Thanks, Godders ... You and others have commented favorably on the various Epson storage tanks, so I didn't ask about alternatives. We were not familiar with the hyperDrive, but it looked good "on paper," and it's nice to know that it's also well regarded. From responses here it seems that they HyperDrive would be a good choice.
My friend is travelling to India, and he travels "close to the ground," so weight, size, and complexity are issues. Carrying a computer around would be out of the question, although having a screen on the storage device could be worthwhile. That's his decision, of course. Shel "The smallest feline is a masterpiece" - Leonardo da Vinci > [Original Message] > From: Godfrey DiGiorgi > > http://hyperdrive.com/shop/index.php > > Would anyone who's used this care to comment on it? > When I was planning my trip to the UK last year, I decided not to > carry the laptop to save on weight and gear that I had to carry > through airports. The CompactDrive PD7X had just come out and was the > top pick between those storage devices that did not have an imaging > display. One of my friends (also a Pentax DSLR user) had gotten one > and was very enthusiastic about it. He liked the fact that it used > the same batteries as his Pentax and was fast. > > The Epson P2000 had also just come out, was compatible with Pentax > PEF file display, and was about twice the money for a 40G unit. It > was almost as fast as the PD7X and had this huge 3.5" display for > reviewing the files stored on it. It had a rechargable, Li-Ion > battery instead of AAs ... so another charger to carry, which I > considered a downside. > > After some debate, I decided that the P2000 was worth the premium and > charger annoyance, and went for it. In the course of a year and > some's use, it has operated flawlessly, reasonably speedily, and the > rechargeable battery has not proven to be any problem at all. One > full charge will download about 13 1g cards worth of data (about a > week's normal shooting for me) and runs for several hours on a > playback with music if you want. It's about the size of a paperback > pocket book and weighs about a pound. I used it throughout my trip > last year to backup my data and review what I'd been shooting, have > used it throughout the year since to do the same thing as well as > present collections to prospective buyers. It's much more convenient > to carry and use than a laptop when you are not going to be editing > your work in the field. > > Meanwhile, John upgraded to the PD70X and remains quite satisfied > with it. > > I'd consider the CompactDrive PD70X (aka HyperDrive) as being a very > good choice if a display was not important to you. Otherwise, I'd > pick the Epson P4000 (80G capacity) if I were buying now, and that's > the one I'd buy. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
