notebook HD question

[jlowell]

I am looking at some digital storage solutions for storing images from a camera while in the field from a compact flash card and other card type storage.

Most of the devices use standard 2.5 inch notebook hard drives....and most are still using the slower USB 1 so it takes quite a while to unload your images to your computer...like 5 hrs or more.

can a notebook HD be slaved to another hard drive or wired directly as a second HD like we do our desktops??????

I have never looked in a notebook. )

in other words....how can you remove files from a notebook hard drive to another notebook or desktop without using the USB connection?

[CorruptedSanitY]

wish.... really hard on a falling star...under a full moon..alone in the woods or swamps(which ever applies)

[PardeGT]

No, there is really no way to slave a second hdd in a laptop efficiently. You can remove the hdd easier than in a desktop and replace it with another but that won't be much of help.

If you have a laptop with usb 1.0 you could purchase a PCMCIA Cardbus USB 2.0 adapter like the one below and use it with a USB 2.0 compliant media card reader allowing you to transfer images at USB 2.0 rates.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...MCIA+USB+2%2E0

HTH

edit: I believe the laptop also has to be able to support a 32bit cardbus. Check your laptop manual for compatibility.

[jlowell]

hmmm... I find it hard to believe you can't retrieve files from a notebook HD somehow on some kind of computer.

[Tuf]

Sure you can there are lots of ways. There are adaptors for less than ten bucks that will let you install the drive in your desktop. If you want to add the drive to a notebook you can buy an external enclosure. They are available in firewire(1394) USB(1.1 or 2.0) SCSI or with a direct PCMCIA connection. Alot of notebooks have internal carriers available that fit in your media bay.

Seems to me the best solution would be to have a couple of large flash cards. And a reader in your computer. Some of the internal readers are rated a pretty high speeds.

[RobH]

TUF is correct about the adapter,you can pull the HDD out of the laptop and then use the adapter with your desk top.My fear with that is the pins on the HDD is very small and pulling it off and on might damage the drive,but I have used such an adapter to load windows in laptops without CDROMs.hth

[jlowell]

thanks guys. yes I am concerned about messing up the pins with repeated usage also.

I am trying to save money on flash cards. My camera will produce 72 mb files. Flash cards with 512 - 1 gig capacity are really pricey. I would probably need $3000 - $4000 in flash cards.

[glc]

Why not do this - bring a notebook out in the field with you, and use a $10 flash card to PCMCIA adapter to offload the card right into the notebook? Then when you get back to the office (home, whatever) you can network the notebook to your desktop computer and dump the files across. That's what a friend of mine does.

[jlowell]

yes that is one way GLC. These other devices like The Image Tank, Digibin, Nexvue, Mindstor are designed to wear on your belt and are 3 x 5 Inches. It is hard to carry a notebook really although you can sometimes have it close by.

The Mindstor comes with firewire and is what most photographers use. (10 - 40 gig capacity)...the HD is not removable and they cost around $500.

The other devices use plain notebook HD's, cost half as much, are upgradeable, but are USB 1.1 and you can spend 5 or 6 hrs tranferring at the end of a day....although this is not unbearable.

I was trying to come up with a way to transfer faster than using the supplied usb 1.1 cable. ) People complain about it constantly.

here is a link to the devices I am looking at if anyone is interested.

thanks gang http://www.insidecomputer.com/

[Tuf]

I don't like USB 1.1 for much more than a mouse. Firewire (IEEE1394) is a good interface and if I had that option I would go that way. You can add a firewire port to your PC cheap enough.