Travelling Dilemma!!!

[lavenderlilz]

Originally posted by denizenx
not a joke, but shd buy diff brands... like GLCs buy all sorts of diff servers...

shucks - didn't know man.

 

[fruitybix]

eh guys, i also have plenty problems with SOLUTIONS CF cards. Have tried both the 128MB and the 256MB cards, both give me problems.

And not just on DC, but on 3 different DCs. Tried them on Casio, on Canon, on Fuji Finepix. I think as with all storage devices, some of them may have bad sectors.

So i recommend if you want to spread your risks, consider getting smaller cards (cost more) instead of getting one piece of 1Gb card. Unless you are shooting in raw format, then a few pieces of 128 MB or 256MB will be a safer alternative.

 

[geronimo]

Thanks to fruitybix for the input! (btw, what's raw format?!?)

Hrm, looks like SOLUTIONS is the brand to avoid! Any body has any similar experience with PQI card? How come the price difference is so much lower as compared to brands like Hagiwara, Ridata and Transcend?

 

[chriszzz]

Originally posted by geronimo

called up AP and found out that the price for a 512MB Card (PQI brand or something.....anybody knows if this brand is good?) is only $180.....hrm....definitely this is a cheaper alternative than having to lug around an X-Drive, not forgetting having to take good care of it at the risk of the HD getting damaged and all the photos being lost!

Any comments from anyone about this suggestion instead of an external storage device?

You will be gone for 4 months right ? Assuming you just shoot 128MB per day, which is quite conservative since most people tend to be trigger happy with digicams, you will need 4 x 30 x 128 = 15360MB = 15GB. You are surely not going to buy 30 512MB CF right ? Even if you just shoot 1/3 of the estimate, you are still looking at 5GB minimum over 4 months.

I think a XDrive or XDrive2 is your best bet. I think you can also forget about uploading the photos at a cybercafe since (i) the cybercafe may not allow you to access their USB port (ii) bandwidth can be very low in many places ( not all places are as wired up as Singapore) (iii) it's hard to find anyplace that allows you to upload 512MB of photos in the first place.

Try calling up Ai-EN ( the Asus distributor ). I saw them having a sale on XDrive a couple of months back. Challenger also had it, so you could also check them out, as well as various computer shops in SLS.

I just remembered a forum member EastGear had imported some XDrives to sell. See this thread http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27178

Good luck.

 

[chriszzz]

Originally posted by geronimo

hrm...if i'd be getting say a 10GB X-drive or ImageTank, now what i'm thinking is: what's the point of getting such a high capacity CF card?

Buy enough CF capacity to last you one day of shooting. Leave your XDrive in your room, and transfer the photos at the end of the day.

Instead of buying just 1 CF, consider buying 2. The 2nd one acts as a buffer in case you run out of capacity on the first one during the day, and more importantly, it is a backup in case one of your CF cards develops a problem or dies. If that happens, your digicam is just a paperweight without a backup CF. Yes, the 2nd CF is an added cost, but $100+ is a small insurance for a 4 month trip.

Just my $0.02.

 

[mrbunglez]

If you want to get an image tank you could contact EastGear, a forum member, who is the official distributor for the xdrive in singapore. i'm quite sure he can help you there.. he also has an MO for the nixvue tank.

i'm bought an xdrive 2 for my europe trip, which has been cancelled... but i think its one of the better alternatives. but some folks are saying that ridata CF cards have compatilibity problems with the xdrive 2. my ridata hasn't given me any problems la.. so i suggest getting a more reliable CF such as Transcend or Sandisk and the xdrive 2.