One of the main benefits people list for shooting digitally is “it costs nothing to take a picture!”. This is indeed true and the result is that you often end up taking many more photos than you used to when you shot film. If you ran out of film then you could head into any number of shops just about anywhere in the world and pick up another roll for just a couple of pounds. Well, what happens when you run out of space on your memory card? One solution is to buy a new memory card, they are widely available but the cost of this would soon start to hurt even the deepest of pockets. You could always carry a laptop with you so that when you run out of card space you can transfer your images onto the hard drive, format your memory card and carry on shooting. The obvious problem with this is the size and weight of most laptops is more than most people are willing to carry, and at over £1000 for many of the lightweight versions, quite and expensive piece of equipment to cart about for backing up your pictures. This leaves Portable Storage Devices .
A portable storage device is a device designed to store your pictures whilst being portable!
This is quite self explanatory, but what is less obvious is which devices are better suited to your needs and what features you should look out for when choosing a Portable Storage Device.
• Capacity
Portable storage devices come in a variety of forms. Some are simply CD or DVD burners which transfer images from your memory card onto the disk. Most are hard disk based. They contain a hard disk similar to the one found in a PC or laptop. These are available in a range of capacities ranging from around 40 to 120GB.
The higher the capacity the more you can store but cost does increase accordingly. The cost per GB of storage usually drops as you increase capacity though.
• The Screen
One of the main advantages of having a hard disk device is that there is normally a screen on which you can view your files. Some of the lower end models only have screens to give basic information about the device such as battery and storage space remaining.
The devices with colour screens are useful as they let you review the images on a screen that is much higher quality and larger than those found on the back of the cameras. Also it is an added security facility, being able to see the images are defiantly on the hard disk before formatting the memory card. With the higher end models you can actually zoom into the image, rotate it, and even perform some basic editing functions.
• Card Types
One very important thing to consider is the type of memory card the device is able to read. Most devices have slots which accept the most common formats of memory card available. You need to check that the device accepts the type of card you will be transferring from. If your type of media is not accepted, then an adapter may be available or you may be able to plug your camera directly into the PSD via a USB cable. This solution is not as good because the transfer rate will likely be slower and more battery power used up, both from the PSD and the camera.
• Music and Movies
Many of the new PSDs are capable of playing music and movies that are stored on the hard drive. You can load movies and MP3s onto the unit and then use the device in place of a portable DVD player or music device. You may only need 40gb for photo storage but for a little more money you can double or treble the capacity and carry a number of films and music tracks with you. Great for travel and extended trips away from home. The only thing to consider is that movie playback will drain the battery life quicker than any other application.
• Battery Life
Almost all PSDs can be used with a mains adapter but most users will want to use them when they are away from power, whether that be as a movie player whilst on a plane or as a photo storage device out on the highlands. As great as these units are, they are no good if you don't have any battery left so it is a good idea to consider how long the battery life is on the units and whether or not the batteries are interchangeable, allowing you to carry a spare.
• Build Quality
If you are going to trust all your digital images to a PSD you want to make sure it's going to be reliable. It's better to pay a little more for a device from a respected manufacturer but there are also some specific things you can look out for too. The best units have special hard drives that are cushioned so that an impact is less likely to cause damage to the files stored. The physical build also differs between models with some having metal chassis and rubber coatings for added protection. If you are going to be carrying the device around with you all day then it's probably worth going for a better built unit. But remember, these are supposed to be PORTABLE storage devices, it's no good buying something so bulky that you want to leave it at home! |