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Who travels with a laptop vs. digital wallet and why?

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steve818

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I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
 
i use a laptop when i travel because i need to be able to check my email and have access to the internet. on the plane i also use it to either play music or watch a video.

it is a bit clunky to bring around town though, so just this morning i ordered an archos multimedia jukebox. this still won't replace my laptop on out of town trips, but it's a good option to buying more CF cards.
steve818 said:
Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.
Click to expand...
--
http://pbase.com/ottokalata
 
I use a Sony Vaio Picturebook. Very, very small, has 20G of storage. If I need more space and/or want a backup, I put images into
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
--
F. Dantzler
 
...whether you want to edit and/or upload while you're away.

Some people want more flexibility than a "dumb" storage device can offer. If you don't need that, or don't want to carry anything more than you have to, then a tank is perfect.

They both have their advantages and uses.

Brendan
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
I use an old Thinkpad 240 when I travel. It has a 27gb HD and weighs under 3lbs. I can edit/organize the photos while I'm still on the road (and play a few games, listen to mp3's etc). The 240 weighs under 3lbs (no CD Rom built in). I don't usually use it when I'm shooting though. This means I still need a decent amount of CF cards for a days worth of shooting. I feel the digital wallets are overpriced for the functionality... but if you need to travel as light as possible, they seem to be the way to go.

Sean
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I travel with a Sony Vaio SRX-87 (I think it is SRX). Has 850 mhz Pentium IIIm processor and 20 gig HD. 256 meg ram. The new SRX99 comes with combination DVD-ROM/CDR-W drive which would be a great option to burning CDR's. Even with 20 megs HD, that runs out after a few days of storing D100 NEF's so the next step for me is to get a portable cdrw burner. The nice thing about Sony's is that the DVD-ROM/CDR-W is powered off of the Ilink (firewire) port and you don't need to carry another ac adaptor brick. The downside is that, though it comes with the new SRX99, my 87 only came with a DVD-ROM. The combo drive separately is darn expensive at almost $500. I looked for 3rd party cdr-w firewire drives powered off the port by in Sony's infinite wisdom, they changed their firewire (they call iLink) just enough that the powered pins are separate and different from standard firewire.

So, my recommendation is to go for a small laptop if you can such as the Vaio srx99 and that a CDRW powered directly off the firewire port keeps you pretty streamlined.
hope this helps,
JenFu

P.S. The laptop comes in handy for crude slideshows each night for friends along on the trip and for selective erasing to conserve drive space.
 
You can't toss the Vaio, no matter how small, into your camera bag. It requires it's own laptop bag for it and all the accessories, etc. A tank can just be tossed into your gear bag and off you go. Also, no BOOT TIME involved and mouse clicks to get the images off. You just toss the card into the tank and ZIP! They're off.

As I said, advantages to both.

Brendan
JenFu said:
Hi,
I travel with a Sony Vaio SRX-87 (I think it is SRX). Has 850 mhz
Pentium IIIm processor and 20 gig HD. 256 meg ram. The new SRX99
comes with combination DVD-ROM/CDR-W drive which would be a great
option to burning CDR's. Even with 20 megs HD, that runs out after
a few days of storing D100 NEF's so the next step for me is to get
a portable cdrw burner. The nice thing about Sony's is that the
DVD-ROM/CDR-W is powered off of the Ilink (firewire) port and you
don't need to carry another ac adaptor brick. The downside is
that, though it comes with the new SRX99, my 87 only came with a
DVD-ROM. The combo drive separately is darn expensive at almost
$500. I looked for 3rd party cdr-w firewire drives powered off the
port by in Sony's infinite wisdom, they changed their firewire
(they call iLink) just enough that the powered pins are separate
and different from standard firewire.
So, my recommendation is to go for a small laptop if you can such
as the Vaio srx99 and that a CDRW powered directly off the firewire
port keeps you pretty streamlined.
hope this helps,
JenFu

P.S. The laptop comes in handy for crude slideshows each night for
friends along on the trip and for selective erasing to conserve
drive space.
Click to expand...
 
  • I can use dead time to make a quick pass and delete the bad photos. Big advantage when you shoot a lot of pictures.
  • I installed Street&Maps on my laptop so I can plan my route if want to change my iternary
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
I already have a laptop, I don't already have an (expensive) digital wallet ;)

It does have the advantage of a CD writer for as fail safe storage as you can get but I like the idea of the portability of the wallet. I don't like its price.
 
J_Pia said:
I already have a laptop, I don't already have an (expensive)
digital wallet ;)

It does have the advantage of a CD writer for as fail safe storage
as you can get but I like the idea of the portability of the
wallet. I don't like its price.
Click to expand...
--My reasons for a laptop (I use a Mac Powerbook)
a. I have one and don't need to buy yet another gadget

b. I use it while traveling for many other things -- email, keeping track of itineraries, notes on photos etc.
c. I can edit photos
d. I can show them to the people I'm photographing and/or traveling with

FrankS
 
DO YOU THINK that a 10gb digital is enough? I know that for some out there 10gb is too small!! :)
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
DO YOU THINK that a 10gb digital is enough? I know that for someout there 10gb is too small!! :) What do you all shoot your pictures as? NEF or JPEG?
steve818 said:
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
It depends...Mine is 9.5 X 6 X 1" (including battery) and I do toss it in the bag. There is the boot time as you say, but once that happens all you do is pop the CF card into the pcmcia slot and away you go. Granted, a bit more effort than the tank, but more versatile.

As you say, advantages both ways.
Brendan P. Getchel said:
As I said, advantages to both.

Brendan
JenFu said:
Hi,
I travel with a Sony Vaio SRX-87 (I think it is SRX). Has 850 mhz
Pentium IIIm processor and 20 gig HD. 256 meg ram. The new SRX99
comes with combination DVD-ROM/CDR-W drive which would be a great
option to burning CDR's. Even with 20 megs HD, that runs out after
a few days of storing D100 NEF's so the next step for me is to get
a portable cdrw burner. The nice thing about Sony's is that the
DVD-ROM/CDR-W is powered off of the Ilink (firewire) port and you
don't need to carry another ac adaptor brick. The downside is
that, though it comes with the new SRX99, my 87 only came with a
DVD-ROM. The combo drive separately is darn expensive at almost
$500. I looked for 3rd party cdr-w firewire drives powered off the
port by in Sony's infinite wisdom, they changed their firewire
(they call iLink) just enough that the powered pins are separate
and different from standard firewire.
So, my recommendation is to go for a small laptop if you can such
as the Vaio srx99 and that a CDRW powered directly off the firewire
port keeps you pretty streamlined.
hope this helps,
JenFu

P.S. The laptop comes in handy for crude slideshows each night for
friends along on the trip and for selective erasing to conserve
drive space.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
F. Dantzler
 
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.
Click to expand...
For those of us who make a living off our photographs, in a word: security. Not only do we download to a laptop, but we also cut a backup CD almost immediately*. The CD and the laptop travel different routes back to the office. And the card doesn't get erased until the laptop and CD have been verified to hold the images we took.

Over the course of the past two years I've had six students at workshops using wallet-type storage. Two of those students lost images. One because they relied upon the batteries to hold out during a 1GB transfer, the other for reasons unknown. That doesn't increase my confidence in that type of device. And if you have a drive problem with a wallet, you're going to need a laptop (or desktop) to run Norton or some other recovery program on it, anyway.

To the Sony Vaio user: lately I've been using a technique other than cutting CDs to back up images: I use a Storix 30GB drive. This drive powers off the USB port and is about the size of a PDA and comes with a nice little travel case. If your portable has USB 2.0, it's darned fast, too. The 20GB model is going for US$149 after rebate, and a 40GB version has just been introduced. A lot more convenient than running a CD drive off the Vaio, IMHO.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D100
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com
 
I don't carry the laptop with me every where I go but I leave it back at the hotel or wherever I'm staying. I'll take the digital wallet with me and then I've got twice the space. If I'm shooting nef images all the time (which I do mostly) then 20 GB can fill up quite quickly, depending on how long you go away for.

The laptop also allows me to start on the post processing of some of the images during the evenings (just means less work for me when I get back home).
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/grambowk
 
Same here I use both.

When I want to look at images after a day of shooting I take the laptop.

When I want to travel super light, I take the portable storage device, and not the laptop.

Both have their place. The portable storage device I have is a Mine which I'm not sure is made anymore. I took the 10gb hdd out of it and replaced it with a 30gb. It plays MP3s and will display JPGs on a video monitor, although its not that useful for me since I shoot almost exclusively NEF.

But I don't run the Mine off batteries. I have yet to see a portable storage device I trust running off batteries to pull a gig off a microdrive.

I have two backpacks that accept laptops, and one that is designed for a laptop and digital cameras (Professional Lowepro bag).

So for its either travel light, or travel convenient.

BC
Karl Grambow said:
The laptop also allows me to start on the post processing of some
of the images during the evenings (just means less work for me when
I get back home).
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/grambowk
Click to expand...
 
I use a laptop for two main reasons.

The first is that I can edit the photos when I have downtime in the evenings and start to edit them so that when I return home I have less to do.

Secondly, for security. I dont trust hard drives and storage devices. With a laptop I can dump them to the hdd and then immediately burn a cd. This way I have two copies before re-using the cf cards the next day. One is a hard copy as well that will not crash and will not mysteriously disappear. If something happens to one copy I still have the other.

Makes the most sense to me. Plus if I need to upload stuff while on the road to our website I can do that.

--
Jim Sykes
http://www.motorsportvortex.com
 
What do you think of this device....?

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/efilm-vista.shtml

Terry
Thom Hogan said:
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.
Click to expand...
For those of us who make a living off our photographs, in a word:
security. Not only do we download to a laptop, but we also cut a
backup CD almost immediately*. The CD and the laptop travel
different routes back to the office. And the card doesn't get
erased until the laptop and CD have been verified to hold the
images we took.

Over the course of the past two years I've had six students at
workshops using wallet-type storage. Two of those students lost
images. One because they relied upon the batteries to hold out
during a 1GB transfer, the other for reasons unknown. That doesn't
increase my confidence in that type of device. And if you have a
drive problem with a wallet, you're going to need a laptop (or
desktop) to run Norton or some other recovery program on it, anyway.

To the Sony Vaio user: lately I've been using a technique other
than cutting CDs to back up images: I use a Storix 30GB drive. This
drive powers off the USB port and is about the size of a PDA and
comes with a nice little travel case. If your portable has USB 2.0,
it's darned fast, too. The 20GB model is going for US$149 after
rebate, and a 40GB version has just been introduced. A lot more
convenient than running a CD drive off the Vaio, IMHO.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D100
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com
Click to expand...
 
As many have stated, I carry a laptop, but when it is too bulky in the field, and I don't have enough CF with me for the whole day, I take along my trusty PDA, Compaq iPaq setup as per the following link:
http://www.glasslantern.com/articles/PocketPCstorage/index.htm

Not the same storage as with a dedicated unit, but it is multi-purpose and with the use of either 2 or 5gb PCMCIA hard drives, it is very portable. As I can share use with this, the cost is spread across multiple applications, not just the use for storage of data in the field. Then in the evening, all is downloaded and saved via the Laptop or Desktop.
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
--
Bill Dewey
http://www.deweydrive.com
 
steve818 said:
I have a 10gb mindstore digital wallet and use that when I travel
to download photos from my full card for safe keeping. It seems
however that people here would rather use a laptop versus the
digital wallet. Why? I have a laptop as well but seem to think
that if one travels with less, it is best. Give me your opinion as
to why you would use a laptop over a digital wallet.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Taking a lap top with you means (assuming you're actually doing a job for a client) you can show the client the result straight away and if they're happy, burn the pics straight to a CD for them. No more going back to reshoot because you didn't notice something was wrong or the client didn't like it.

Of course if you're shooting for yourself "travelling light" is a good way to go and the digital wallet makes a lot of sense.
--
Big C
 
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