ipad a bit OT but.......

[Jesse11]

Anyone here use an IPad for traveling and as a device for temporary storage? If so, how has it worked out for you?

It crossed my mind recently, that it might be helpful in reducing the amount of equipment one tends to take when traveling; i.e. one could download ebooks, audio books, etc. as well as load photos removing the need for carrying several other devices including an external hard drive.

 

[Patrice]

Don't know about that, iPads do not have a ton of memory. As far as I can tell they come with either 16, 32 or 64 GB versions. Operating system and apps take space as well. You'll not get too many downloads of your 8GB or 16GB card before your iPad is stuffed full. I think if an external HD can be connected to the device and it's disk be used for storage would be a better and higher capacity solution.

There used to be self contained little multimedia storage devices which read directly from the camera's storage medium. If I recall correctly, they were not cheap. Are they still available?

 

[ann]

i have one that i used for only ebooks, it is great for traveling, takes up so little space and I must have at least 50 books loaded and very little space used. So , it holds a lot of information, at least for ebooks. Some are photo essays , most technical information; however, lots of images and graphs etc. so I am surprised i have so much space still available.

With regards to photos, I don't save to the ipad as that isn't large enough. FOr instances my China folder is over 80 GB so it won't hold them.

THere are storage devices, but they are very expensive Epson has one and the cost is about 600 dollars, and so i bought a small laptop which allows other uses for less money.

I am looking at a new piece of storage that is about half the price and can use an usb cable to download and copy to a external hard drive as well. THis is basically only for travelling.

 

[Big Mike]

Plenty of 'portable data storage' devices. The more expensive ones will have a nice screen for viewing your images...but for less money, you can some some that just store the data.
The good part is that they are small and can have a rather large capacity, the bad part, is that they run on batteries, so you may have to pack extra batteries for them, or you'll have to charge up.
Portable Data Storage

Another option would be a net-book. For slightly more than most storage devices, you could get a fully functioning netbook, with something like 80-100GB of hard drive space. Takes up about the same space as an iPad etc. Just don't count on them for heavy computing, they have basically the same specs as a smart phone (from what I've heard).

I still think that plain old memory cards are a great option. If you look around, you can get 32GB (or even 64GB) memory cards, for not that much money. They are so small that packing and storing them isn't an issue. They don't take batteries and you don't have to transfer files from a card to something else.
Maybe not a great option for storing your other data (E-books etc.)...but maybe.

 

[RicardoG]

I have an iPad that I use regularly and love it! I was thinking the same thing as using it as a backup storage device.

I think for short trips it's fine. I have a 32GB version but that's really not enough for anything more than a couple of days of lots of shooting. I tend to use my iPad to identify photos I will work on when I get home and do some quick fixes and mods. So when I get home, I know which pictures I want and how to set them up.

If you have some music and movies on your iPad, you greatly cut down the space availability really fast. So I would suggest getting a one of those battery powered backup drives if you want to backup much more.

 

[usayit]

I do not find it ideal....

Not enough functionality or power for on-the-road processing as a laptop.

Too large and heavier than an image tank.

Cost significantly more than an image tank

The largest most expensive ipads do not have enough space.

No built in card reader.

No single button push copy functionality.




The advantage of the Ipad is its flexibility and adaptabily to many uses. For example, as a point of sale device for photographers. This is one case in which a specialized "tool" maybe the best and most economical way to fit your needs.

For shorter trips, I found that simply buying more memory cards is the best solution.