Memory card backup drive

[XKjimmy]

Hi all,

Im after a hard drive, portable or desktop that I'm able to plug SD cards or compact flash cards directly into to backup.

This would be used while on a job for safety and peace of mind that the images are backed up.

Anyone know any good drives that do this?

Many thanks.

[14-7]

Most of the backup drives where can plug the card straight in to them are expensive for what they are. I now take my laptop and an external drive if I am out shooting a lot of footage.

[cornet]

Best I can find is http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro%C2%AE-Picture-Drive...

However a cheap netbook is probably more cost effective.

[Flibble]

You might be able to persuade an android phone or tablet to copy stuff off a card to a portable hdd, but a laptop would be easier I'd think.

[XKjimmy]

Many thanks for the replies guys, think I will go down the laptop to hard drive route.

[tim-b]

Another option for you to think about; I use one of these for backing up when away from home, via a USB card reader.

Some thoughts/observations;
-It has 32gb inbuilt storage, plus micro SD and SD slots so a total capacity of 96gb (obviously minus a few for apps etc.), and of course you can always switch the cards. I've not tried to attach an external HDD, simply because I don't need that much storage in the short term - IIRC I took around 1800 21mp RAW files on my last 2 week holiday, so about 45gb.....if I need more I could just buy another micro SD or SD card, much less hassle than lugging around a HDD!
-several apps can open raw files (actually just a hi-res preview I think) so you can see what you've got on the extremely impressive 'Super IPS' screen. Editing is limited, you can't do proper RAW adjustments I think, but you can rate and delete the images so you are ready for when you get to a capable pc/mac. I'm not a pro so don't have tight deadlines, anyway I'd rather wait until I can use a big screen when editing/processing so this suits me fine...
-With the plug-in keyboard dock, it has almost double the battery life of other tablets, not sure how it compares to a laptop.
- Another bonus is you can preload google maps so that can be useful too. Unfortunately the GPS is very flakey, so you can't rely on it, but the map is a lot easier to view than on a sat-nav.
-it's much smaller and lighter than a laptop, fits nicely in the top part of my medium sized lowepro 300. The touchscreen is easier to use than a trackpad too, and you have the option of detaching the keyboard dock (although you'll lose the USB and SD card access).
- wi-fi is terrible
- GPS also unreliable
- a few small bugs, software doesn't feel as solid as it should

To sum up, as a tablet it's pretty crap, but as a photography tool it's great. It was indispensable on my last trip, when I used it mainly for backing up and recharging a GoPro video camera while on the road, and as a map when the sat-nav ran out of juice (broken lighter in car)!

Edited by tim-b on Thursday 28th March 10:43

[XKjimmy]

Hi Tim,

Many thanks for the reply.

That does look a good bit of kit, think I may well think about that. It would be good for viewing shots on the move as well.

James.

[Craikeybaby]

I had one of these out of a caddy from eBay with a card reader and a spare laptop HDD I had lying around at home. I used it for a trip to Costa Rica last year, but have since bought an iPad and use that now, as I find that being able to see/sort the images in Photosmith is more useful to me than the extra storage.