CompactDrive PD7X Report

[SigmaSD9]

CompactDrive PD7X Report

Speed
I use Sigma SD9, the Image is >8MB each, as the wedding is in progress my 1G CF run out of space quickly. My previous PSD (Image Tank, Nixvue, e-film) will free me up after 15 to 20 minutes. CompactDrive takes just over 3 minutes for the same task

Battery life
My CompactDrive is a 40G unit, on my last job, it stores 34G of data on a set of AA rechargeable. My Image Tank won't even last for 15G, the reason I bought Image Tank was it used to be the longest lasting PSD on the market.

Battery type
CompactDrive is the only product on the market using standard AA, all other PSD uses special battery and takes hours to recharge. Since its battery will last for a long time, and in the very rare situation I might forgot to bring additional set, I know I can easily get hold of AA’s even in country site of Cambodia

Build Quality
CompactDrive is made of nicely finished Aluminum with a professional appearance, It's solid and strong, unlike my other PSD, they are all made of colorful toy plastic.

Brand name
CompactDrive does not waste money in advertising but reinvest the profit in research and development, However it's performance is well know by the professional photographers world wide. That's why I purchase this product

Future Proof
CompactDrive's firmware is upgradeable, and it will be the first PSD to support FAT32 (>2G) Flash card.

Simple operation
No useless function (MP3 etc.) nor power hungry tiny colour display, only design to copy/backup your digital film. It also comes with a handy carrying bag with very secured velco belt clip, with the unit on my belt vertically it is very easy to copy my CF card data on the job, just flip open the memory slot cover, insert my CF card hit ok button, “op” led start flashing, few minutes later the “ok” led lit up – job done

Battery Charger
The build in charger does a wonderful job charging and maintaining the battery, the battery is really "FULL Capacity" and does not even feel warm after charging overnight, I really notice the difference on my power hungry Metz flash gun, and I just realized my Powerex AA battery was never fully charged in the Maha 401's charger.

Product Support
I purchase my unit from www.compactdrive.co.nz With their 7 days money back guarantee I know this is a company will support their product

Conclusion
This is the BEST PSD I own so far, It would take a long while for other manufacturer to catch up to PD7X's performance in every aspect and durability (nice aluminum case), however I am also hoping to see some similar products from Nikon or Canon because of their build quality, they surely realized PSD is a necessity for DSLR users or even a compact to normal size digital camera user (5, 7, 8mp CCD)

Now I know why everyone is saying

CompactDrive is design by a Professional Photographer for the Professionals

Added 16Sep, I just realize there's a CompactDrive network

www.compactdrive.us
www.compactdrive.co.uk
www.compactdrive.co.nz
www.compactdrive.com.tw
www.compactdrive.jp
www.compactdrive.net
www.compactdrive.info

[SigmaSD9]

and a video clip of the live speed testing
Video Clip during File transfer

[SigmaSD9]

Cut from
http://www.compactdrive.co.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13

CompactDrive International Co. Ltd is in the process of setting up its global retail and support network.

www.CompactDrive.net - Global Support Site

www.CompactDrive.co.uk - United Kingdom and EU regional Sales and Support
www.CompactDrive.co.nz - Australia, New Zealand regional Sales and Support
www.CompactDrive.us - USA, Canada regional Sales and Support
www.CompactDrive.com.tw - Taiwan and Asia regional Sales and Support
www.CompactDrive.jp - Japan regional Sales and Support

[SigmaSD9]

www.CompactDrive.info
what is that for?

[BPhoto]

Hi SigmaSD9,

Have you ever tried using CompactDrive on Mac computers?

I have ordered mine from the US website. However I am a bit worried that the compactdrive won't work on my Powerbook... though they are offering a refund policy. Could you give more test result on this?

[SigmaSD9]

the latest version of CompactDrive PD7X is plug and play under Mac 8.0+ and Windows ME/2000/XP/2003

[BPhoto]

I received my CompactDrive yesterday.

So far things look good. I didn't do the firmware update as I was told not to. The guys from compactdrive company said to me the update is with risk and they don't suggest users do the update themselves. Howevr, I was told that my unit had been upgraded to the latest firmware by default.

As expected, speed is great. I discharged approx. 500 MB data from my CF card to PD7X within 2 mins and 10 secs. When I plugged the unit to my powerbook, it detects the drive and showed me a message saying the drive is not recognised by OS and gave me a few options to choose. I simply click 'ignore' and opened 'Disk Utility', it shows the drive is there. I then copied all files to my local partition and managed to view files correctly.

However, it is not recommended to use CompactDrive with MicroDrive.

This device hasn't got much media support functions but simply does the job for me. I ordered mine from www.compactdrive.us and received it 4 days after I made the payment. I am very happy with such prompt delivery.