Digital Wallet, Digital Album or Image Bank?

What do you think is the best (and that also includes best balue for money) potable storage device?

These seem to be a much more afforbale/convenient alternative to owning many Memory Sticks, but which one would you recommmend?

The Digital Wallet, Nixvue Digital Album, or Sima Image Bank?

bluedot (a.k.a. mork)

http://www.ecost.com has the 3GB Digital wallet for 179

bluedot said:

What do you think is the best (and that also includes best balue
for money) potable storage device?

These seem to be a much more afforbale/convenient alternative to
owning many Memory Sticks, but which one would you recommmend?

The Digital Wallet, Nixvue Digital Album, or Sima Image Bank?

bluedot (a.k.a. mork)

Click to expand...

"Best" depends on your goals.

I purchased a 20G Digital Wallet to take on a trip last summer to store images capture by both my wife and I. At the time, 20G seemed like overkill ..... but the price per megabyte was relatively cheap, especially for a portable storage device.

It turns out to have been a great decision as I use it for desktop backup as well as portable image storage.

As far as product comparison, I am void of help as the choices were limited at the time of my purchase.

Cricket said:

bluedot said:

What do you think is the best (and that also includes best balue
for money) potable storage device?

These seem to be a much more afforbale/convenient alternative to
owning many Memory Sticks, but which one would you recommmend?

The Digital Wallet, Nixvue Digital Album, or Sima Image Bank?

bluedot (a.k.a. mork)

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Cricket said:

http://www.ecost.com has the 3GB Digital wallet for 179

Click to expand...

Warning: I found this out a little too late (after I ordered) but ecost.com is actually the same company as pcmall.com, only ecost adds a "service charge" (in addition to the shipping, and CA state sales tax, another $9.95) making the order more expensive than getting that same item from pcmall.com.

Warning #2: Someone on this list mentioned that dishonest dealers had been opening the boxes on Digital Wallets, and taking out some parts so that they can sell them separately. I haven't received mine yet, ecost's website does not list this as open-box or incomplete merchandise, and it says that this is PCMCIA and USB compatible, so that should mean both modules are included (one module gives you PCMCIA compatibility and has the hard drive, the other module gives it USB compatibility and has the plug for the power supply, they are both in the box as Digital Wallets are supposed to ship.) But, since I heard this warning, I am worried. If it isn't USB compatible then I can't connect it to my computer and it will be useless to me, but I see them selling parts (like the USB docking module and AC adapater) separately, and as far as I know the only place they could get those is by taking them out of the boxes with digital wallets.

This is what it's supposed to look like (picture from Steves-Digicams review):

• jeremy

Here is what I ordered. You can swap the 20 gig for a 10 or 5 or whatever you want. If you fill up your 20 gig (TIFF shots, movies, tons of jpegs....) then just buy another 20 gig and swap it out. Best bang for the buck, IMO. I use it for MP3's, I move files from work,games, great external storage device.

When you first install the drive, it is a straight plug, format and go in Windows. No headaches or anything. Good luck!

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&page=1&message=1497508

David

bluedot said:

What do you think is the best (and that also includes best balue
for money) potable storage device?

These seem to be a much more afforbale/convenient alternative to
owning many Memory Sticks, but which one would you recommmend?

The Digital Wallet, Nixvue Digital Album, or Sima Image Bank?

bluedot (a.k.a. mork)

Click to expand...

I just revied a "3 Gig" discounted ($177US plus tax and shipping) from MacMall (which is the same as PCMall). It came quickly and complete with everything in your picture (AC adapter, batteries, CD with PC drivers, PCMCIA to Flash adapter, manual, USB cord). Works great. It was actually a 4.86 Gig drive (apparently they couldn't buy 3 Gig drives anymore, so we got a "freebe" upgrade!!!). They also had PCMCIA to Memory stick adapter for $47.99US. That is all the good news ;-)

Now my gripes (with Minds at Work, not MacMall). I had a BAD time installing on a Mac. They list is as compatable with OS8.6 or newer. They do (to be fair) also list a USB version code. The point is that the USB driver is not native to OS8.6, and that don't bother to point that out. Once I downloaded the newest USB driver I was fine.

Minds at Work also no longer provides free customer support. You have to pay per the minute even if you are in warrenty. That stinks, and I definately will feel no "brand loyalty" when it comes time to upgrade/replace this unit. While it appears to be a fine and useful product, aboslutely ne free support means (to me) that they really don't care about me as a customer!

P.S. You PC computer folks will probably have an easier time, MaW uses real drivers (supplied on a CD) for PC, it uses the operating system of the Mac for "plug and play", no actual driver).

Jeremy Birn said:

Cricket said:

http://www.ecost.com has the 3GB Digital wallet for 179

Click to expand...

Warning: I found this out a little too late (after I ordered) but
ecost.com is actually the same company as pcmall.com, only ecost
adds a "service charge" (in addition to the shipping, and CA state
sales tax, another $9.95) making the order more expensive than
getting that same item from pcmall.com.

Warning #2: Someone on this list mentioned that dishonest dealers
had been opening the boxes on Digital Wallets, and taking out some
parts so that they can sell them separately. I haven't received
mine yet, ecost's website does not list this as open-box or
incomplete merchandise, and it says that this is PCMCIA and USB
compatible, so that should mean both modules are included (one
module gives you PCMCIA compatibility and has the hard drive, the
other module gives it USB compatibility and has the plug for the
power supply, they are both in the box as Digital Wallets are
supposed to ship.) But, since I heard this warning, I am worried.
If it isn't USB compatible then I can't connect it to my computer
and it will be useless to me, but I see them selling parts (like
the USB docking module and AC adapater) separately, and as far as I
know the only place they could get those is by taking them out of
the boxes with digital wallets.

This is what it's supposed to look like (picture from
Steves-Digicams review):

• jeremy

Click to expand...

The answer to this question depends entirely on your needs. If all you want is pure storage, then go with either Digital Wallet or Image Bank. (Be aware that Minds@Work, the maker of DW, has a new product coming out--so you should check into that on their website before committing to the DW.)

The Digital Album, which I own, offers much greater functionality at a much higher price. (Almost $600 for the 20GB model.) It looks much like the Digital Wallet or Image Bank, but offers a video output to any televison or monitor with video input. And once you're hooked up, you can view your photos, rotate and zoom, delete, name/rename files, and organize them into various folders (plus name them)--all on your TV screen via the very slick Digital Album remote control.

In essence, you have a Walkman-sized "slide projector" that contains every photo you ever shot, all stored in a completely organized manner. Even more, the Digital Album software allows you to manipulate your photos onscreen as described above without ever touching the original jpeg files. No worries about data loss as a result of compressing/decompressing your jpegs!

However, whether or not this functionality is worth the price difference can only be determined by you. Hope this helps.

Well the STF folks are detail oriented and do heavy research before buying anything!!!! I recieved 2 requests for clarification since this post yesterday. Yes, the Wallet from Macmall / PCMall did come with the USB dock, I just forgot to include it in my list ;-)

Tom Ferguson said:

I just revied a "3 Gig" discounted ($177US plus tax and shipping)
from MacMall (which is the same as PCMall). It came quickly and
complete with everything in your picture (AC adapter, batteries, CD
with PC drivers, PCMCIA to Flash adapter, manual, USB cord). Works
great. It was actually a 4.86 Gig drive (apparently they couldn't
buy 3 Gig drives anymore, so we got a "freebe" upgrade!!!). They
also had PCMCIA to Memory stick adapter for $47.99US.

Click to expand...

Speaking of the DA, I see that there a a few sites
that will sell the unit, but I have not heard of most of
them. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy one?
I'm definitely interested!!

Shawn

Charlesn said:

The answer to this question depends entirely on your needs. If all
you want is pure storage, then go with either Digital Wallet or
Image Bank. (Be aware that Minds@Work, the maker of DW, has a new
product coming out--so you should check into that on their website
before committing to the DW.)

The Digital Album, which I own, offers much greater functionality
at a much higher price. (Almost $600 for the 20GB model.) It looks
much like the Digital Wallet or Image Bank, but offers a video
output to any televison or monitor with video input. And once
you're hooked up, you can view your photos, rotate and zoom,
delete, name/rename files, and organize them into various folders
(plus name them)--all on your TV screen via the very slick Digital
Album remote control.

In essence, you have a Walkman-sized "slide projector" that
contains every photo you ever shot, all stored in a completely
organized manner. Even more, the Digital Album software allows you
to manipulate your photos onscreen as described above without ever
touching the original jpeg files. No worries about data loss as a
result of compressing/decompressing your jpegs!

However, whether or not this functionality is worth the price
difference can only be determined by you. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful advice.

Basically what I need is a large storage device that would save me the hassle (and expense) of stocking up on memory sticks.

I have to admit, though, that the additional capabilities of the Digital Album to display and edit my photos sounds quite interesting.

However, I often spend all day "in the field" with my camera, so the main concern remains the ability of each of these units to serve as a high-capacity portable storage device.

Which brings me to the decisive issue: Which of the units mentioned here has a battery and how long does each last?

skennedy said:

Speaking of the DA, I see that there a a few sites
that will sell the unit, but I have not heard of most of
them. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy one?
I'm definitely interested!!

Click to expand...

For reasons that escape me, the Digital Album is only being sold through high-end camera stores. There are many of them listed on JOBO's website, but the only reason you might recognize a name is if one of the stores is in your area. Maybe this is JOBO's only channel of distribution--I'm not sure--but it creates two headaches for consumers:

First, it's tough finding one of these stores that actually has the Digital Album in stock. I know--I called a whole bunch of 'em, including ones recommended by JOBO, before I found Jack's Camera in Illinois that had one to sell. (How's that for a marketing plan: limited distribution with non-existent supply?)

Second, it also means no discounting -- I got $21 off the $600 list price -- but when you feel lucky to even find one to buy, who's going to argue price?

That said, this is a VERY fine product, and the postings I've read seem to indicate that they have superlative customer service as well. But to paraphrase the Clinton campaign: "It's the marketing, stupid!"

Charlesn said:

skennedy said:

Speaking of the DA, I see that there a a few sites
that will sell the unit, but I have not heard of most of
them. Can anyone recommend a good place to buy one?
I'm definitely interested!!

Click to expand...

For reasons that escape me, the Digital Album is only being sold
through high-end camera stores. There are many of them listed on
JOBO's website, but the only reason you might recognize a name is
if one of the stores is in your area. Maybe this is JOBO's only
channel of distribution--I'm not sure--but it creates two headaches
for consumers:

First, it's tough finding one of these stores that actually has the
Digital Album in stock. I know--I called a whole bunch of 'em,
including ones recommended by JOBO, before I found Jack's Camera in
Illinois that had one to sell. (How's that for a marketing plan:
limited distribution with non-existent supply?)

Second, it also means no discounting -- I got $21 off the $600 list
price -- but when you feel lucky to even find one to buy, who's
going to argue price?

That said, this is a VERY fine product, and the postings I've read
seem to indicate that they have superlative customer service as
well. But to paraphrase the Clinton campaign: "It's the marketing,
stupid!"

Click to expand...

I agree - I've called a few in CA, but to no avail. I didn't want to have
to call every site listed by JOBO :-(. Thanks for the recommendation
for Jack's Camera in IL, but since I'm in IL, I'd rather shop out of state
and save the sales tax!!

Thanks!

Shawn

Just a quick update on my adventures with a discounted ($177US) 3 gig (really 4.8 Gig) Minds at Works Digital Wallet. It is necessary to download the newest operating system (system 1.93DL) from:

http://www.mindsatwork.net/downloads.htm

if you want to read 128M Sony Memory sticks. Not mentioned in the manual, but it is stated on their web site.

On a Mac it is also far more stable when using the drive from your computer to follow this sequence:
A) Connect AC power to Wallet
B) Turn on wallet and allow the system to come up
C) Connect USB cable between computer and Wallet
D) Allow disk icon to load on desktop
E) Download and/or upload from Wallet
F) Put disk icon in trash (or Apple+Y)
G) Allow icon to disappear and a few seconds of extra time
H) Disconnect USB cable
I) Disconnect AC cable

At least on my system, steps H and I should not be reversed!

The Wallet USB to computer connection "hangs" on my version of Norton Anti Virus (Version #5.0.2), you just have to Apple+period to cancel the Norton scan.

Hope all of that helps.

The Wallet manual recommends occasionally running a disk maintenance and defrag on the Wallet. My version of Norton Utilities (#4.0.4) will not recognize the drive, even if asked to "show missing drives"?? Anyone have a good solution?

Hi Tom,

Mine worked fine on my Mac without any update. I didn't use included CD, I just hooked it up and it worked perfectly with 128MB card. As far as defrag, etc., don't worry about it. If you delete all files each time after use, you have essentially done the same thing.

Good luck.

Roger

Tom Ferguson said:

Just a quick update on my adventures with a discounted ($177US) 3
gig (really 4.8 Gig) Minds at Works Digital Wallet. It is necessary
to download the newest operating system (system 1.93DL) from:

http://www.mindsatwork.net/downloads.htm

if you want to read 128M Sony Memory sticks. Not mentioned in the
manual, but it is stated on their web site.

On a Mac it is also far more stable when using the drive from your
computer to follow this sequence:
A) Connect AC power to Wallet
B) Turn on wallet and allow the system to come up
C) Connect USB cable between computer and Wallet
D) Allow disk icon to load on desktop
E) Download and/or upload from Wallet
F) Put disk icon in trash (or Apple+Y)
G) Allow icon to disappear and a few seconds of extra time
H) Disconnect USB cable
I) Disconnect AC cable

At least on my system, steps H and I should not be reversed!

The Wallet USB to computer connection "hangs" on my version of
Norton Anti Virus (Version #5.0.2), you just have to Apple+period
to cancel the Norton scan.

Hope all of that helps.

The Wallet manual recommends occasionally running a disk
maintenance and defrag on the Wallet. My version of Norton
Utilities (#4.0.4) will not recognize the drive, even if asked to
"show missing drives"?? Anyone have a good solution?

Click to expand...

I'm glad you had an easier time than i did!

I should have said you needed to upgrade the USB if running a Mac OS before 9.1. The wallet system doesn't use Mac "drivers", so Mac users do not need the enclosed CD at all. The Apple USB upgrade is free from the Apple site.

I suspect you were "luckier" than me and recieve a Wallet shipped with Wallet OS 1.93DL. Easy to check with the Wallet screen (Opening Screen > Information > Version). At least on my Wallet OS 1.92DL will freeze every time you request a "Download Contents" with a 128M Memory Stick. The Minds at Work website list the upgrade to OS 1.93DL as needed for 128 sticks (it is a free download). Nice and handy product!

Thanks for the comments on defrag, you do have a point (who me, make things too complicated????).

Roger Levit said:

Mine worked fine on my Mac without any update. I didn't use
included CD, I just hooked it up and it worked perfectly with 128MB
card. As far as defrag, etc., don't worry about it. If you delete
all files each time after use, you have essentially done the same
thing.

Good luck.

Roger

Tom Ferguson said:

Just a quick update on my adventures with a discounted ($177US) 3
gig (really 4.8 Gig) Minds at Works Digital Wallet. It is necessary
to download the newest operating system (system 1.93DL) from:

http://www.mindsatwork.net/downloads.htm

if you want to read 128M Sony Memory sticks. Not mentioned in the
manual, but it is stated on their web site.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

where did you folks get your MS adaptor card?

MacMall (same company as PCMall) for $47.99US. There may be cheaper places, but they were selling the Wallet at a great price

----------
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com

kudbegud said:

where did you folks get your MS adaptor card?

Click to expand...

I went with the Sony Picturebook. It is a real pc. You can load all the software you need on it. Plus it has the built in Memory stick reader. It is small and very portable. A large camera bag or backpack will carry this and all of your camera needs. The picture book is like 12 inches by 7 inches and 2 inches thick. It does have a small screen but you can attach it in to a larger screen when you get home. Just a thought. Also since this is a Sony form I am PC.

Tom

thanks for the tip...got the wallet, adaptor and shipping for $238.

Follow-up:

I raised questions earlier about the Digital Wallet that I ordered from eCost.com. I have received it, and wanted to confirm for anyone still following this thread that they did ship it to me complete (with all described accessories, USB port, cables, bat., AC, etc.) and it works fine, as does the PCCARD ADAPTER FOR MEM STICK that I got there.

Even though I only ordered a "3 GIG" model, and the device has a "3" on the front, the HD inside is labelled "4.86GB" on the back, and lists 4611 MB free space when all files are deleted. So it's not only a complete package, but it is bigger than advertised. (My warning about ecost's extra "service charges" remain valid, however, especially since ecost is the same company as pcmall.com, which has the same digital wallet price without the service charges.)

I was a bit surprised by how * BIG * the physical size of the digital wallet was, though, despite reading the dimensions I had somehow pictured something smaller. This DW is almost as big as the F707, and I certainly wouldn't carry it around in my camera bag. I guess that's something thats improved in the new firewire-compatible model. Also disappointing is that it has another proprietary USB cable instead of using a standard shape USB port, it can't be used directly as a card reader without copying the files onto it's HD first, and it can't list, transfer, or delete individual files through it's screen display, it only shows a directory name such as "DW00001" when it copies the full content of a memory stick onto its HD, so it takes an act of faith to decide to delete the contents of the memory stick and re-use it after you've copied the pictures into the DW - you can't see the pictures or even verify that they're there unless you upload the whole directory into a computer, or into another memory stick that you could then view in the camera. Still, this is a good bargain in terms of storage, since it has the capacity of over 36 128M memory sticks, which at $99 each would cost $3,564.

• jeremy