Best 100G portable FW Drive?

kevinM said:
This is the link.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA30310
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I have that exact same unit too. I'm running two external enclosures; one is firewire (but the battery only lasts about five cards) and the other is USB2-OTG (this unit, with a battery that lasts for somewhere around 15 cards). But it's slow slow slow.

But yours isn't. Intriguing.

I'm most interested in hearing icicle's report -- if he gets a screaming fast one, then I'll take a much closer look at getting another one of these and trying again.
 
Barry,

If I understood correctly, you mentioned that the FW enclosure you used only lasted long enough for five 4G cards.

Have you tested/used the AMS 2.5" Rechargable FireWire enclosure?

http://www.qualitycables.com/AMS25K.html

Built in Battery: DC3.6V, 800mA/H, Li-ion Battery. They claim that a fully charged battery can last up to 10-15 hours of non stop operation. However, if this is not the case, one (as already mentioned in another thread) could use the an external portable battery such as the following (5V - 4400mAh):
http://www.bixnet.com/hicamiexbapa.html
 
Wait... let me clear this up. I'm looking at the HVX200 for indie filmmaking, but the cost of the P2 drives is clearly an issue, I only really want to have to buy one, at $650 to use for storage, but if I'm shooting at 720p24 that means I can only record 10 minutes of footage before I have to dump it. Now this becomes a problem when shooting in the field (since I use a desktop for editing and don't have a laptop)... are you saying that there is another solution? There are portable drives I could use to dump my P2 data too without having to spend over like $400? What are these inexpensive firewire drives you're talking about and how would they work?

Sorry for all the questions that have probably been answered before, but I just wanted to know. I'm torn between the HVX and the GY-HD100U, just because the HD100 records to DV tapes...
 
I got my Magic Box USB OTG case and put the drive in and went to format and I can't format FAT32 form XP. Microsoft doesn't have support for formatting fat32 on drives bigger than 32Gb. Lame!

My MAC-MINI is at my friends house (he need to use Livetype2) and I can't reach him. FOr the moment I can't do squat! Well....I am charging the son-of-a-gun. BUt I wanted to test it tonight!

Argh!
 
You can -- go to download.com and look for a program called Swiss Knife. It's free to download, that's what I used to format my 80gb drive as one continuous FAT32 partition. The 32gb limit is an artificial limit from WinXP only; there's no reason you can't make a 2-terabyte FAT32 volume, you just have to use a program other than WinXP to do it.
 
Ok I have good news. I filled up my 4gb card and spilled over onto my 2nd card with about 83mb.

It took 6:40 second to copy the complete contents of card 1 and then automatically switch over to card 2 and copy that extra 83mbs. That looks like around 6:20-6:30 for a 4 gb card. I am going to repeat the test with just one card in the HVX and get an exact time. But it is looking pretty good so far.

Barry,
Maybe try formatting the fat32 volume using your G5. I know it makes no logical sense but it is the only thing different about your setup and mine. I used my Mac-mini to create a "ms-dos" file system which in turn becomes a fat32 volume.

I have the exact same drive and case. How did you format the original 4200rpm drive that you had before the travelstar? I am just trying to track down something you might have done different to get a different outcome. Then again maybe it is a defective unit.

I will try to do a more exact test and post the results....but so far it looks promising for the little magic box that could.
 
Barry,

I also used my G5 to format the drive. I know it makes no sence, but it couldn't hurt to try.

I have to say, I'm relieved that icicle22 got similar results. I was beginning to think you didn't believe me.

Kevin
 
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Got a G5 here, so I'll give that a go. Right now the drive's full of stuff so I'll shuffle some things around and then give it a shot.
 
Barry,

I'm curious to know if you had any success with the MWave reformat through your G5?

I'm purchasing an HVX package this week and might well hold off on the P2 Store if people are getting good results with these USB2.0 OTG drives.

Also, after a month or so using them, is it the general contention that a 40, 60 or 100GB drive is more practical or do any of the sizes sap the on-board battery?

Drive speed? How is the 4200 versus the 7200 and so on? Have there been any issues with data loss using this system - I'm assuming you clear the P2 cards immediately after the transfer to record new footage?

How many drives are you using? Do you keep the footage on the 2.5" drives once you get into the edit environment or transfer it into a RAID or Firewire 3.5" drive?

I'm glad to have the benefit of your early adopter experience - thanks!

e
 
Barry_Green said:
You can -- go to download.com and look for a program called Swiss Knife. It's free to download, that's what I used to format my 80gb drive as one continuous FAT32 partition. The 32gb limit is an artificial limit from WinXP only; there's no reason you can't make a 2-terabyte FAT32 volume, you just have to use a program other than WinXP to do it.
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May I ask a question?

Why are you using FAT32 instead of NTFS?
 
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I think it is because to work on mac and windows, it has to be Fat 32.
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Doesn't FAT32 limit file size to two Gigs?

...And nothing against Macs, but the only reason I'd look at them now is that they are the best thing for editing DVCPro HD footage right now.

I wonder if you can format these drives to NTFS?
 
got quite the same question like bigmike: isnt there the 2 gig limit finally?

And can i really use it for MAC AND PC if its FAT32?
Cause i am actually planning to buy a MAXTOR G14W010 (1 tb raid 1 system..i know some people hate maxtor..!) to store the material and to edit from the drive: so Barry and filks:
1st: is it possible to use it with apple and pc if its formated with fat?(cause i dont know yet how i will edit it finally, fcp or edius..!)

2nd: would this drive perform fast enough to do the editing and post with it..?
 
overlandfilms said:
Barry,

I'm curious to know if you had any success with the MWave reformat through your G5?
Click to expand...
Slipped through the cracks, forgot to run the test. I'll have to try it; I need to free up that hard disk for the Hawaii venture anyway.

I'm purchasing an HVX package this week and might well hold off on the P2 Store if people are getting good results with these USB2.0 OTG drives.
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Totally different product though. P2 Store is for offloading (and verifying) cards without having to tie up the camera. USB-OTG ties up the camera, and doesn't offer a "verify" stage.

Also, after a month or so using them, is it the general contention that a 40, 60 or 100GB drive is more practical or do any of the sizes sap the on-board battery?
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For a firewire drive, 60gb is all you need; firewire offloading won't take advantage of more than 60gb (when using 4gb cards). If you're using 8gb cards, it can take advantage of 120gb.

For USB, it doesn't matter. Any size is good because the USB-OTG system doesn't partition the drive, it just takes up as much space as it needs and no more. USB-OTG makes more efficient use of drive space. But doesn't offer verify.

Drive speed? How is the 4200 versus the 7200 and so on?
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In my USB-OTG experience, they're exactly the same. Which is absurd, and makes me wonder what else is wrong.
Have there been any issues with data loss using this system
Click to expand...
I have encountered no data loss so far.

How many drives are you using? Do you keep the footage on the 2.5" drives once you get into the edit environment or transfer it into a RAID or Firewire 3.5" drive?
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Desktop drives are a lot cheaper than laptop drives. My 80gb laptop drive cost about twice as much as a 300gb desktop drive. So it's cost-efficient to transfer to desktop drives.
 
BigMike said:
May I ask a question?

Why are you using FAT32 instead of NTFS?
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USB-OTG enclosure requires FAT32. Won't work with NTFS.

Also, I use it dual-platform (Mac & PC) and Macs can read & write FAT32.
 
hvx_germanboy said:
got quite the same question like bigmike: isnt there the 2 gig limit finally?
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Four.

And can i really use it for MAC AND PC if its FAT32?
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Yes, I do it all the time.

1st: is it possible to use it with apple and pc if its formated with fat?(cause i dont know yet how i will edit it finally, fcp or edius..!)
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Yes, AFAIK.

2nd: would this drive perform fast enough to do the editing and post with it..?
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Probably. My G5's internal drive is plenty fast enough, I would assume a 1TB RAID would be too.
 
While it's not a 100 gig HD When I'm going to be away from civilization for a while I bring a long a SmartDisk Firelite 80 gig Firewire 800 hard drive. It runs off my laptop. Between that and my laptops har drive I can store quite a bit before I have to come back into town. A couple extra batteries and a power invertor for the car and I can be out for quite a while.
I've even burned data DVD's in my car in the middle of nowhere so I'd be able to dump more P2 cards to the hard drives.
 
Thanks! One more if you're still around. I understand how the P2 Store offers the verify function while the OTG USB drive obviously would not and also about the interruption of workflow issues.

Strictly from a in-the-field standpoint, have you ever used the OTG instead of the P2 Store - even though it doesn't offer the verification?

I'm super paranoid about carrying shot stock around, so I suppose I just wonder if you just jumped into, hesitated over or flat-out decided against dumping the footage to OTG devices instead of the Panasonic Store? I suppose it really is a one or the other decision - right?

e
 
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