Hello folks,
I have a few problems on my hands and would really want people here to help me out.
1. I own a Panasonic FZ28 for the last 1 year. I click photos and dump on an external hard drive (connected on a NAS) due to limited storage on my laptop. Now the problem arises that, people at home and friends always complain that i don't show them the pictures that i have clicked AT ALL. For this reason, friends/family call my camera a Garage Parked Lamborghini / Black hole.
2. As the medium of storage is connected to a NAS, the photos (all 10 mpix, so large size) take lot of time to open on any machine and hence it is a very tedious process for doing any kind of post processing OR plain showing off.. the slowness in the photo viewing experience makes the entire process boring.
3. Another requirement is that, though i own an 8GB Extreme 3 SDHC card alongwith the Camera, which is sufficient for 4-5 day trips (high no. of photos clicked), but for anything longer, i would have to carry my Laptop too, which , when on vacation, is especially undesirable. Especially because i prefer my bike for all my traveling(Yes I do & I am not insane.), and extra weight screws up the ride.
So considering the above requirements, i arrived at the solution, that if i buy a high capacity PMP like an iPod classic (120/160 GB), most of my aforementioned problems can be solved. But still, point 3. is of upmost importance which is not addressed by this scenario. So a bit of googling has got me 2 solutions through which i can avoid lugging my laptop around everywhere.
1. Apple iPod camera connector.
Good,genuine iPod accessory, can be used to transfer photos directly from camera to ipod without requirement of itunes/laptop.
Issues: Connection to camera is through USB cable of camera. Which requires the camera to remain ON during the transfer process. Thus wasting precious camera battery. Interface used is USB 1.1, so transfer speeds are pathetically slow.
2. Belkin F8E461 Media Card Reader Dock Connector for iPod:
Another good accessory, can be used to transfer photos directly from memory card to iPod. Camera not required during transfer process(i.e. battery conserved).
Issues: Again USB 1.1, so max transfer speeds can get is 300KBps, which is very very slow for transferring large quantities of data, doesn't utilize the high speed nature (30Mbps) of the memory card at all. Not sure if it works with SDHC, though SD is supported.
So, after the above story, guys, geeks, everyone, please give me info/gyaan/solutions to my problem. Feel free to suggest other PMPs with similar (read high) storage capacities, any other accessories that you know of which might be helpful in my purpose. I am a complete noob in all this ipod culture and any guidance will be appreciated. Anyways, please do keep in mind that the audio quality of the PMP should also be above average as i am also quite a music buff and it would'nt hurt me if i also got a good music player in the bargain.
Edit:
P.S.: Budget is 12-15k. Preferred PMP is iPod Classic 120GB. And my camera is not a parked Lamborghini so I do need the storage. I have done 10000+ shots from it till date (in the last 1 year).
I have a few problems on my hands and would really want people here to help me out.
1. I own a Panasonic FZ28 for the last 1 year. I click photos and dump on an external hard drive (connected on a NAS) due to limited storage on my laptop. Now the problem arises that, people at home and friends always complain that i don't show them the pictures that i have clicked AT ALL. For this reason, friends/family call my camera a Garage Parked Lamborghini / Black hole.
2. As the medium of storage is connected to a NAS, the photos (all 10 mpix, so large size) take lot of time to open on any machine and hence it is a very tedious process for doing any kind of post processing OR plain showing off.. the slowness in the photo viewing experience makes the entire process boring.
3. Another requirement is that, though i own an 8GB Extreme 3 SDHC card alongwith the Camera, which is sufficient for 4-5 day trips (high no. of photos clicked), but for anything longer, i would have to carry my Laptop too, which , when on vacation, is especially undesirable. Especially because i prefer my bike for all my traveling(Yes I do & I am not insane.), and extra weight screws up the ride.
So considering the above requirements, i arrived at the solution, that if i buy a high capacity PMP like an iPod classic (120/160 GB), most of my aforementioned problems can be solved. But still, point 3. is of upmost importance which is not addressed by this scenario. So a bit of googling has got me 2 solutions through which i can avoid lugging my laptop around everywhere.
1. Apple iPod camera connector.
Good,genuine iPod accessory, can be used to transfer photos directly from camera to ipod without requirement of itunes/laptop.
Issues: Connection to camera is through USB cable of camera. Which requires the camera to remain ON during the transfer process. Thus wasting precious camera battery. Interface used is USB 1.1, so transfer speeds are pathetically slow.
2. Belkin F8E461 Media Card Reader Dock Connector for iPod:
Another good accessory, can be used to transfer photos directly from memory card to iPod. Camera not required during transfer process(i.e. battery conserved).
Issues: Again USB 1.1, so max transfer speeds can get is 300KBps, which is very very slow for transferring large quantities of data, doesn't utilize the high speed nature (30Mbps) of the memory card at all. Not sure if it works with SDHC, though SD is supported.
So, after the above story, guys, geeks, everyone, please give me info/gyaan/solutions to my problem. Feel free to suggest other PMPs with similar (read high) storage capacities, any other accessories that you know of which might be helpful in my purpose. I am a complete noob in all this ipod culture and any guidance will be appreciated. Anyways, please do keep in mind that the audio quality of the PMP should also be above average as i am also quite a music buff and it would'nt hurt me if i also got a good music player in the bargain.
Edit:
P.S.: Budget is 12-15k. Preferred PMP is iPod Classic 120GB. And my camera is not a parked Lamborghini so I do need the storage. I have done 10000+ shots from it till date (in the last 1 year).
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