external hard drive that takes a beating...?
 

hi all...i'l be shooting many high-res RAW files on the road, lots of off-road action in Africa, so......i'm looking for a bomb-proof USB powered external hard drive that can handle the vibrations of enduro travel. ideally, it has to be pretty small and light, preferably up to 250 GB of storage.

any advice?

peace,

That's an easy one iPod classic, mine is always with me and is stilling working great.

My laptop on the other hand is in for a second lot of repair now.

iPod mounts on any PC/Mac you can carry all your files with you and plays music and movies for when it's wet and you don't want to ride.

Laptop HD (2.5 and 1.8") tend to be a bit more robust than ones meant for desktop use.

Apart from that I don't think it matters that much what you get, since it sounds like you will only be using it when stationary, ie no vibrations when the drive is running.

If that is indeed the case there is no need for all kind of fancy gell casings, just put it someplace safe amongst eg clothing.

It is when being used (spinning) that the drives are most vulnerable, and laptops like Toughbooks, meant for use in harsh environments, have the drives in special shock absorbing cases to protect them.

Pieter

I would just like to mention, on one of my previous trips, some 12k miles or so, my Sony video camera literally fell apart in my hands. Almost every screw came loose from the vibrations! Because it's a small and light item, i would recomend carrying it on your body where it's properly suspended and free from vibrations. I saw some really cool ones in the Mac store in Las Vegas, $200 for 500GB, about the size of a ham sandwich. I shoulda bought it! Small enough to put in a zip-lock baggie and store in your pocket.

It's not my laptop drive that's failed its the components being SHAKEN off the board mostly cracked soldering and the such. It was stored in my pannier upright and next to the bike side of it, and it was encased in a nice travel bag to reduce vibrations go figure.

ipod capacity...
 

thanks, but will it be enough to handle thousands of RAW files from 10mb digital SLR?
and...can you download directly from camera just in case my laptop decided to pack it in?
thanks,

I've had my eye on this one. Has anybody here put it to the test?

LaCie All Terrain HD/250GB/$289.00

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10722

Hi yes 160GB holds 14,800 or it might be 148,000 Images at that resolution whatever one it is that's still loads...and Yes I think it's griffin that makes the dock between the iPod and a camera, you will have to google it as I can't remember what it's called.

I'm currently USING my iPod and as I'm doing a RTW for the next two years so I do know what I'm on about, the iPod is going to hold up better then an external hard drive because it's next to your skin in your jacket where are are a lot less vibrations then if it was in your luggage like my laptop was.

Just my 2 cents but I always aim to be the voice of reason. :cool4:

The Lacie looks pretty good. After thinking about this some more, i think i like the i-pod idea the most. You don't need, or shouldn't use 250GB...your putting all your eggs in one basket, right? As rugged as a rotating drive is, it still will have it's vulnrabilities. The i-pods are cheap off E-Bay and available, with 60-80GB of storage, thats a lot of photo's! You still need to download into a hard-copy though. I think this is the only option until we see the solid-state harddrives (Like i-pod 8GB) come in larger sizes.

Hi Pieter, I'm sorry to have to tell you guys but, laptop drives are more fragile than standard 3.5", the platters (disc's) are made of glass!!:confused1: and are therefor very delicate, this i know throu my work in IT hardware repairs
solid state devises is the safest =usb pendrives sd/mmc/memstick/pci'e etc:eek3:
TDMalcolm

I totally agree! I often carry a laptop on my bike (workrelated) and I have killed several harddisks.
Personally I use solid state devices (or film) for a long rough trip.
If you use digital remember to always store all your pics on at least two different places!

Disks are usually certified up to a certain elevation (typical 10.000 feet) and there is a reason for this….

I agree solid state is the way to go. I used my iPod to download photos from my camera on a lengthy Europe (walking) trip a couple of years ago before I was shooting RAW. I don't think 250 GB is unreasonable nowadays.

You can buy the small camera connector for the iPod directly from Apple for $29.00. The only negative I saw was that it really sucked the juice from the iPod during the transfer, but I guess any bus powered device would....

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...&nplm=M9861G/B

oops, i stand corrected than re. laptop drives being more robust. sorry!

Western Digital Passport Portable 250 Gb Hard Drive
 

I'm using a Western Digital Passport Portable 250 Gb Hard Drive. It travels to work and back in my bike top box every day with no problems so far. It could easily be carried in your pocket to reduce shake from bad roads and vibrating bikes.

It's also sleek and sexy.:yes:

http://www.wdc.com/global/images/pro...Portable_2.jpghttp://www.wdc.com/global/images/pro...Portable_2.jpg
Stephan

Solid state might be the way to go, but it will cost you if you want 250GB.