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Page 1
Intro:
You are probably like most people when they go on vacation and use a digital camera with a few memory cards. It would be great if you didn't need a computer all the time to constantly backup your photos. The MS1U from Sans Digital is billed as a digital photo bank and it does just that. It takes a laptop (IDE) hard drive and converts it into portable storage for your memory cards.
Parts:
I know you are terribly upset at the thought of not having a section for the box, but I received the unit inside another review product. Interestingly enough, I didn't include a picture of the AC adapter in this shot. You can check out the »MS2UT+B review for it. I included it in that shot by accident. The other parts are the unit itself, a mini screwdriver and screws, a case, a USB2 cable, and the quick start guide.
Specs:
There is no SDHC support on the MS1U. Hopefully Sans Digital will release an update that will provide this functionality since most devices support SDHC cards.
MS1U:
The MS1U carries the silver motif and shines with it. It is slightly bigger than the laptop hard drive itself (as you will see in the video supplement later). The unit has a good sized LCD screen to give you information about the hard drive as well as transfer status and card capacity used.
The unit takes an IDE laptop hard drive instead of a serial ATA drive. It just so happens that I had an extra one to use with this. Interestingly, the unit is called the "Digi Drive" and the "Digital Photo Bank." If I had to pick one of them only, it would be the latter. What is a "Digi Drive" anyway?
The bottom of the unit has ports for USB, the AC adapter, and a charging status LED. The unit can be charged from the AC or USB and should take a bit longer to charge through USB. By charge, I mean that the unit has an internal battery to give you juice on the go when you are away from your computer or a wall socket.
The left side of the unit contains the slot for SD and other sized cards as well as the functional buttons of the unit. There are only two buttons; On/off and copy are your choices. The unit is very simple to operate once you have the drive installed in it. Everything else is handled automatically.
CompactFlash makes a splash with this unit as does the MicroDrive which no one really uses anymore. Speaking about no one uses...
SM for SmartMedia. Now that's a format that nobody uses anymore. I thought that was phased out when CompactFlash took over? Either way, you get the majority of ports you need for current picture cards. There is no xD or SDHC support, but xD is garbage and SDHC will hopefully be included soon.
Intro:
You are probably like most people when they go on vacation and use a digital camera with a few memory cards. It would be great if you didn't need a computer all the time to constantly backup your photos. The MS1U from Sans Digital is billed as a digital photo bank and it does just that. It takes a laptop (IDE) hard drive and converts it into portable storage for your memory cards.
Parts:
I know you are terribly upset at the thought of not having a section for the box, but I received the unit inside another review product. Interestingly enough, I didn't include a picture of the AC adapter in this shot. You can check out the »MS2UT+B review for it. I included it in that shot by accident. The other parts are the unit itself, a mini screwdriver and screws, a case, a USB2 cable, and the quick start guide.
Specs:
- Blue backlight LCD panel with status and battery indicator.
- Three memory card slots supports: CF I/II, MD, SM, MS, MS-PRO, SD, Mini-SD, MMC Card, etc (No SDHC support).
- USB 2.0 host interface, backward compatible with USB 1.1.
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-Ion battery.
- Single button backup from memory card to hard drive.
- Durable and light weight aluminum case with carry bag.
- Model MS1U (MAC1U)
- Form Factor Notebook Hard Drive Enclosure
- Maximum Capacity 128GB
- Host Interface & Transfer Rate USB 2.0 (480Mbps)
- Drive Interface IDE
- Power Supply 1200 mAH rechargeable lithium battery
- Control Interface LCD Panel
- Status Indicators LCD + LED
- Dimension (in) 3.1"W x 4.9"D x 1"H
- Weight (lb) 0.32 lbs (without hard disk)
- Limited Warranty 1 Years
There is no SDHC support on the MS1U. Hopefully Sans Digital will release an update that will provide this functionality since most devices support SDHC cards.
MS1U:
The MS1U carries the silver motif and shines with it. It is slightly bigger than the laptop hard drive itself (as you will see in the video supplement later). The unit has a good sized LCD screen to give you information about the hard drive as well as transfer status and card capacity used.
The unit takes an IDE laptop hard drive instead of a serial ATA drive. It just so happens that I had an extra one to use with this. Interestingly, the unit is called the "Digi Drive" and the "Digital Photo Bank." If I had to pick one of them only, it would be the latter. What is a "Digi Drive" anyway?
The bottom of the unit has ports for USB, the AC adapter, and a charging status LED. The unit can be charged from the AC or USB and should take a bit longer to charge through USB. By charge, I mean that the unit has an internal battery to give you juice on the go when you are away from your computer or a wall socket.
The left side of the unit contains the slot for SD and other sized cards as well as the functional buttons of the unit. There are only two buttons; On/off and copy are your choices. The unit is very simple to operate once you have the drive installed in it. Everything else is handled automatically.
CompactFlash makes a splash with this unit as does the MicroDrive which no one really uses anymore. Speaking about no one uses...
SM for SmartMedia. Now that's a format that nobody uses anymore. I thought that was phased out when CompactFlash took over? Either way, you get the majority of ports you need for current picture cards. There is no xD or SDHC support, but xD is garbage and SDHC will hopefully be included soon.
Page 2
Testing And Use:
The unit's battery lasted a good long time, but I couldn't get any hard numbers since the drive is smart enough not to transfer pictures from a card it has already seen and transferred. I wasn't about to keep changing files on the cards to do that test, but the battery life is fine for use. The actual use of the device is very simple. You turn the unit on and plug a memory card in. Once you do that, hit the copy button and the transfer starts. The video supplement is included...
(Forgive the Youtube audio screw up, it didn't sound that bad when I rendered it.)
Aside from the trouble I had getting the plastic piece to hold the drive in, the installation was pretty easy. All the hardware needed is included with the unit including the tiny screw driver.
The unit's quick start guide says it only handles 32GB FAT32 partitions to copy the pictures, this turned out to be false. You can use any size FAT32 partition. If for some reason your drive does not function with a partition greater than 32GB, try lower it. You can still use the rest of the space for USB mass storage. The unit acts like a removable hard drive when you plug it into the USB port of the computer which is a plus since there is no extra software to install. It works on Mac, Linux, Windows, and all the others that support USB mass storage.
Transfers will take some time to perform if you have a bunch of data to copy. It may take upwards of 15 minutes or more depending on how fast the card can be read and other factors. You can leave the device to copy the data itself since the unit will turn off after it's done copying to save battery life. The battery life indicator will show you when you are running low. The unit gives all the needed data for viewing which is always good.
The unit is supposed to act like a card reader when plugged into USB, but in my testing, it didn't work that way. It is a blemish, but not a big deal since you'll be transferring the pictures to the drive first then using the drive for USB mass storage.
Conclusion:
I checked the Sans Digital site and the unit is going for about $50 which is a great price for piece of mind. Think about how you could use a device like this. The ability to transfer pictures to it instead of having to turn on your laptop while on vacation is great. You can bulk transfer when you are ready instead of each time the memory card fills up. The MS1U stores each memory card in a different folder on the device so you can organize your pictures easier when you transfer.
Hopefully Sans Digital will include SDHC support in a future unit since that's the only thing from giving it a recommended award. The lack of SDHC is a real bummer since most people are buying SDHC card since they have dropped in price. If you are using non SDHC cards, the MS1U is a perfect match for your digital camera. If you are using SDHC, you'll have to look elsewhere.
I'd like to thank Katy from Sans Digital for sending the MobileSTOR units for review.
Testing And Use:
The unit's battery lasted a good long time, but I couldn't get any hard numbers since the drive is smart enough not to transfer pictures from a card it has already seen and transferred. I wasn't about to keep changing files on the cards to do that test, but the battery life is fine for use. The actual use of the device is very simple. You turn the unit on and plug a memory card in. Once you do that, hit the copy button and the transfer starts. The video supplement is included...
(Forgive the Youtube audio screw up, it didn't sound that bad when I rendered it.)
Aside from the trouble I had getting the plastic piece to hold the drive in, the installation was pretty easy. All the hardware needed is included with the unit including the tiny screw driver.
The unit's quick start guide says it only handles 32GB FAT32 partitions to copy the pictures, this turned out to be false. You can use any size FAT32 partition. If for some reason your drive does not function with a partition greater than 32GB, try lower it. You can still use the rest of the space for USB mass storage. The unit acts like a removable hard drive when you plug it into the USB port of the computer which is a plus since there is no extra software to install. It works on Mac, Linux, Windows, and all the others that support USB mass storage.
Transfers will take some time to perform if you have a bunch of data to copy. It may take upwards of 15 minutes or more depending on how fast the card can be read and other factors. You can leave the device to copy the data itself since the unit will turn off after it's done copying to save battery life. The battery life indicator will show you when you are running low. The unit gives all the needed data for viewing which is always good.
The unit is supposed to act like a card reader when plugged into USB, but in my testing, it didn't work that way. It is a blemish, but not a big deal since you'll be transferring the pictures to the drive first then using the drive for USB mass storage.
Conclusion:
I checked the Sans Digital site and the unit is going for about $50 which is a great price for piece of mind. Think about how you could use a device like this. The ability to transfer pictures to it instead of having to turn on your laptop while on vacation is great. You can bulk transfer when you are ready instead of each time the memory card fills up. The MS1U stores each memory card in a different folder on the device so you can organize your pictures easier when you transfer.
Hopefully Sans Digital will include SDHC support in a future unit since that's the only thing from giving it a recommended award. The lack of SDHC is a real bummer since most people are buying SDHC card since they have dropped in price. If you are using non SDHC cards, the MS1U is a perfect match for your digital camera. If you are using SDHC, you'll have to look elsewhere.
I'd like to thank Katy from Sans Digital for sending the MobileSTOR units for review.