500gb OTG for 500 Euro!

cici

Well-known member
If this device can be used to offload P2 cards, it could be a very pricey solution!

http://www.savitmicro.co.kr/eng/product/tv/tv.htm

In Germany it is sold for 500 Euros, so it's 1 Euro per GB.

- it's available with different capacities, e.g. 500GB
- it has USB2.0 OTG
- it's relatively light

Does anybody think that this device will not work with the HVX or are the data not safe enough? - I'd need some 500GB to 1TB if shooting in the desert or southsea and I don't want to use a laptop neither will I edit the video there... I'd fill up the OTG-device and edit the video back home.

Do you have a better solution or is it a lucky find?

- Cici
 
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Hi Cici,

if u can send it back i would try it, It may works, but the question is also how fast it will be.

Since I going to travel abroad too with my HVX200, i decided to go with the Sarotech Cutie OTG or the Image Tank G2 Otg with a 60 or 120 GB 2,5" HDD. Additional i will carry 2 300GB HDD without case, maybe in foam in Tupperware, I get a USB - IDE adapter and one AC and mirror, whenever I download from the OTG device on the two 300GB HDD, If I need more storage I buy another HD.
The Image Tank G2 OTG has a display, so it could give You proof. Its hard to get in Germany, I think I saw under a .ch domain.

Guess the Cam will make the underwaterlife shine in a new dimension.

LG Reinhold
 
This would likely work, but don't forget about the 15 copy limitation... USB OTG creates a new partition for each copy, the same way the HVX does with firewire offloading. So most of that nice drive would be going to waste...
 
Thanks for your answers! - Well, I guess I won't buy it then...

Reinhold, steckt man eine beliebige HD (also z.B. eben 300GB) in die Sarotech Cutie rein? - Denn ich bräuchte schon (total) 500 GB - 1TB.... Hört sich gut an, was Du machst und ich hatte eben Bedenken wegen solcher Geschichten, wie der Partitionen etc. die angesprochen wurden. Da blicke ich noch nicht ganz durch - ich suche nur eine Möglichkeit für die genannte Kapazität möglichst unter 1000 Euro.

Difficult matter, guys.... so just to be USB-OTG is not sufficient.... that's what I was afraid of. I like Reinhold's suggestion as I need a device with (for today) high capacity.

@Francko: I was sure to be able to offload P2 via USB2.0 ... am I wrong?
 
Cam-Ra said:
This would likely work, but don't forget about the 15 copy limitation... USB OTG creates a new partition for each copy, the same way the HVX does with firewire offloading.

??? no it doesn't... it creates a new directory, but not a new partition. You could offload a hundred four-gig cards onto a 500gb drive no problem, using OTG... why do you think there's a partition limit on the USB-OTG drives?
 
Hmmm...obviously I've been misinformed. I'm not sure where I read that. Or, more likely, I read it incorrectly :)...

That is in fact excellent news. Of course OTG is still slower, and has no verify, but it is now something I will consider using. I actually have a USB OTG enclosure, but have never bothered to try it with my HVX, assuming that there is no real advantage over firewire. But since there obviously is (and I cant get firewire offload to work anyway), I will certainly be trying it...

Thanks!
 
Barry_Green said:
??? no it doesn't... it creates a new directory, but not a new partition. You could offload a hundred four-gig cards onto a 500gb drive no problem, using OTG... why do you think there's a partition limit on the USB-OTG drives?

I did notice that. With my MWAVE just the one harddisk popped up on my desktop with 2 directories inside for each card.

So what creates the different partitions? Firewiredrives? P2 Store? I know there was a 15 card transfer limit on something somewhere.

This makes me glad I opted for the 100gig 7200rpm drive for my MWAVE. :D
 
The 15-partition limit is encountered either on the P2 Store, or when direct offloading from an HVX to a firewire drive.

USB-OTG has no such limit.
 
As far as I understand, the HVX will format the HD the very first time but only once. But anyway, after this bipolar discussion I will have to ask again:

1) will the 500GB OTG device for only 500 Euro (605 US-Dollar) work with the HVX? (I remind you my suggestion: http://www.savitmicro.co.kr/eng/product/tv/tv.htm )

and yet:

2) will generally any USB2.0-OTG harddisk work with the HVX?

transfer speed is no matter for me and the proposed 7 minutes for 4 GB would be very fine.
 
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A cheap notebook, with the external HDD and the Cutie HDD Combo is a good option too. Say a IBM R50 for 750 €, or any older used model like an T40, would give you also the option to view the clips with the P2 viewer, or to use the PCMI Card slot.

Gruß Reinhold
 
The only problem I can see for 500GB USB OTG drive is how do you format it? It has to be FAT32 right? So Windows XP can only format up to 30GB (a real problem there!). The MAC can format FAT32 larger than 30gb but can only read up to 130GB. So I'd assume it cannot format larger than that. Maybe some third party software or an older version of Windows could do it. Or maybe it is pre-formatted from the manufacturer.

If someone can dispute these things with fact then great! But I know that I have not been able to format fat32 with winxp on my USB OTG. I had to use my MAC MINI for that. The drive is only 120GB so I couldn't test to see if it goes larger or not.
 
icicle22 said:
The only problem I can see for 500GB USB OTG drive is how do you format it? It has to be FAT32 right? So Windows XP can only format up to 30GB (a real problem there!). The MAC can format FAT32 larger than 30gb but can only read up to 130GB. So I'd assume it cannot format larger than that. Maybe some third party software or an older version of Windows could do it. Or maybe it is pre-formatted from the manufacturer.

It IS pre-formated by the manufacturer but as far as I know, the HVX will format it again in any case.... so either formating is not a problem at all (as the HVX cares for it), or the HVX has limits for formating like the 30GB you mention - and probably none of us knows yet about these limits...

As for the OTG vs. Laptop vs. anything: the USB-OTG is just one single device I need for 500GB and for 600 Dollars I think it's really cheap. For Firestore, Iomega etc. the 500GB are a problem and for the laptop with 500GB it's a) two devices and b) it's far more expensive as I will edit the video thousands of miles away - at home on my PC (hopefully with Liquid Edition). Editing "in situ" is not possible for me and buying a laptop just for viewing is a little expensive and another 1kg plus size... . For a minimum of money per GB and a minimum of weight and size for 500GB-1TB shots at places with few civilisation and a mimimum of "modern" infrastructure, the USB-OTG could be a very good solution to offload the P2 cards, if nobody sees any obstacle as e.g. partition, formating, compatibility, security etc. .

And again: the Rapsody OTG for 500 Euro includes the 500GB HDD. No case has to be opened, no devices have to be exchanged - it's a "ready for use" package.

I'm still nor sure, but I'll consider USB-OTG devices as the Rapsody as first choice until further "warnings". Thanks for helping.

Cici
 
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cici said:
It IS pre-formated by the manufacturer but as far as I know, the HVX will format it again in any case.... so either formating is not a problem at all (as the HVX cares for it), or the HVX has limits for formating like the 30GB you mention - and probably none of us knows yet about these limits...

Cici

When using the USB connection to do a USB OTG transfer the camera does not.....I repeat DOES NOT format the drive in any capacity. The camera for all intents and purposes becomes a dumb device that is simply holding data on it. The USB OTG has to connect to the camera and initiate all data transfers on its own. The HVX does nothing but sit there and let the USB OTG have its way with the P2 cards.

You are mistaking the Firewire method which is different. In that method the camera does all of the logic and transfers and the firewire hard drive is a dumb device that lets the HVX access it.

So the HVX will not format any USB drive. The drive must be formatted for the USB OTG the write to it. As far as I know all of the "empty" USB OTG cases require a FAT32 drive to be in them for it to write to it. They cannot write to a NTFS formatted drive.

Now the 500GB device you are talking about might be different and may be able to write to a preformatted NTFS drive. If it can, then it is the first I have seen.

The bottom line is at the moment FAT32 (as lame as it is) is the most universal file system that an external drive can use to be accessed by a MAC or PC. It has limitations.

1. 4 gigabyte file size limit
2. Windows XP can only format to 30GB (due to microsoft short sightedness)
3. Mac can only read or access up to 130GB
4. Umm.....it's FAT32 dude.

So it is less than ideal but until USB OTG starts to support other file systems it is the best we have got. For now.
 
icicle22 said:
You are mistaking the Firewire method which is different. In that method the camera does all of the logic and transfers and the firewire hard drive is a dumb device that lets the HVX access it.

You're right! :) I forgot that this is only the case if I record directly on another device than P2 card....

icicle22 said:
Now the 500GB device you are talking about might be different and may be able to write to a preformatted NTFS drive. If it can, then it is the first I have seen.

That's why I posted the link for an english page http://www.savitmicro.co.kr/eng/product/tv/tv.htm that you guys may understand it and tell me perhaps whether it works or not, 'cause I don't understand to much from USB-OTG devices.....
 
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