question for Digital Wallet owners

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Hi Brian,

just open the battery slot and disconnect the cable. Very simple to do (2 sec.) - and the problem is fixed

Mathis

?

asdf said:

Brian,

Click to expand...

I just returned from a three week tour in Egypt and I brought along my digital wallet which I purchased just 2 days before I left. I can tell you that I carried it everywhere from the inside of many of the pyramids to the top of temples to crawling thru tombs in the Bahariya Oasis and never had a single problem. Even when I was in motion in a vehicle the downloads were no problem. The only thing you need to be aware of is that you have to boot up the DW with the card in it first or it will freeze up other than that just disconnect the battery and close the door if you are going to store it or not use it for a while.

I left my battery connected the whole three weeks and never noticed a drain but I was also using it daily and I had an extra battery that I swapped out when it was time to recharge. The instructions will advise you of this. I was pretty impressed with the preformance of my DW. Bought back gigs of pictures that I would have never been able too without it.

Richard

Hi Brian,

Do not ever buy this Digiwallet! If you will use 16, 32, 48mb it will work fine. But 64mb to 256mb will cause you big problems. The battery can't even wait to transfer my 256 in one session. What a shame MindsAtWork!

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

I use a Lexar 128MB CF card with no problems at all.

I got a DW just prior to a recent vacation in the Bahamas, where I saved over 600 images to it. My experience was similar to many who have posted before: the device does just what it is supposed to do -- no more, no less.

Likes: ultra-simple operation; small size & weight; runs on battery or AC; huge amount of storage space.

Dislikes: doors to battery compartment & media slot are flimsy & slightly cantankerous; battery is proprietary; battery leaks charge slowly even when system is powered off (haven't yet run it dry, but suspect it would do so in about 7 or 10 days of disuse); no progress meter during downloading (i.e., would like to see a meter showing number of files transferred.)

Several of the dislikes should be fixable by firmware updates, which are available on the Minds@Word web site.

While I'd like to see a bit more refinement in both the hardware & the software for $500, the product does work well.

Being able to shoot and shoot, with no regard for running out of space, is really empowering. For a single scene, I like to shoot many exposures (varying composition, choice of metering, and exposure compensation) to maximize the probability of getting the best possible image. Having virtually unlimited storage makes this practical.

Anthony Tan said:

Hi Brian,
Do not ever buy this Digiwallet! If you will use 16, 32, 48mb it
will work fine. But 64mb to 256mb will cause you big problems.
The battery can't even wait to transfer my 256 in one session.
What a shame MindsAtWork!

Click to expand...

I bought my DW before a cruise to the Carribean and couldn't have lived without it. I don't seem to be having the battery problem that others are talking about. I charged the battery at night on the ship so I didn't need a second one. I used a 64MB Delkin CF card and had absolutly no problems with it. Downloading the card to the DW took about 30 seconds. Uploading from the DW to the card takes about 4 times longer, though. This is a problem with the flash card as flash writes are a bit slow anyway.

I agree that the construction of the DW leaves some longing but with a little attention to what you are doing when you open and close the doors you shouldn't have any problems there either.

If you are a little skilled with a soldering iron you could fashion yourself a replacement battery at a fairly in-expensive price. The batteries are simply AAA's. The connector may be a bit of a problem, but you could replace that while you are there.

I bought the carrying case for protection and that seemed to work fine. It allowed me to clip the DW to my belt and gave access to all the controls without any hassles.

An alternitive may be the Iomega's version. I haven't actually used on but think they are pretty cool. The will allow you show images directly to your television from the unit.

Good Luck.

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

Mathis said:

Hi Brian,

just open the battery slot and disconnect the cable. Very simple to
do (2 sec.) - and the problem is fixed

Mathis

Click to expand...

Yes, this works for me, too.

You say you'll be away from mains, but will you be near a vehicle? If so, take a DC/AC inverter that plugs into the vehicle's cigarette lighter. That way you can recharge the unit from the vehicle's battery.

Judy

Anthony, you might have a problem with yous, do you have the latest driver (v1.57)? I use the 60mb, 80mb CF cards, and the 1gb Microdrive with no problem at all. I even used my DW on vacation for 5 days straight and the battery level only went down to 2 bars and I downloaded 2300mbs worth of photos.
Dennis
PS If you don't have the latest driver I can email it to you if you like.

Anthony Tan said:

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Hi!

Where are the best places do buy the DW ?
Nyone knows where in europe?

And the new one from nixvue? any thoughts?

Txs

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

Brian,

I purchased a DW a week before taking a Jamaican vacation. The DW worked wonderfully! Exactly what it was supposed to do.

I had a problem with the unit freezing up when inserting the CF card but quickly realized that you should have the card seated BEFORE turning on the unit. A small inconvienience.

As others have comented in this forum, the doors are flimsey and it would be great to have a progress meter displayed but I found the DW more than what I bargained for! 6GB of images! WOW!! I havn't found an issue with the battery problems some others are experiencing. I ordered the DW with an additional battery pack and didn't even have to swap at all during my vacation ( I did, however, charge the unit every day).

Upon my return, something went wrong with the Hard Disk Drive. It now refuses to spin-up. I called Minds@work tech support and was pleased to have tham give me a RA. My only dissapointment is that I will have to pay for the shipping to CA on a product that I have only had in my posession for 3 weeks. I'm anxios to see how long it will take to get a new one. Fortunately, I managed to off-load my images before the HDD failed.

I still believe that this is an exceptional product!!!

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

And if you HADN'T been able to offload your vacation pictures before the HD failed, how would you have felt :^). Moving parts scare me out of my gourd in situations like this. In fact, I just this hour purchased an additional 128mb Viking CF card to help offset the day when I decide to buy a Digital Wallet or some such device. Please let us know how the repair went. PatiO.

Carl Mihalek said:

Brian,

I purchased a DW a week before taking a Jamaican vacation. The DW
worked wonderfully! Exactly what it was supposed to do.

I had a problem with the unit freezing up when inserting the CF
card but quickly realized that you should have the card seated
BEFORE turning on the unit. A small inconvienience.

As others have comented in this forum, the doors are flimsey and it
would be great to have a progress meter displayed but I found the
DW more than what I bargained for! 6GB of images! WOW!! I havn't
found an issue with the battery problems some others are
experiencing. I ordered the DW with an additional battery pack and
didn't even have to swap at all during my vacation ( I did,
however, charge the unit every day).

Upon my return, something went wrong with the Hard Disk Drive. It
now refuses to spin-up. I called Minds@work tech support and was
pleased to have tham give me a RA. My only dissapointment is that I
will have to pay for the shipping to CA on a product that I have
only had in my posession for 3 weeks. I'm anxios to see how long it
will take to get a new one. Fortunately, I managed to off-load my
images before the HDD failed.

I still believe that this is an exceptional product!!!

Click to expand...

I don't get it. You still think the DW is an "exceptional product" eventhough it completely failed on you after only 3 weeks of use? And on top of that, you will also have to pay for shipping to have it repaired?

You must be kidding me. I'd be up in arms.

PatiO31498 said:

Carl Mihalek said:

Upon my return, something went wrong with the Hard Disk Drive. It
now refuses to spin-up. I called Minds@work tech support and was
pleased to have tham give me a RA. My only dissapointment is that I
will have to pay for the shipping to CA on a product that I have
only had in my posession for 3 weeks. I'm anxios to see how long it
will take to get a new one. Fortunately, I managed to off-load my
images before the HDD failed.

I still believe that this is an exceptional product!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I'm still reading the ebook, trying to learn Photoshop, pick the best image handling software, research aux telephoto lenses, not to mention learn all the sub menu's on the 990 and now, if you guys will be so kind, educate me on these Digital Wallets. Is there just one, how much, what's the advantages and if you didn't own a laptop (which I don't, but thinking about that too) wouldn't it be better to download to your laptop every night when you're on a trip and have the laptop computer to boot? Thanks for any enlightenment.
Jarrell

P.S. If anyone has a laptop in the less than $1000 range they'd recommend, I'd like to hear about that also. What features do you look for in one?

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

HI Jarrell:

I've just done the traveling with laptop route and find it heavy and cumbersome for plane travel--and limited with only 1 gb disk space (newer ones have more)-- I did like being able to view my results at the end of the day (even though I don't consider a laptop screen anywhere close to my desktop for viewing photos)-- I'd buy a digital wallet in a heartbeat for convenience and portability, all I need to find is an extra $500 lying around somewhere--cheers, Pat

Jarrell Conley said:

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Look, I'm not thrilled by the fact that it went down, but as I have much experience with computers and computer hardware, ie: 20GB HDD failures, RAM failures, video cards, etc., I look at this as a small bump in the road. I've been selling systems for 11 years and believe me, if only there were no problems!!! It all depends on how Minds@work handles the RA. I bend over backwards for my clientel and I hope they do too. Stuff happens!

Why don't you buy one and see for yourself what an "exceptional product" the DW really is!

Will said:

You must be kidding me. I'd be up in arms.

Member said:

Carl Mihalek said:

Upon my return, something went wrong with the Hard Disk Drive. It
now refuses to spin-up. I called Minds@work tech support and was
pleased to have tham give me a RA. My only dissapointment is that I
will have to pay for the shipping to CA on a product that I have
only had in my posession for 3 weeks. I'm anxios to see how long it
will take to get a new one. Fortunately, I managed to off-load my
images before the HDD failed.

I still believe that this is an exceptional product!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I thought long and hard about getting a digital wallet, but all the problems that I kept reading about made me wonder. I already had a full size Compaq laptop, but that was way too big to carry around. I am self employed and have a one man air conditioning service company. I mainly use my laptop in my truck to run my business and I also use it as my mobile GPS unit (global positioning sattelite tracking). The GPS is very handy in my truck because when my cell phone rings, I get the customers address and type it in the laptop and the GPS unit tells me excactly how to get to the address without opening up my map. Only problem is I have to put the big laptop on top of the seat next to me and it takes up way to much room. So I decided that I needed a new laptop, but not just any laptop. I ended up buying a new Sony Vaio C1VN Picturebook laptop. This is not your ordinary laptop. I beleive it is one of the smallest laptop ever built. It is about half the size of a full size laptop and weighs in at just over 2 lbs. It is as big as 2 walkman CD players side by side. The Viao fits in the front pocket of my camera bag, so I take it with me whenever I have my camera. I transfer my pictures via the PC credit card slot on the side. I just leave it on sleep mode or hibernate and wake it up to transfer my pictures. It might take a little longer than the Digital Wallet, but the DW does not have Photoshop installed on the hard drive. It has a beautiful active matrix screen on it also. In my truck I have it velcroed to the center console and use it hooked up to my GPS unit. When I get out of the vehicle, I put it in the glove compartment, it is that small. I also have it hooked up to my car stereo and play MP3's straight off the 12 gig hard drive. It even has a built in digital camera on the lid, just in case I forget my 990. It is not the solution for everybody since the cost is over $2000. But if you need a new laptop and are thinking about getting the DW, you might want to think about a new Vaio Picturebook PC.
Brian wrote:

I agree Tony.
Although I have not used the Digital Wallet, soon there will be other

devices available equiped with tools you can use. LCD window with useful info like percentage completed, duh.

Simple Technologies has a USB Flash Link device and Sima makes
a 2GB Digital Image Bank USB for $300 US.

I have a 64, a 16 CF card right now, but I'll wait a while before buying
one of these devices.

AC

Tony said:

I got a DW just prior to a recent vacation in the Bahamas, where I
saved over 600 images to it. My experience was similar to many who
have posted before: the device does just what it is supposed to do
-- no more, no less.

Likes: ultra-simple operation; small size & weight; runs on battery
or AC; huge amount of storage space.

Dislikes: doors to battery compartment & media slot are flimsy &
slightly cantankerous; battery is proprietary; battery leaks charge
slowly even when system is powered off (haven't yet run it dry, but
suspect it would do so in about 7 or 10 days of disuse); no
progress meter during downloading (i.e., would like to see a meter
showing number of files transferred.)

Several of the dislikes should be fixable by firmware updates,
which are available on the Minds@Word web site.

While I'd like to see a bit more refinement in both the hardware &
the software for $500, the product does work well.

Being able to shoot and shoot, with no regard for running out of
space, is really empowering. For a single scene, I like to shoot
many exposures (varying composition, choice of metering, and
exposure compensation) to maximize the probability of getting the
best possible image. Having virtually unlimited storage makes this
practical.

Anthony Tan said:

Hi Brian,
Do not ever buy this Digiwallet! If you will use 16, 32, 48mb it
will work fine. But 64mb to 256mb will cause you big problems.
The battery can't even wait to transfer my 256 in one session.
What a shame MindsAtWork!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have had my DW since they were able to get it out the door to me. I have order #420 or something like that. It has served me well and I would make the same purchase decision over again if need be. Not only do I use it for my pictures but I have also used it as an external harddrive for my computers. I would say the access doors are not BMW design quality but just the same they have worked just fine for me. Yes even with firmware 1.57 I get a battery drain during storage. The solution is to either regularly charge the battery or disconect the battery.

My boss was using it to back up his iMac once and managed to interupt the transfer process which in turn sent my DW into a fit which was user fixable. The problem is that it is user fixable with a PC and not a Mac. My boss is quite capable of screwing up any HD he comes into contact with and as some one else wrote here hardware aint perfect no matter what the paltform.

6 gigs of on site storage in the palm of your hand is priceless to me. It's a big out lay at once but look at how much you get.

I've also been told by a couple of knowledgable people that are unbiased in this case that the HD they use in the DW is a top of line product, not a cheap piece of ....

Incedently just cause it has moving parts doesn't make it any more prone for failure. I've even had flash cards fail that were made by highly reputable companies.

Brian said:

I am considering getting the Digital Wallet. I read that one of the
problems with the DW was that the battery tended to drain itself if
left in the unit. Has this problem been fixed?

I see that there is now a competitor to the DW (the Nixvue), but as
far as I can tell, the Nixvue has a built in battery (i.e. you
can't buy extra batteries). For my uses, I would need to be away
from the mains for extended periods, thus the DW (with a couple
extra battery units) is the only option.

If you have a DW unit, can you share your thoughts on it?

Click to expand...

I have Iomega's FOTOSHOW. This device is similar to the digiwallet. It copies digital film onto zip disks. You can get it online for probably $250.00. you can also view the photos through fotoshow on any tv either as an album or slide show. Photos can also be edited on the television. It works well and I have not experienced any problems with it. Although I would like to have the option of it running with batteries the car adapter does compensate for this. The only other thing which may be considered a drawback for some is that you need to carry zip disks for the transfer.

The fotoshow also functions as an external zip drive for all your computing needs! Check out Iomegas site for more details. I highly recommend the Fotoshow for people considering the digiwallet. It is less expensive and accomplishes the same goal

Planet Art said:

Simple Technologies has a USB Flash Link device and Sima makes
a 2GB Digital Image Bank USB for $300 US.

I have a 64, a 16 CF card right now, but I'll wait a while before
buying
one of these devices.

AC

Tony said:

I got a DW just prior to a recent vacation in the Bahamas, where I
saved over 600 images to it. My experience was similar to many who
have posted before: the device does just what it is supposed to do
-- no more, no less.

Likes: ultra-simple operation; small size & weight; runs on battery
or AC; huge amount of storage space.

Dislikes: doors to battery compartment & media slot are flimsy &
slightly cantankerous; battery is proprietary; battery leaks charge
slowly even when system is powered off (haven't yet run it dry, but
suspect it would do so in about 7 or 10 days of disuse); no
progress meter during downloading (i.e., would like to see a meter
showing number of files transferred.)

Several of the dislikes should be fixable by firmware updates,
which are available on the Minds@Word web site.

While I'd like to see a bit more refinement in both the hardware &
the software for $500, the product does work well.

Being able to shoot and shoot, with no regard for running out of
space, is really empowering. For a single scene, I like to shoot
many exposures (varying composition, choice of metering, and
exposure compensation) to maximize the probability of getting the
best possible image. Having virtually unlimited storage makes this
practical.

Anthony Tan said:

Hi Brian,
Do not ever buy this Digiwallet! If you will use 16, 32, 48mb it
will work fine. But 64mb to 256mb will cause you big problems.
The battery can't even wait to transfer my 256 in one session.
What a shame MindsAtWork!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...