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Computer
and
Digital Image File Storage
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Epson P1000 Photo
Viewer
A slick little PDA for privileged digital photographers.
Available early January 2004.
In relation to previous digital photo storgae devices this is a very
slick looking and sophisticated unit. Epson has had the luxury of
watching a number of companies with no experience in the consumer
electronic device market make all the mistakes and is hoping to profit
from them at this time.
Epson is also in the unique position to build the P1000 Photo Viewer
out of parts and technology largely scrounged from their own
laboratories and warehouses. The screen is a very large and high
resolution 3.8" Epson LCD screen. The included direct printing
technology works only with certain Epson Stylus Photo printers. You
could almost say that this device is a USB flash card reader and remote
control device for high end Epson Stylus Photo printers (models 820,
900, 1280, and 2200). It supports PRINT Image Matching II and Exif 2.2
(Exif Print) for achieving high print quality.
The built in Compact Flash Card reading slot is capable of supporting
other memory cards with a third party adaptor (not supplied but
hopefully they will reconsider this policy). Unless you are using a
DSLR the chance that you will buy a camera that uses Compact Flash
Cards is now pretty slim. Someone should tell Epson that SD cards are
now in the majority for point and shoot cameras.
Another odd fact is that this device only supports certain RAW formats
(I hope Nikon's NEF RAW is included). Almost all DSLR users are now
using the RAW image file format for at least their most serious work.
And as mentioned before Compact Flash Cards are most prevalent in DSLRs.
On the same topic, the US$599. Epson P1000 Photo Viewer comes with a
very small 10GB hard disk drive. A professional photographer shooting
with a 6 million pixel camera and RAW image format (if his format is
permitted) will shoot 10GB of images in one day. Which could still be
very usefull, if a computer is available for daily downloads. The
average tourist could of course easily do a cruise around the world
with 10GB of image file storage.
So who is Epson targeting with this rather expensive but somwewhat
limited device? One would have to assume that the target group is
wealthy amateur photographers who own expensive DSLR cameras but shoot
JPEG image files (unless their particular RAW file format is
supported), and own top of the line Epson Stylus Photo printers.
Their own internal email list of Epson Stylus Photo printer owners is
probably all they need to sell the initial run of these very stylish
but slightly expensive devices. I would of course love to have one for
an extended review and hope that they soon come out with a 40GB, or
larger, version for professionals.
http://www.epson.com
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Apple iPod and Belkin iPod Media Reader
It has been awhile since I have either
used or reviewed an iPod
but it is a really nice device to have. In January of 2003 not too many
people had seen them yet, so I purposely pulled it out and played with
it everywhere I went, just to see what people's reactions where.
As a lot of you
have found out since, everyone wants to try it and you
have a hard time getting it back. I would imagine there have been a few
"oh can I try it too?" snatch and grabs in busy places.
The only thing
that has kept me from aquiring one for myself is the
inability to download files from a digital camera, the single biggest
use I have for portable hard disk drive. Since Belkin has come out with
the iPod Media Reader, I no longer have that excuse.
click here for full review
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Archos AV 300 Series
The
revolution in portable entertainment has begun... Now you can enjoy
your entire collection of videos, photos, music and data wherever you
go.
The new ARCHOS Portable Video
Recorder/Player AV300 series features a large
3.8” LCD screen.
You can record and watch up to 50 full length MPEG-4 movies, as well as
view JPEG photos, on the color LCD or on a TV. You can also play
and record music as well as store data on the hard disk (20, 40, or 80
GB, depending on model).
click
here for full review |
20
GB DIGITAL JUKEBOX
MUSIC
PLAYER
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DELL 20 GB DIGITAL
JUKEBOX MUSIC PLAYER
Download, rip and carry your favorite songs with the Dell™
DJ 20 Digital Jukebox Music Player. At just 7.6 Oz, the pocket-sized
Digital Jukebox delivers high quality, hard-drive based audio. The Dell
DJ with 20 GB capacity, stores up to 4962 songs
and has up to 16 hours of battery life
to play them. In addition to supporting the WMA format, the
multifunctional music player also plays high-fidelity MP3 audio files,
serves as a digital voice recorder and provides a way to back up
critical data. It features a 2-inch blue EL back-lit liquid crystal
display, scroll barrel navigation and an USB 2.0 interface for PC
synchronization and alternative battery charging. The device includes
ear-bud headphones, carrying case and an inline remote control. DJ 20
also comes with Music Match Basic Software for music library management
and a 1-year Advanced Exchange Service.
Click here for full review
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Maxtor
- One Touch for Macintosh
FW 400 - 250 GB Hard Disk Drive
Maxtor
is of course a manufacturer of hard disk drives so there is no
surprise as to what drive is inside the drive box. The version I
am currently testing of this attractive aluminum housing, external hard
disk drive is the 250 Gigabyte formatted for Macintosh FireWire 400
OneTouch. It has 8MB of cache and runs at 7200 RPM.
Maxtor - http://www.maxtor.com
Click here for full review
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LaCie
d2
200 GB FireWire 800 & USB2 Hard Disk Drive
The
version I tested was a 200 Gigabyte model with FireWire
800 and USB2 ports. This of course covers the whole range of
connections
you may have on your Macintosh computer, as long as you have the
appropriate cable.
For me it worked perfectly with either the FireWire
800 to FireWire 800 connection, or the FireWire 800 to FireWire 400
connection. The FireWire 800 to FireWire 800 connection is of course
faster.
Click here for full review
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FireWire
Depot -
Ice Cube
FW 800, FW 400 &
USB2 Hard
Disk Drive Case
This
is a very sexy looking clear plastic housing that accommodates the
3.5 inch IDD drive of you choice. It is a very good choice to buy
whether you are upgrading the internal drive in your desktop computer
and want to make use of the old drive, or to buy the latest large drive
on the market. The present limit seems to be 250 Gigabytes and the best
deals are available in drives from 100 Gigabytes to 200 Gigabytes in
size. The quality and speed of the drive is up to you.
The drive I have tested has three different ports. FireWire 400,
FireWire 800 and USB2. This is of course the most expensive version
costing in the 5,000 Baht range. Less expensive versions of the same
HDD housing are
available for from 2,000 Baht up. The least expensive being FireWire
400
only.
FW Depot - http://www.fwdepot.com
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