trips last year(South America and China), I have used both my laptop and the Epson P-5''' for insurance. It does not hurt to have redundancy just in case you have a hard drive failure. Or you lose one of them! I actually lost my laptop at the Pudong(Shanghai) airport but I got it back to make a long story short. About 3/4 through the China trip, my Epson refused to read one of my cards so I borrowed a card reader and downloaded directly to my laptop- the wonders of digital photography!

Bob- the slide shooter at heart
 
I have a Nextodi ND-25'' storage device with a 8'GB HDD in it and also about 6'GB worth of CF cards. When a card is full I make a backup on the Nextodi and store the CF card in a safe place. This way I have duplicates of all my images.
 
I would suggest that a second external drive is a far cheaper option than a Epson P-5''' for a 2nd backup if you are already carrying a laptop.
 
[quote author=sizzlingbadger link=topic=9143.msg61623#msg61623 date=1265744'37]
I would suggest that a second external drive is a far cheaper option than a Epson P-5''' for a 2nd backup if you are already carrying a laptop.
[/quote] When the suggestion of a Laptop AND a P-5''' came up, the thought of a $1''USD external HD had some appeal. However, I have two and they have some limitations that make them IMO unattractive for working in the field. First is that they are 'Self Powered" meaning that they get their power from the USB port Typically, the 2.5" HDs require more power that a typical USB port can provide. To meet this power requirement, the cables for the HDs are designed to draw power from two USB ports. Many Netbooks do not have two ports and present a problem using these power starved devices. While there is a connector for an external power source on most USB external drives, I have not found a suitable 'Wall Wart" power adapter. The reason that I have two 2.5" external drives is that the first one is not reliable (either from low power or bad HD sectors) While I can put data on it, I can not be certain that any images are reliably retreivable. Neither USB drive would work with a powered hub and I have only three USB ports on my laptop.

The advantage of a device like the P-5''' is that it is self powered and runs (for a while at least) on its own battery it also will read and copy cards without the intermediary laptop/netbook.
 
I have not seen the dual USB drives here so wasn't aware of that. All my drives run fine from a single USB port or powered hub. The P-5''' is a great option just too expensive for me at present.
 
The main reason why I went with the Epson and a laptop is the ability to see the images. By seeing the images, I know I have downloaded properly- it is just re-assurance for me.

Bob- the slide shooter at heart
 
I am sure that for my next trip I will buy a netbook and external HD, they would be small enough to carry on a trek, I am not sure about the addition of a card reader as well. But thanks for all your input, interesting that everyone have different schemes that work for them!
 
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