Ideas for a portable digital storage device

[Nostromo]

We are going to Orlando vicinity for 3 weeks in the post-Easter period and plan to take plenty of photos. We have two digital cameras (Minolta Dimage A1 & Pentax Optio 450) and plan to take a LOT of photos. Though we have TWO 256Mb memory cards each, we will almost certainly run out. Rather than buy (and probably lose) more CF or SD cards, we want to get a simple but good 20Gb portable device to download the images during the holiday. I browsed the web and came up with 2 possibilities; the VOSONIC VP2660 X-S or the IMAGE TANK 3. Any suggestions as to which one is the better buy?

[Amirah]

I can't help you out with this one but my husband took his laptop with us instead of buying more cards and another portable device. I would like to know which is better as well.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

We always take the laptop and download valuable photos to there and then burn them to CD as a backup [msnsmile2]

[Nostromo]

I'm afraid a laptop is not practical. First off, it is too bulky as hand luggage and risky to be checked in. Also, we only own one laptop (mine) and I would not fancy lending it to my wife when she goes on her study tours to areas of archelogical interest where she takes several hundred photos. Also, while Orlando might be fine with Laptops, there are places, especially in the "developing" countries where it is simply not safe to carry a Laptop around. A compact, no-frills digital storage device is just what we need, and it will be either the Vosonic VP2060 XSII or the Image Tank G-3. So far, I have not been able to decide which one.

[Amirah]

Well this is what we do...we take our laptop and when we come back from touring we upload the pictures and burn them down. We have confidence in the places we stay that our things will not be stolen [:I]

[NiallandMichelle]

If you really can't decide between the Vosonic and Image Tank (and by the way for the record, they both look great solutions for what you want!), maybe it's just a case of which one's cheaper! You may want to consider supportability and reliability too as that will make a difference once you actually own the unit.

[Nostromo]

quote:Originally posted by NiallandMichelle

If you really can't decide between the Vosonic and Image Tank (and by the way for the record, they both look great solutions for what you want!), maybe it's just a case of which one's cheaper! You may want to consider supportability and reliability too as that will make a difference once you actually own the unit.

Thanks. The Image Tank G3 is marginally cheaper as well as faster and easier to use. But its predecessor, the Image Tank G-2 supposedly had some reliability issues (which the manufacturers claim have now been sorted out in the G3). The Vosonic job certainly gets the better press.

To add to my confusion, some people in other forums have suggested that I also consider similarly priced portable CD-burners tp download pictures directly onto CD-RWs rather than a hard drive. I am not totally convinced and am planning to stick to a portable HDD. So far.