I agree with Robert. That reason combined with the fact that there are hard drive solutions out there that offer more gig's of space and more reliabilty, for less money would prevent me from trying the iPod route. And everyone else above had good points.

This morning I was looking around on-line and found some interesting little hard drives from Lacie:
Little Big Disk Triple Interface External Hard Drive FireWire 800/400.
They range in size from 160 gig (priced at $390) to 320 gig (priced at $770).
I like this option the best so far because I could carry one of these with me. Capture the footage, transfer the footage directly from the HVX200 to the HardDrive (I think?), clear the card and start over again.

Once I was finished capturing the footage for whatever I was working on and returned to my desktop at home, I would then plug this hard drive into my Mac, set the scratch disk in Final Cut Pro to point to it. From that point, anything I did associated with that project would be on that hard drive. I would save all media, such as music, graphics, video, etc to that specifc drive. I work on two Mac's in two locations, and I *think* this would allow me to easily take the project back and forth.

With something like the Cineporter (If I understand correctly) - I would transfer the footage from the P2 to the Cineporter. Then I would have to transfer the footage from the Cineporter to another hard drive. I feel there's an extra step in that process that's not necessary.

This is my theory at least.

Does the external drive require to be selfpowered? Are those portable drives that run on the energy from the computer can be used on the HVX200, or do they require some sort of battery or AC cord? iomega has some solutions like these.

Here's the write up -
- - - - -
More compact and much faster than conventional hard drives, this small portable triple interface powerhouse boasts unmatched high capacity and speed for its size. Exclusively designed by Neil Poulton for LaCie, it has a unique sturdy, aluminum body engineered to dissipate heat without a fan, for silent operation. It offers the universal connectivity of Triple Interface (2 x FireWire 800, 1 x FireWire 400 and 1 x USB 2.0 ports). FireWire bus-powered, there's no need for a cumbersome AC adapter* and it's capable of FireWire daisy-chaining. With unrivaled portable speed and built-in RAID 0, it's ideal for demanding users such as audio-video professionals who need mega mobile storage.
- - - - -

Just copy and paste this phrase into Google and you can see more details from a few different places that sell it:
LaCie Little Big Disk Triple Interface External Hard Drive

I don't know if this will work since I don't have either the HVX200 or the LaCie, but the second I get my HVX200, I'm going to have to try to find the best storage solution for my workflow. At this point (today, right now, this hour) this looks like the storage solution I would buy.

Edwin, I'm going to look into the Iomega's as well now. Thanks for mentioning that hard drive storage option as well.

Well, yes, there are many, but they're pretty much all USB2. Firewire battery-powered enclosures appear to be nearly nonexistent. And the HVX offloads through firewire, so that's what we're all searching for. The older ipod can act as a battery-powered firewire drive, which is why it's garnering interest.

For use with an HVX, "firewire bus-powered" is irrelevant, as the HVX doesn't supply bus power. You would still have to use an AC adapter. Or find a self-battery-powered enclosure.

I'm thinking about Rugged LaCie and some 3rd party battery for that.
Any suggestions for the battery?

Is there a limit to the hard drive size or the number of partitions? I think I recall seeing an error message in the manual saying "too many partitions". This possibly eludes to only so many "dumps" being made to the hard drive before the HVX might say....."uh....no."

Did you ever find a battery that will power these drives?

I tryed the IPOD with just the camera adapter they sell for dumping photos...it was a nightmare. Took 45 mins to dump 512 megs, then the battery was 75% drained. I slashed that idea and went with a Wolverine Drive for photo copying. Dont waste your time on the IPOD idea, its a waste of time.

Umm... think it might be a little faster using Firewire?

Doesn't the Wolverine drive only transfer like 6-10gb on a battery change?

The wolverine I have (40 GB FlashPac Memory Card Reader & Storage Drive) is for slr's really, you can hook up tons of different media cards to it, it holds 40gig, but they offer many sizes. The wolverine I have transfered like a gig in say a minute maybe? And the battery lasts a long time, atleast in my experiences. I posted this in anohter topic today, but they wrote back today, whenI asked if this same drive could work with the HVX: "The current Wolverines cannot connect directly to a device USB port. It could only connect to a computer's USB port. However, we are creating a new model that should be launched in May of this year that has a USB On The Go (OTG) that could connect to another device directly without a computer as you stated below. If you are an owner of a Wolverine device you are always illegible for an upgrade. Check with us in May if you would like to upgrade." But from what Im reading, the HGX actually wont dump to stand alone drives via USB, only firewire? If so, maybe this is something Pansonic can fix in a firmware update? But trust me, the IPOD is a dead end, I used it on a photo shoot out in the desert this summer, and it was a nightmare, luckly I was able to work around it dumping to my laptop when I had a chance.

That is correct.
Nope. But it doesn't matter much, since the wolverine you're talking about will have USB-OTG, and you can use USB-OTG with the HVX right now. It works.

Support
 

One factor that is important to keep in mind is product support. As indies we're all trying to find cost effective methods for getting the job done however, there is a point where purchase price crosses a line of available support based on the kind of unit you buy.

iPods, Wolverines and such are designed and marketed to the general consumer and therefore are not built for the rigors of professional use, nor do they have the level of product support that a pro product does.

You may find *cost-effective* alternates to things like the Cineporter or Firestore however if you rely on these devices and they fail, not only will the manufacturers probably balk at the fact that you're using the device outside of it's intended purpose, but you'll also be stuck waiting for a replacement at their discretion, meaning you won't get it replaced quickly and at worst, the manufacturer may dictate that it's usage falls outside the warranty and you'll have to buy another.

*Pro* devices like the Cineporter, Firestore and other camera accessories cost more because part of what you're paying for is the ability to get quick turnarounds on hardware replacement and, most often telephonic tech support to help with troubleshooting.

Even if the iPod were a valid capture/dump to device, do you think you'd be able to get an Apple tech on the phone to help during a crisis? Nope.

All valid points, but lets not forgot one other reason people are looking at questionable alternatives like iPods right now.. you can't buy a Firestore or Cineporter yet :(

thread
 

i read this entire thread and im even more confused then when i started. ok the lacie is out of the question.

Whats the deal with the wolverine do you still need a p2 card and is it battery operated? Can\'t you just transfer directly from the hvx to the hard drive?