PD70X available in USA

[Paul Guba]

They are indeed the same product when I questioned the claim that there product won a 2005 DIMA award I received the following responce:

Dear Paul,

The product that won the PMA DIMA 2005 award is CompactDrive PD70X by EastGear Pte Ltd.

EastGear is our Europe/Asia distributor which represented us at last year's PMA 2005 at Orlando, Florida.

Back then, we have no business entity in the U.S., hence EastGear was sent to the show.
The HyperDrive HD80 is exactly the same product as the CompactDrive PD70X

It is marketing under the "HyperDrive" brand name in the U.S. as we have difficulty trademarking the "CompactDrive" brand name here.

You may be pleased to know that Sanho LLC, our US Sales Office will be exhibiting in CES 2006 & PMA 2006 as Sanho & HyperDrive
http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/directory/rd_exhibitor_details.asp?exhibid=9141

In fact, we are due to pick up another Design and Innovation Award, this time from CES 2006 on Nov 15 at a pre-CES 2006 press announcement.
This time of course, it will be credited to HyperDrive HD80 and Sanho.

I hope you will be satisfied with this response.

Thanks and regards,

Thanks and regards,
Valerie
--
Enjoy the Day

Paul Guba New Jersey Photographer
http://www.gubavision.com

 

[markE59102]

Well, I'm at the point now that I'm not believing EITHER of you guys until you come up with some real proof who you are.

This whole CompactDrive thing and it's history has been a mess from the beginning, and it's about time the REAL manufactures PROVE themselves. Until then, I see both of these companies' posts as nothing more than worthless garbage.

We do not wish to be drawn into arguments with an imposter who does
not even reveal his email in his profile.

For clarification, please email:

[email protected]
[email protected]

--

• markE

http://www.wingsoflight.com

'Good wildlife photography is a controlled accident,
a vision of preparation and surrender materialized.'

 

[Glenn W.]

I agree this is really odd... and really, no matter who's telling the truth... assuming one is... it's sure not helping my confidence in either.

Totaly unrelated to either... My wife who is from Taiwan, and once worked for a electronics manufacturer there... has basicly told me that the business is so cut throat that you have to plan on making any money on a product in the first 6 months, because your product will be copied in about that amount of time...

No real offense to either company related to the 'PD70X' or the Hyperdrive... but this sure doesn't look good...

This whole CompactDrive thing and it's history has been a mess from
the beginning, and it's about time the REAL manufactures PROVE
themselves. Until then, I see both of these companies' posts as
nothing more than worthless garbage.

We do not wish to be drawn into arguments with an imposter who does
not even reveal his email in his profile.

For clarification, please email:

[email protected]
[email protected]

--

• markE

http://www.wingsoflight.com

'Good wildlife photography is a controlled accident,
a vision of preparation and surrender materialized.'

 

[JojieRT]

Following this link:

http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/directory/rd_exhibitor_details.asp?exhibid=9141

My bet is on hyperdrive over sanho. Wasn't there an Eastgear userid here representing Eastgear? Now if that one posted against hyperdrive then that would make it more enjoyable

I agree this is really odd... and really, no matter who's telling
the truth... assuming one is... it's sure not helping my
confidence in either.

Totaly unrelated to either... My wife who is from Taiwan, and once
worked for a electronics manufacturer there... has basicly told me
that the business is so cut throat that you have to plan on making
any money on a product in the first 6 months, because your product
will be copied in about that amount of time...

No real offense to either company related to the 'PD70X' or the
Hyperdrive... but this sure doesn't look good...

 

[ADSinger]

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. I disagree that "this whole Compactdrive thing has been a mess". I recall the earlier dueling website issue, and I will not try to decipher the Sanho/Hyperdrive relationship, but keep in mind there is a very good product involved here.

I bought mine early on from Eastgear. I have no regrets, their service was exceptional, shipping to the US was quicker than I thought possible. They bundled in all the accessories free. When I had a question, I received 24 hour maximum response.

Eastgear has posted the firmware update and will shortly post another. The manufacturer warranty on all these PSDs is basically that they will not be dead out of the box. So honestly I don't care who the manufacturer i.

I really like the PD70X, it does what it does very well, and I get the needed support from Eastgear.

Just my .02.

alan

Well, I'm at the point now that I'm not believing EITHER of you
guys until you come up with some real proof who you are.

This whole CompactDrive thing and it's history has been a mess from
the beginning, and it's about time the REAL manufactures PROVE
themselves. Until then, I see both of these companies' posts as
nothing more than worthless garbage.

 

[Snook]

--
1DsMII,PB17',G5 D2.0---> Shooting RAW (Ofcourse)
http://homepage.mac.com/ekphotography/2005/

 

[markE59102]

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. I disagree that
"this whole Compactdrive thing has been a mess".

Please don't paraphrase me. If you look again what I wrote below, I also spoke of the history of this company's products, namely the lack of voltage regulator in their first PSD, then a problem came up with a past distributor.

I also own a PDX70 that I haven't had a single problem with since I purchased it last spring. And I also received it much faster than I ever expected. It came before a letter from across town would arrive!

HOWEVER, if it ever need servicing, it would be a ggod thing to know if a recent claim that servicing of these units could be performed in the US, which would be a heck of a lot cheaper and convenient. I sure don't feel like sending my PSD to a non-existant service facility, never to see it again.

That's why it's important for me to know who is legit here.

I recall the
earlier dueling website issue, and I will not try to decipher the
Sanho/Hyperdrive relationship, but keep in mind there is a very
good product involved here.

I bought mine early on from Eastgear. I have no regrets, their
service was exceptional, shipping to the US was quicker than I
thought possible. They bundled in all the accessories free. When I
had a question, I received 24 hour maximum response.

Eastgear has posted the firmware update and will shortly post
another. The manufacturer warranty on all these PSDs is basically
that they will not be dead out of the box. So honestly I don't care
who the manufacturer i.

I really like the PD70X, it does what it does very well, and I get
the needed support from Eastgear.

Just my .02.

alan

Well, I'm at the point now that I'm not believing EITHER of you
guys until you come up with some real proof who you are.

This whole CompactDrive thing and it's history has been a mess from
the beginning, and it's about time the REAL manufactures PROVE
themselves. Until then, I see both of these companies' posts as
nothing more than worthless garbage.

--

• markE

http://www.wingsoflight.com

'Good wildlife photography is a controlled accident,
a vision of preparation and surrender materialized.'

 

[HyperDrive]

Dear Mark,

I understand yours and other users frustrations. Trust me, there are much better ways to fraud consumers other than taking in used hard disk casings or selling empty HyperDrive HD80 without hard disk (after all, we can make more money by jacking up the prices with included hard disks right?)

Anyway if word gets out that we are ripping people off, you guys at dpreview will be the first to spread the word and warn others. Our credit card payment gateway is PayPal, an company of eBay. For those familiar with PayPal, all you need is one complain and PayPal will freeze all our account with all the monies that is in it. Our bank account and credit card information is tied with PayPal so they and the authorities will know who to look for if something happens.

Why am I saying all these? I just hope to put everything in perspective here that it's just not feasible to set up a fake "empty" entity to rip people of $149 selling a product that is as niche as this. It will be more lucrative to sell M&Ms disguised as virility boasting pills.

Anyway we will be most willing to be transparent with our identity

Our US office address is located at:
615 Arcadia Terrace #104
Sunnyvale CA 94085

Our IRS EIN number is 20-3492348 (This is like the SSN for companies)

We are also a member of CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), an exhibitor and award winner at CES 2006. Our contact details can also be seen at CES Official Website:
http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/directory/rd_exhibitor_details.asp?exhibid=9141

You can read the following statements from Sanho to get a clearer picture and understanding of the relationship between Sanho & EastGear

Sanho Digital Electronics Co, Ltd (China)
http://www.3hdigital.com/

Sanho LLC (USA)
http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/information.php?info_id=15

 

[Glenn W.]

OK, lets just say I'm still confused as to who's the manufacturer, who's the distributer, and who exactly and who this 'sanho' particiapant of this fforum is, etc...

but anyway, it would seem that HyperDrive here is indeed ligitamate, or close enough for my purposes...

So I have a NEW question...

What exactly is the following product, and is it currently available? or when will it be, and can we have any more information about it?

http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/show_floor/product_locator/product_details.asp?prodid=6629

Dear Mark,

I understand yours and other users frustrations. Trust me, there
are much better ways to fraud consumers other than taking in used
hard disk casings or selling empty HyperDrive HD80 without hard
disk (after all, we can make more money by jacking up the prices
with included hard disks right?)

Anyway if word gets out that we are ripping people off, you guys at
dpreview will be the first to spread the word and warn others. Our
credit card payment gateway is PayPal, an company of eBay. For
those familiar with PayPal, all you need is one complain and PayPal
will freeze all our account with all the monies that is in it. Our
bank account and credit card information is tied with PayPal so
they and the authorities will know who to look for if something
happens.

Why am I saying all these? I just hope to put everything in
perspective here that it's just not feasible to set up a fake
"empty" entity to rip people of $149 selling a product that is as
niche as this. It will be more lucrative to sell M&Ms disguised as
virility boasting pills.

Anyway we will be most willing to be transparent with our identity

Our US office address is located at:
615 Arcadia Terrace #104
Sunnyvale CA 94085

Our IRS EIN number is 20-3492348 (This is like the SSN for companies)

We are also a member of CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), an
exhibitor and award winner at CES 2006. Our contact details can
also be seen at CES Official Website:
http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/directory/rd_exhibitor_details.asp?exhibid=9141

You can read the following statements from Sanho to get a clearer
picture and understanding of the relationship between Sanho &
EastGear

Sanho Digital Electronics Co, Ltd (China)
http://www.3hdigital.com/

Sanho LLC (USA)
http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/information.php?info_id=15

 

[Glenn W.]

On one of your web pages...

http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/information.php?osCsid=7422b3167c53504f0cca3a5ec9c18873&info_id=10

You seem to imply that the bit by bit verification process is hardware based, and is done really fast...

Is this really true? and exactly how fast does this 24 bit hardware based bit by bit verification take?

It would seem this feature was implmented in a recent firmware update to the "PD70X", and this is why I question your statments that this is a hardware based verification...

 

[gmosc]

Glenn,

Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this one question, (I remember you asked it before and you didn´t get a response yet)
On my PDX70, the verify fiuction took twice as long as a normal transfer.

I lost than found then lost again my page with results I got, but if I remember correctly,
1gig transfer- 3minutes
1gig transfer with verify 6 minutes.
Does that sound correct?

Looking forward to what Hyperdrive says.

True hardware based? hmmm not sure. Bit by bit.... hmmm......actually, It re reads the file and does a CRC check. and compares the checksum.
Not a "literal" true bit by bit if you ask me, but as much as I think I want.

In a sense crc is a bit by bit check. And isn´t crc the the normal error checking we use when we transfer files over the internet, for example? I´m a little weak on those details. I´m sure you got a good hold on that.

Later Glenn
Guy Moscoso

 

[Glenn W.]

OK... yoru descritpion of how long it takes is, what I would have expected...

Where the HyperDrive claim seems to imply much better the that... (at least the way I read it).

Glenn,
Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this one question, (I
remember you asked it before and you didn´t get a response yet)
On my PDX70, the verify fiuction took twice as long as a normal
transfer.
I lost than found then lost again my page with results I got, but
if I remember correctly,
1gig transfer- 3minutes
1gig transfer with verify 6 minutes.
Does that sound correct?

Looking forward to what Hyperdrive says.

True hardware based? hmmm not sure. Bit by bit....
hmmm......actually, It re reads the file and does a CRC check. and
compares the checksum.
Not a "literal" true bit by bit if you ask me, but as much as I
think I want.
In a sense crc is a bit by bit check. And isn´t crc the the normal
error checking we use when we transfer files over the internet, for
example? I´m a little weak on those details. I´m sure you got a
good hold on that.

Later Glenn
Guy Moscoso

 

[oboguev]

Hi,

Can you please help with the following:

I tried to contact EastGear support multiple times over long time requesting a feature to automatically delete files from the card after a copying. I sent several email messages to support, but never received any response. I called support on the phone and the support guy told me he'd pass on my request onto manufacturer and ask them to contact me about the issue, but I never received any communication. I have been repeatedly requesting this feature for long time, since before PD70X was released, still in PD7X time frame, but it never was implemented nor I ever heard back.

I consider this to be major problem using PD70X.

With my previous PSD I always cleared the card in PSD, not formatted it in camera.

1) When using multiple bodies, if you insert a card filled by body #1 into body #2 and in the heat of the action forget to format the card and press a shutter, it will mess up file numbering in body #2 and create gaps in archival file naming.

2) When the card in the camera gets full at the heat of the action and you need to quickly swap it with the new card, the last thing you want is loosing several more precious seconds formatting the card. Often these several seconds are critical.

3) If card has to be formatted in camera, you are going to find yourself flipping back and forth between "Format/Tools" screen and Custom Functions screen.

4) Formatting card in camera is one more thing to remember and care about. When I am busy shooting action, I have enough other things to monitor and watch for that call for my attention. I do not want to devote part of it to a routine that can and should be perormed automatically.

5) Even when shooting with single body and having to quickly swap the cards, I often find myself holding two cards in the hands, one pulled out of camera and another pulled out of PD70X and unsure 100% which one was which. Since PD70X does not have any directory browsing function, there is no good alternative but to dump both cards, i.e. dump one of the cards second time to prevent data loss. If one of the cards was empty and I knew that I never have to format card in camera, such data loss won't be possible.

Is it really so hard to implement configuration option (perhaps, just user-editable configuration file stored in root directory) that instructs PD70X firmware to delete all files off the CF card once it successfully finished copying card data to hard drive, successfully flushed the caches and allowed for 1-2 seconds for cache flushing to settle?

Can you please contact the manufacturer with those notes? I am not sure if any of my previous communication attempts ever reached them.

* * *

While we are at it, I'd like to make an observation that PD70X CompactFlash slot is shallow and rails/guides are short. Therefore it is easy to slide in the card at a slight angle into it, especially if your fingers are unbending from cold or you use gloves. I bent one of the pins in the slot on the very first day of using PD70X. I straigtened the pin out and was very careful since then when inserting the cards, but this is an easy point of failure. One can damage device very easily by just not being excessively careful about inserting the card with slight miscalculation of a finger movement. This is unacceptable of a critical device one has to rely on. I have never seen such slot design in any of digital cameras or other PSDs I used; in al those devices you can slide in the card virtually blindly, slot is deep and rails/guides are long, so the card gets properly straightened and pin damage was never a concern. This is an obvious issue in PD70X that needs to be fixed.

 

[HyperDrive]

No problem, we will get our engineers to work on this firmware before 16 Nov.

 

[HyperDrive]

The verification process is hardware based as the onboard processors are used to encode bit by bit information to form a checksum. The checksums are stored on the ROM and compared at hardware level. This checksum represents the sequence of bit data arrangement. A displacement of a single bit would result in a different checksum and cause verification to fail, hence it is fair to say that comparison is done at a bit-by-bit level.

The idea of a verification feature was already conceived when the HD80/PD70X was first launched. Hence the hardware was able to support this feature, but we only decided to activate this feature via a firmware update after we have done sufficient testing of the algorithm and sure that we will catch all corrupted transfers.

 

[HyperDrive]

Glenn,

It's a smaller size version of the HD80, aptly named HyperDrive Mini. The transfer speed is the same (if not slightly faster). The size improvement is due to usage of 1.8" harddisk (currently max out at 60GB) and "Nokia type" lithium ion battery (allows 30GB transfers on a single charge). Oh and it also plays MP3 & WMA. It should be out just before X'mas. And this is the product that is due to win the CES 2006 Design and Innovation Award on 15 Nov.

but anyway, it would seem that HyperDrive here is indeed
ligitamate, or close enough for my purposes...

So I have a NEW question...

What exactly is the following product, and is it currently
available? or when will it be, and can we have any more information
about it?

http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/show_floor/product_locator/product_details.asp?prodid=6629

Dear Mark,

I understand yours and other users frustrations. Trust me, there
are much better ways to fraud consumers other than taking in used
hard disk casings or selling empty HyperDrive HD80 without hard
disk (after all, we can make more money by jacking up the prices
with included hard disks right?)

Anyway if word gets out that we are ripping people off, you guys at
dpreview will be the first to spread the word and warn others. Our
credit card payment gateway is PayPal, an company of eBay. For
those familiar with PayPal, all you need is one complain and PayPal
will freeze all our account with all the monies that is in it. Our
bank account and credit card information is tied with PayPal so
they and the authorities will know who to look for if something
happens.

Why am I saying all these? I just hope to put everything in
perspective here that it's just not feasible to set up a fake
"empty" entity to rip people of $149 selling a product that is as
niche as this. It will be more lucrative to sell M&Ms disguised as
virility boasting pills.

Anyway we will be most willing to be transparent with our identity

Our US office address is located at:
615 Arcadia Terrace #104
Sunnyvale CA 94085

Our IRS EIN number is 20-3492348 (This is like the SSN for companies)

We are also a member of CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), an
exhibitor and award winner at CES 2006. Our contact details can
also be seen at CES Official Website:
http://www.cesweb.org/attendees/directory/rd_exhibitor_details.asp?exhibid=9141

You can read the following statements from Sanho to get a clearer
picture and understanding of the relationship between Sanho &
EastGear

Sanho Digital Electronics Co, Ltd (China)
http://www.3hdigital.com/

Sanho LLC (USA)
http://www.hyperdrive.com/shop/information.php?info_id=15

 

[Rob Bernhard]

What a terrible design suggestion and for all the wrong reasons to boot.

Formatting the card in-camera is an easy 3 second process. There is no reason for you to be formatting the card in anything other than the camera. It ensures that the card and the camera will work together pefectly.

Formatting anywhere else is asking for trouble. Not every camera implements FAT the same way.

 

[chinner]

I agree wholeheartedly with Rob, I don't see a need to do this. Rob is right, having something other than your own camera format the card is asking for trouble. How is a single device supposed to correctly format a memory card that could be used in hundreds of different cameras?

I always like to keep at least 2 copies of what I'm shooting, and having a device erase one copy while creating another gets me nowhere. Hyperdrive was quick to say that his engineers will look at this, but I'm not sure its a need for all users. I sure hope (and assume) that if this gets implemented, there is a way to turn it off, permanatly would be nice.

Hyperdrive, I certainly appreciate your contributions on this forum. As someone who is keenly interested in the PD70X (or maybe the Mini?? Any more info on that?), I am impressed by your service thus far. I hope you are able to stick on this forum for the next few months, as I will be buying a PSD of some type in the coming weeks/months.

 

[Daniel39760]

I was about to order one but noticed that during creating new account, the web site is not secured (SSL protected). I do not feel comfortable enter my personal info to unsecured sites. Please enable SSL to your checkout procedures.

Daniel

 

[mworthington]

What a terrible design suggestion and for all the wrong reasons to
boot.

Well, that's a bit rough! To be honest, you both are right, because as users you want to operate in your preferred way, whioch happens to be different.

The Epson P-2000 has the OPTION to delete files after transferring from the CF, and it sounds like this is what HyperDrive should offer ...

Just my 2c worth.

Cheers,

Mark