I think you missed my point. You cannot output P2 data via USB except with the P2 Viewer software loaded on an XP laptop or desktop (which then allows you to transfer to any HDD connected to the PC), hence limiting portability.

You can put the HVX in "1394 host mode" and dump P2 directly to a Firewire HDD connected directly to the HVX with no intervening PC (not in real time unfortunately). So, a battery operated Firewire HDD would give great portability, hence the iPod trick. This is why the Firestore is popular because it allows battery operated portability and captures real-time, because it contans the controllers necessary to do this.

And, if you want to dump to a Mac (non-real time) you need to be in 1394 connect mode. Hope this helps.

Several places have them in the $25 - $35 range. I own two of them, one of an eBay reseller and one from Meritline I think.


ash =o)

Actually, most the USB battery powered enclosures support "on the go" functionality. Press the button, back-up the card. It does seem a little slower than firewire but it works and I have done it myself.


ash =o)

The firewire case with battery that I got don't work good. It turns itself off during the backup process. Then I added external battery pack then it worked good for few times, then stalled in the middle, then now it won't mount on HVX200's host mode, while iPod60 is still working. As it is now, I still take my iPod out with my HVX200. Can anyone direct me to any good external drive that work good with HVX200 on the go?

Firestore?

-gl

no, little pricy and I need to shoot in native mode.

Kaku, check over at DVXuser, there are many with the USB OTG solutions up and running.




ash =o)

No good - HVX200 doesn't output via USB in Host mode, only 1394.

Dick,

That is my understanding. USB is provided only for connecting to PC.

You missed the key point -- USB "OTG", which stands for "On The Go". With a USB "On The Go" device, the drive itself acts as a host. The drive pulls the data off the HVX's cards because the drive is an intelligent host.

It works fine, it's just about half the speed of using the camera as a controller for a firewire drive.

Barry, thanks, that's a good example of USB idiot as I am because never used much of them (besides keyboard and mouse). What is the download time for 4GB volume like? Has anyone tried one from Maxtor if they have one?

So, Ash, Barry, what do you think of this?
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...p?oid=63061068

The description explains something like it has a host mode with writing only the differences in the volume. That might comes in handy.
Also, it could play back H.264, too, so that might be fun to show some clips in there. And, it's made for viewing, and I would imagine the battery life would be longer than cheaper OTB drives.

Hoooray! It worked. The Epson P-5000 worked fine as OTG host. First I had some problems by using whatever USB cable lying around, but when I switched to the USB cable came with P-5000 then started working fine.

P-5000 has replacible Li-Ion battery, it has SD and FC slots to back up to 80GB internal HD, plays back photos and Divx and H.264 video.

More reports at the link below.

http://web.mac.com/kakuito/iWeb/Kaku...53F29282E.html

wow - learn something new everyday. thanks

7:45 for a 4GB card.

I don't know why it's so slow. I used a Hitachi 7200rpm drive, put it in a firewire enclosure and it transfers a 4GB card in 4 minutes. I put the same drive in two different USB On-The-Go enclosures, and in both enclosures that same drive takes 7:45.

As another alternative for USB, I have an Archos 504, which is a portable 80GB video/music player device, and which has the capability to act as a USB host. It's got a nice two-pane directory interface for copying files over, sort of like the old Norton Commander. But it's s l o w... it takes about 15 minutes to copy a 4GB card. No idea why.