Tablet to download images

[rpcrowe]

Is there a tablet with which I could download images from my CF cards using a card reader and copy them to an external hard drive. I wouldn't expect to do anything with the images except to copy them to the external ard drive. Some tablets include USB ports...

Carrying a tablet (I don't have any specific tablet in mind) to download my images when I am traveling would be a lot lighter in weight than carrying even a small notebook computer.

[Val Mansfield]

My wife's ASUS Transformer does this brilliantly for both RAW and JPEG files; I am sure that most other Tablets will also.

I gave it to her for her birthday so that I wouldn't have to lug a laptop around with me on our travels - but please don't tell her that.

Although you may not want to do anything with the images, Photoshop does have a mini version for Tablets. I don't know if it works with RAW though.

[lenelg]

I would not recommend the Apple iPad for this purpose (hard-won experience..). It is brilliant for showing off your photos, and copying photos to it is easy - but erasing your photos once they are safely home to make room for new ones is a nightmare. There is apparently no way you can select a folder and erase them all in one - you have to choose each and every image on its own..

The operating system does not allow you to handle files at all, it has to be done from within each specific application. To some extent you can find workarounds by googleing, but we are supposed to be photographers, not hackers?

[herbert]

Hi Richard,

Have you thought about something that accepts the card directly instead of via a tablet? Something like the Hyperdrive:

http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive-...-UDMA-s/64.htm

There are a few storage options on BH photo too for a few ideas:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/St...9/N/4138043893

Some of the options are expensive compared to a USB storage drive but cheaper than a tablet and more portable.

Alex

[Manfred M]

My wife's ASUS Transformer does this brilliantly for both RAW and JPEG files; I am sure that most other Tablets will also.

I gave it to her for her birthday so that I wouldn't have to lug a laptop around with me on our travels - but please don't tell her that.

Although you may not want to do anything with the images, Photoshop does have a mini version for Tablets. I don't know if it works with RAW though.

I'm not sure if your wife and I have the same ASUS Transformer (I have the original TF101) and the tablet itself does not have any USB ports, so I have to drag along the optional keyboard (which has two USB ports). This unfortunately doubles the size (thickness) and weight.

The TF1010 has a built-in SD card reader. I've definitely used it on my travels and have downloaded using the SD slot. I've had less success with the external card reader for my CF cards; I suspect that this may be a card reader compatibility issue. I haven't tried a direct connection to the camera yet. I've put a 32GB microSD card in the Tablet slot and use that to hold the images or use a FlashDrive if I have lots of pictures. Erasing the files and directory are quite easy.

I do have Photoshop Touch and find it extremely limited (i.e. darn slow) running on my Tablet and I only do the most basic editing with it.

[bhurley]

I would not recommend the Apple iPad for this purpose (hard-won experience..).

+1. I think enough people have complained about this that Apple will probably fix it in the next version of iPhoto for iOS (and in the built-in photo app as well). The other frustration is in synchronization: I took my iPad on a recent trip to France and downloaded photos from my camera to the iPad. That worked great. And I was able to edit the photos easily using iPhoto for iOS, create albums, flag and rate my photos, etc. But I didn't delete all the photos on my camera's card between photo sessions, since that provided a backup in case anything happened to my iPad. This meant that each time I added more photos, it would also add ones I had previously deleted from the iPad and I'd have to delete them all over again. And none of my edits or ratings transferred over to iPhoto on my Mac when I synchronized with my computer once I got home.

I'm confident that Apple will fix these basic problems in the next version, but for now it's pretty frustrating.

[IanCD]

Hi Richard,
Following discussion in this thread, I bought an Asus EeePad Transformer Infinity - just been released and it arrived just 3 hours ago..! I bought it with the optional dock which has an SD card slot and a USB slot, which I think will do what you want. Obviously, I've only just started with this and it's my first android device - just downloaded my first apps: Helicoid Remote for tethered LiveView shooting + Photographer's Ephemeris... I'm looking for RawDroid now.
I'm well impressed with it already - the display is gorgeous!
Ian

[koolkat]

I have used the FlashTrax XL for a number of years. Mine is 80 gigs and has a CF slot. I can download the images and it does not erase them from the card which I think is a great option. It does download RAW files with no problems. This model is an old gaget but I've used mine for years and every now and then see them on Ebay for some good prices. It also handles movies, MP3s and is just a great item to download and view your shots. I do not believe they are still being made but used, a great item.

[rpcrowe]

My wife informed me that she wanted an IPad-3. She said to buy a tablet myself if I wanted one to download my images. I can abide by this. If I convinced her to get other than an IPad, everytime something went wrong with the tablet, I would hear about it.

However, I have a 14 inch fairly light weight notebook computer (no way as near lightweight as a ablet)which I will use for downloading images and transferring them to my external hard drives. Probably, this is a better route. When we only had the computer in China, we had some spats about who was going to get time on the thing in the evening when we were both tired and I wanted to download and copy multiple CF cards full of images.

Speaking about Droid and Iphone apps, I got convinced to buy a Windows based smart phone. There are more droid and Iphone apps available than there are Windows based apps for photography.

[FlyFitz]

Mac Air. 11 or 13". Crazy light, fast, and full featured. $$$ though... I have an iPad, but always end up using the Air for anything other than viewing online photos and web browsing.

Sean

[PhotomanJohn]

Having had an iPad for several years I agree that it is not ideal for photo back-up. I sold my iPad and got one of the new Mac Air 11" and could not be happier. The 11" unit does not have an SD slot but I carry a really short USB cable (6" or so) and use Bridge to download the photos. These are also great little computers. This one has the optional processor, memory and SSD and is quite useable for photo editing (CS6) when traveling. It also fits into the pouch on my camera bag that was intended for an iPad. They are probably the most expensive option but I think you get what you pay for.

John

[Sussex825]

I use an Acer A500 for this purpose. It has a full size USB port that takes a card reader. It also has a port to insert a microSD card for extra memory. Using a file manager I can import files and sort them. To view I use the built-in Gallery app, and for RAW you can use the RAWdroid viewer app. There is also a resize app which is useful for emailing small images.
On a recent trip I downloaded each day's images to the microSD card for backup and review.

Ed