Backing Up CF cards

[chim_knee]

Hi,

I'm trying to find the cheapest way to repeatedly backup my (512k) CF card whilst I'm on holiday later in the year.

I know of those portable HDD type jobbies but they all (appear) to have LCD screens and are 20Gb+... neither of which I need and therefore push the price up for no real gain.

Does anyone know of an alternative? Some kind of mass storage device with a card reader on it I suppose. I reckon 5Gb or so would be plenty for me.

Cheap as possible but needs to be reliable.

TIA,
Phil.

>>> Edited by chim_knee on Friday 7th January 14:50

[pdV6]

Buy more CF cards?

[chim_knee]

Oh yeah.

But in seriousness... the cost of 5 1Gb CF high speed cards would presumably cost more than a mass storage device, wouldn't it?

>> Edited by chim_knee on Friday 7th January 14:57

[size13]

www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=127645
only thing I can find, but it's probably as small as you can get

>> Edited by size13 on Friday 7th January 15:02

[chim_knee]

size13 said:

<a href="http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=127645"><a href="http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=127645">www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=127645</a></a> only thing I can find, but it's probably as small as you can get >> Edited by size13 on Friday 7th January 15:02

Thanks very much. That, actually, looks fairly ideal - it's a lot cheaper than I thought they were.

What search criteria did you use if I may enquire? I'll do some leg-work my self.

Cheers,
Phil.

>> Edited by chim_knee on Friday 7th January 15:21

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

pdV6 said:

Buy more CF cards?

How do you do a backup then with just your camera?

That Scan thing looks good.

[Alex]

Take your laptop?

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

Alex said:

Take your laptop?

[chim_knee]

Alex said:

Take your laptop?

It's too big. We are going to be limited on baggage space (Safari). The battery life is also rubbish.

[simpo two]

I don't suppose an I-Pod would do it?

[chim_knee]

simpo two said:

I don't suppose an I-Pod would do it?

An iPod in standard form doesn't have the "host" facility AFAIK hence the need for a computer to connect it to.

I know you can get iPod Photo's but a) I don't know if they have it and b) We're talking the kind of money that a normal backup device would cost (I think)

[Chim_Girl]

chim_knee said:

....cheapest way to repeatedly backup my (512k) CF card whilst I'm on holiday later in the year. I know of those portable HDD type jobbies but they all (appear) to have LCD screens and are 20Gb+... Does anyone know of an alternative?

Just a random thought... if you only need this kit for your holiday then you could go down the route of one of the LCD jobbies. Use it for your back-ups, you'll also have space for music etc...

Get it on eBay as soon as you return, you'll be able to sell it for a few pounds less than you paid. I suspect that may work out as one of the cheapest solutions.

Jo

>> Edited by Chim_Girl on Friday 7th January 17:43

[Ian_H]

I use one of these
www.crown-digital.co.uk/ishop/883/shopscr36.html
and I have done for a couple of years now, they are now considerably cheaper than when I bought mine, this one doesn't have a hard drive in but the beauty about it is that you put your own hard drive in any laptop harddrive will fit. When I first bought mine I had a 4gb hdd in I have now changed that to a 40gb hdd, there are only 6 screws to remove to add/change the hard drive. Included with this one is a Lithium Ion battery, when I bought mine the battery was £50 extra


Cheers
Ian

[pdV6]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

pdV6 said: Buy more CF cards? How do you do a backup then with just your camera?

Wouldn't need to!

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

That Scan thing looks good.

Certainly does. Probably a cheaper solution to the stated "problem" as well...

[andyparrott]

I started using an Archos Multimedia jukebox but became paranoid after the hard disk failed on my PC and didn't want the same to happen to all my pictures whilst away with no backup. I bought a Disc Steno which writes straight from memory card to CD, it's brilliant.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

pdV6 said:

ThatPhilBrettGuy said: How do you do a backup then with just your camera? Wouldn't need to!

Ah, some kind of magic trick then

Put some images on CF 1. Copy them to CF 2. You're only allowed to use the camera. Do tell

I must admit I take my laptop every holiday. It's less than a KG and you can really review the shots on 1024x768x32. Not cheap though....

[simpo two]

ThatPhilBrettGuy said:

Put some images on CF 1. Copy them to CF 2. You're only allowed to use the camera. Do tell

I think he meant laying off, not backing up

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

simpo two said:

I think he meant laying off, not backing up

Sorry, yup. Phil being slow in the new year

And as pdV6 says, you can get a serious amount of CF for your ££ now. About £45 per GB for ok cards.

>> Edited by ThatPhilBrettGuy on Friday 7th January 20:09

[Ex-biker]

Ian_H said:

I use one of these www.crown-digital.co.uk/ishop/883/shopscr36.html and I have done for a couple of years now, they are now considerably cheaper than when I bought mine, this one doesn't have a hard drive in but the beauty about it is that you put your own hard drive in any laptop harddrive will fit. When I first bought mine I had a 4gb hdd in I have now changed that to a 40gb hdd, there are only 6 screws to remove to add/change the hard drive. Included with this one is a Lithium Ion battery, when I bought mine the battery was £50 extra Cheers Ian

This kinda sounds a bit of a bargain compared to the likes of FlashTrax, X'S Drive et al'.

What are the pro's + con's?

[lake]

Phil,

when I went away on holiday recently i took one of these..

www.macally.com/new/new_syncbox.html

...and an external hard drive (very cheap these days)

This little device will copy data between any two usb mass storage devices, e.g. most cameras and the external hard drive.

Its a bit slow (USB 1) and eats batteries, but it did the job for me.

I think macally were planning to bring out a USB 2 version for better status info on it.

Hope this helps

Lake

>> Edited by lake on Saturday 8th January 16:05