OK, I finally give up. Apple will never produce an iPod for photographers. They tried, they failed (miserably) and they gave up. What any professional photographer could have told them, would have saved them a lot of money, but they weren’t really interested in us (big surprise) and most amateur photographers don’t really have a need for portable image storage (memory cards are cheap enough), unless they are traveling for more than a just a few days.

Sanho HyperDrive ColorSpace “O” 160 GB Photo Backup Storage & Viewer with 3.2″ LCD, Supports 11 Memory Card Formats

To be fair to Apple, I have tested quite a few image storage devices from other manufacturers and up until now, can not really recommend any of them. The first problem with most of the “multi-media” storage devices is that they are all trying too hard to compete with or out-do Apple at this point, so they end up with a device that does a lot of things, very poorly. The second being that just like Apple, most of the portable image storage device manufacturers, seem to be completely clueless as to what photographers really want or need.

Having said all of that, I was very pleasantly surprised to come across the newest portable storage device from Sanho, the HyperDrive COLORSPACE O. This drive does only one thing, it stores digital photography image files from (11 different) memory cards and allows the files (JPEG & RAW) to be reviewed on a 3.2″ color LCD screen. There is no FM radio, no MPEG sound, no telephone, no GPS, only digital image storage.

Description:

HyperDrive COLORSPACE O is a color LCD equipped hard drive that allows you to backup, store, view photos/data from memory cards on the go without the need for computers or external power. Winner of more awards than any other photo storage device, it possess many world class features unseen in any products:

- High Res 3.2″ color LCD screen displays JPEG & RAW
- Backup directly from 11 different memory card types
- Blazing fast card backup speed. Backup 1GB in 1min
- Extremely fast USB transfer speed (28MB/s)
- Unlimited capacity (40~500GB & beyond)
- Ultra powerful battery (backup 120GB per battery)
- 32-bit copy verification system
- Card scan, repair & image recovery tools
- Ultra compact (only 25mm thick)

Features:

SEE IMAGES AS THEY DOWNLOAD

See copy process along with thumbnails of the images as they are being copied.
Save time by eliminating the need to for subsequent visual confirmation of backups.

World fastest 25MB/s backup.
Backup 1GB in 1 minute.

32-bit copy verification and ECC Error Correction Coding ensures safer backups.

File format independent.
Backup all kinds of files from 11 different card types.
No card adapters required.

HI-RES 3.2″ COLOR LCD

Display full screen image or thumbnails of 6, 12 or 20 images.

Supports JPEG and all popular RAW image formats including Canon CR2 / CRW, Fujifilm RAF, Konica Minolta MRW, Leica M8 DNG, Nikon NEF, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RAW, Pentax PEF / DNG, Ricoh DNG, Samsung DNG, Sony ARW and many more.

VISUAL MENU SYSTEM

Intuitive menu system allows quick access to all functions in just a few button clicks.
Onscreen menu mirrors the five mechanical push buttons located beneath.

Windows VISTA-like translucent buttons.

User changeable background and button images.

Operating System fully upgradeable via firmware.

CARD RECOVERY TOOLS

Built-in tools to scan and repair bad sectors on any memory card.

Recover deleted / lost / formatted / corrupted data on any memory card.

Salvage an otherwise unusable memory card.

Exceptionally useful tool when out in the field and without a computer.

VISUAL EXPLORER

Browse through contents of internal hard drive or any memory card.

Preview images without entering folders.

Perform file and folder operations like copy, cut, paste, move, delete, format hard drive, erase card etc.

Selectively copy files/folders between memory card and hard drive.

VISUAL SEARCH

Search for images on internal hard drive or any memory card by date.

Image previews automatically when you select the date.

VISUAL INFORMATION

Histogram overlay display.

Rotate and zoom image to pixel level.

EXIF DATA

Detailed EXIF data displays more information about your photo.

USER REPLACEABLE DRIVE & BATTERY

Supports any 2.5″ SATA hard drive (no capacity limit).

Generic 18650 li-ion battery commonly used to power notebook computers.

Extremely long battery life.
Backup 120GB of data on a single charge.

Single screw, easy access design.
Deep CF slot.