View Full Version : USB On-The-Go setup. Results?
Steve Shovlar
03-31-2006, 03:29 PM
Ok there has been a bit of discussion about these "On The Go" boxes over the last month or so, but what have been the results?
Is there an On The Go setup that works and takes the P2 cards without problems, and the battery lasts long enough t make it a viable alternative to the P2 store?
Thyere are a few On The Go enclosures out there, (here's one on ebay for Europeans to buy if they so wish)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-in-USB-2-0-On-The-Go-External-Enclosure_W0QQitemZ8777387047QQcategoryZ3757QQssPa geNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
which runs of standard AAA batteries, so no worries there about running out of juice, and finding a 5 volt rechargable battery to plug in should be faorly easy to track down.
What 2.5 inch hard drive would be recommended?
Are they easy to install into the enclosure and format?
How easy is it to copy the P2 card over to the "On The Go" enclosure?
And how easy is it for a mac to see the On The Go enclosure?
Does FCP see the files copied accross as P2 files?
We are talking a couple of hundred dollars or less for this setup compared to over a thousand for the P2 store, or nearly £2000 for the firestore. I know what I would like to work, so lets here your thoughts on this and get the best setup possible for the least outlay.
Your thoughts and experience?
dusterdoo
03-31-2006, 05:39 PM
I use a couple of these. . .
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA30310
with a 60 gig hardrive, which run around $100 for the drive.
It takes me around 5-10min to download 2 P2 cards from the camera to the drive. USB is the way to go for the PC, not sure for the Mac.
Download time may not be critical for you depending on your shoot, of course. Download time will differ depending on if you are shooting, 1080, 720, etc, and how much is on your P2 cards when you download.
To install a hard drive takes a couple mintues, very easy. And no problem with the battery running out filling up a 60 gig hard drive for this enclosure. To fill up a 60 gig drive, youll download it seven times. Previous posts state it will take 15 transfers before the battery runs out. Since this is the case it is better to have a couple of these instead of one enclosure with a massive HD.
Steve Shovlar
04-01-2006, 01:57 AM
Unfortunately the Mwave will not sell outside the uSA, looking at their terms. I suppose the device I posted will do exactly the same.
Do you have to do anything to the hard drive to get it to work, or just put it in the enclosure and away you go?
Steve Shovlar
04-01-2006, 02:14 AM
Thoughts on this. Is this OK?
http://www.vtec.co.uk/product/643_668.asp
Great if it works for us in the UK and europe, and it comes with the hard drive already included so no messing about with it.
Thoughts on this. Is this OK?
http://www.vtec.co.uk/product/643_668.asp
Great if it works for us in the UK and europe, and it comes with the hard drive already included so no messing about with it.
I'm going to give that a go. Seems perfect.
I've order the 60GB to try.
Milezee
04-01-2006, 03:50 AM
That vtech OTG device looks nice. I was browsing through their other stuff and came accross this:
http://www.vtec.co.uk/product/298_635.asp
Makes me wonder if they couldn't tweek the firmware.... presto, cheap P2 store.
Steve Shovlar
04-01-2006, 07:42 AM
Battery life is only an hour so you might need a 5 volt external battery. Found one here.
http://www.global-batteries.com/product_info.php/cPath/10/products_id/1336
For dumping the P2 content, won't ANY device work, that is "on-the-go" and can import data via USB2 ?
I got this HD today. http://www.vtec.co.uk/product/643_668.asp
Nice little unit, come with wallet and internal battery.
I was unclear at first what to do, and it didn't seem to communicate but I this appeard to be that it came pre-formatted in NTFS - does the HVX not like this?
Anyway I formatted the drive to FAT32 and shot 4 mins of 720/25pn.
Copy time for approx 2gig or 4ish mins of footage was about 3-3.5 mins. So I'd say around real time for pn mode. Though I would imagine this would increase if you had lots of little clips.
The drive comes with various leads, a mains charger and USB charging set up. 3hrs charge time, 40-60mins run time .
Will give it a field test tommorow.
Steve Shovlar
04-05-2006, 03:30 PM
Hi ROne, I also got the Vtek today and it works a treat, though I was left wondering if anything was actually happening while it was copying across!!!
So there we have it. A P2 store for £120!!! OK so we have to stop filming for a few mons while the card is downloaded, but as far as I am concerned I have just saved myself a fortune for a little inconvenience.
All Europeans can buy this OTG enclosure fro V Tek, which includes the hard drive!
Highly recommended.
http://www.vtec.co.uk/product/643_668.asp
Great!
My only concern is that nagging feeling you don't actually know what's on the disc until you put it on the timeline!
Steve Shovlar
04-05-2006, 03:41 PM
Yes there's no way of telling if it has gone accross untill you load it up on the mac, but you can always do it twice. The other concern is the battery but this one will give you longer.
http://www.global-batteries.co.uk/product_info.php/cPath/10/products_id/1336?osCsid=dccf236f0f7f496684e83f18a7c1468e
Done two shoots/dumps using this drive. No probs so far.