offloading SD card data while out and about
offloading SD card data while out and about
Author
Discussion

ccr32

Original Poster:

1,983 posts

248 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
Afternoon all,

As it is the girlfriend's birthday shortly, I have decided to treat myself her to a lovely new 500D. I She has wanted one for ages, and will very much enjoy the learning curve that is owning a SLR, and would like to put myself herself to the test when I go to Le Mans next month she goes on holiday this summer.

Newbie question though - other than using a laptop of some description, is there any way of offloading photos from a full up memory card onto an external HDD while you are out and about? Again, just thinking of Le Mans, errr.... I mean, when she goes on holiday - I doubt she'll want to lug her laptop there.

Cheers.

gary71

2,037 posts

209 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
I'm interested in the answer... For when I go on holiday (to Le Mans!)

currently the laptop is coming with me, space is at a premium in the car though and I could do without it!

clonmult

10,529 posts

239 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
There are few options from the past, and a few coming in the future ...
- if you've got an 5th gen iPod video, you can get a camera adapter that allows you to connect some cameras to the iPod to transfer photos. Useful. I think the adapter was about £20. Similar adapters are available for the iPad as well.
- there are a variety of card reader/hd boxes around that do the basics - transfer files straight from the memory card to their HD. Generally expensive.

The Nokia N8 is one of the first devices I've seen that supports USB OTG - basically instead of it acting as a USB slave, it can act as a kind of USB host, comes with a suitable adapter, and allows you to transfer data from an external device (ie. camera, memory stick) to the phones internal memory.

Simpo Two

92,807 posts

295 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
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Memory is so cheap I'd just buy another card.

clonmult

10,529 posts

239 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
Simpo Two said:
Memory is so cheap I'd just buy another card.
True, true ...

I keep on trying to justify the purchase of a netbook or something with a HD for backing up pictures whilst on holiday, but when you can get a 16gig Sandisk SD card for £20, or a CF for around £30, I couldn't justify the expenditure.

crmcatee

5,806 posts

257 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
I use something similar to this. [url]Digimate|http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1023&message=17568630{/url] I've got a 160Gb drive in mine at the moment.

However haven't seen them about for a while though.

Basically it's a card reader with a 2/5' hard drive inside.

Insert the card - push the button and it copies across.

Works well (if a little slow) and does need charging through a USB interface - which you can get almost anywhere now or it's own power supply.

ian in lancs

3,853 posts

228 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
Small laptop with a SD slot and swop the 70GB drive out for a 320GB one if you need the extra space. Far, far cheaper and more versatile than the alternatives.

tinman0

18,231 posts

270 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
Cannot recommend the Digimate. At all.

It's slow, it is freakishly bad on battery (battery is so poor it is unbelievable - think 2-3 cards copied and its done. If you get 5G copied you are doing well), and the IO code on the USB side is awful. Although USB will give you an external drive, it really really doesn't work very well.

Just buy a bigger card or three.

14-7

6,233 posts

221 months

Tuesday 11th May 2010
quotequote all
When I go on holiday I use my Archos 5 250GB as backup. Obviously it doubles as a MP4/MP3 player but with a card reader it also gives me lots of data storage without having to carry a laptop. I also found it was far cheaper to buy this setup than the dedicated devices that only store and display your photos.

It is also light enough to be carried whilst out and about.

ccr32

Original Poster:

1,983 posts

248 months

Wednesday 12th May 2010
quotequote all
14-7 said:
When I go on holiday I use my Archos 5 250GB as backup. Obviously it doubles as a MP4/MP3 player but with a card reader it also gives me lots of data storage without having to carry a laptop. I also found it was far cheaper to buy this setup than the dedicated devices that only store and display your photos.

It is also light enough to be carried whilst out and about.
So does the Archos act as a USB host then in that you could plug a USB memory card reader into it and then copy the data off?