Transferring files to a tablet or HD

whk1992 · 08-26-2014, 05:05 PM

If you have an Android device, connect a USB hub to an OTG cable.

Note 2: OTG cable + USB hub? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

Then, you can connect both a card reader and a portable harddisk drive to the hub. Note: your USB hub must be powered in this case, since both devices draw lots of power.

**Lowell Goudge** · 08-26-2014, 10:46 PM

Originally posted by GeneV

I'm curious which netbook that is? My $199 netbook (eepc) with a 250 gb HD and a built-in card reader will not charge anything from its USB port. Mine is over 4 years old, and perhaps they have beefed up the power now, but I find the external charger for the iPad, or one of the dual port chargers which are about the same size to be more useful for charging than my netbook. The iPad Air will also do raw conversions much more efficiently, but, again, that may be a matter of vintage.

BTW, the NEX charging system is how all cameras should work.

My hp net book can power small devices but for larger things like DVD burner, there are special cables which can take power from 2 USB ports to power the device. Because there are limits to what each port can power. Usually USB hard disks are not an issue. At least with my hp web book

---------- Post added 08-27-2014 at 01:50 AM ----------

Originally posted by whk1992

If you have an Android device, connect a USB hub to an OTG cable.

Note 2: OTG cable + USB hub? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

Then, you can connect both a card reader and a portable harddisk drive to the hub. Note: your USB hub must be powered in this case, since both devices draw lots of power.

As I don't have one, I live in the Mac world of portable devices (save my web book)
Do android devices have an app similar to file manager in windows? Where you can select and drag files and directories to copy. That is the key point. If they can, then with a USB hub attached, you can copy from the SD card to an external HD. No matter what you are doing, unless you have a web book, or other HD storage based device, you simply don't have the capacity for today's shooting

GeneV · 08-27-2014, 05:38 AM

I'm set to receive a usb 3.0 128 gb flash drive today. This size has gotten pretty cheap for performance which approaches SSD and much lower power use than any HD. If the RavPower has no trouble recognizing it, this will be the best solution of all for me. (USB 2.0 would be fine for the RavPower and even cheaper, but I might want to use the flash drive for other things) A couple of these should be more than enough, and I like the idea of dividing the files so that losing or breaking one item does not destroy everything from the trip. Two or three plus a multi port USB power adapter is still smaller than most USB HD drives and smaller than most net book power supplies. Though I did it for years, I am more concerned now about carrying my photos inside a tempting theft target like a computer or tablet or camera.

---------- Post added 08-27-14 at 07:10 AM ----------

Originally posted by rawr

If you don't see the charging LED on the NEX base illuminate, for example, it ain't charging. I wasted a day waiting for the thing to charge once, only to realise that for some reason the plug wasn't connecting right.

This is a frequent problem with micro usb in my experience. I have had the charging port in a Kindle Fire and on the EasyAcc (but so far not the Ravpower) do the same thing. Something about that port does not grip well unless both the plug and the jack are of very high quality. A high quality plug seems to have two more pronounced "teeth" at the end which keep it from falling out as easily. I have ended up taping lesser plugs into the sockets for a longer charge.

As annoyed as I was when Apple went to the non-standard "Lightning" port, I have to admit that plug is "lightning" years ahead of the standard micro usb in reliability.

bdery · 08-27-2014, 06:12 AM

Originally posted by jimr-pdx

My minimal solution is using SDMicro in cameras & dumping to android tablet via its memory slot. This does the job for my needs, but space can fill in a hurry!

That's what I do too. Also, if you use an Asus transformer, the keyboard part has a regular SD slot.

when using a tablet, space can be an issue, on the other hand if you have access to wifi and have an account on Smugmug or other hosting sites, you can upload your images in the cloud, dump them from the tablet, and keep shooting.

Of course, now I use two 16 GB cards so I can shoot a great while before filling them up.

**Lowell Goudge** · 08-27-2014, 02:26 PM

Originally posted by bdery

That's what I do too. Also, if you use an Asus transformer, the keyboard part has a regular SD slot.

when using a tablet, space can be an issue, on the other hand if you have access to wifi and have an account on Smugmug or other hosting sites, you can upload your images in the cloud, dump them from the tablet, and keep shooting.

Of course, now I use two 16 GB cards so I can shoot a great while before filling them up.

Can an android device accept and simply drag to copy from the SD slot to a USB storage device, or can it only grab files from the storage device on the USB port.

I have not seen an answer for this, but if it can, when my ipad dies I might go for an android tablet.

GeneV · 08-27-2014, 02:29 PM

I just got my Corsair 128 gb Voyager flash drive. It is not the latest model, so it is half the price of the flagship. Both in the Ravpower (which only has USB 2.0) and to an even greater degree in a USB 3.0 slot in my laptop, it is faster than my USB 3.0 HD. This is definitely the ticket for the travel backup.

bdery · 08-28-2014, 06:05 AM

Originally posted by Lowell Goudge

Can an android device accept and simply drag to copy from the SD slot to a USB storage device, or can it only grab files from the storage device on the USB port.

I have not seen an answer for this, but if it can, when my ipad dies I might go for an android tablet.

With an Andriod device you can either work as with an IOS product (use files in apps only) OR you can use a file explorer (ES file explorer is probably the best) and simply browse your folder structure, as you would with a PC. You can move, copy, delete, rename files. When connected to a computer you can use the tablet (or phone) like a USB key, directly accessing the files (you can also use each company's equivalent of iTunes if you want a more automated process, but honestly I believe after 2 years I never once plugged my Asus tablet in a computer, I use wifi and a file explorer when I need it)

Several tablets (Asus, Samsung for sure) have micro USB ports so you can insert a micro USB card and directly copy your files wherever you want on the tablet. If you use the Asus transformer tablets with the add-on keyboard, you also have USB ports and a SD card slot (in addition to the tablet's microSD), so you could copy files from the SD card to the tablet, a USB stick, a NAS storage via wifi, etc.

Magic

**jpzk** · 08-28-2014, 06:37 AM

Originally posted by panoguy

I'm using the HyperDrive iUSBport HD, which is like the RavPower but with a built-in drive. It has an SD slot, can copy files to the internal HD or a tablet (and it only copies new files), works as a wi-fi file server, charger for USB devices, and can even power an additional external drive (which then shows up on the OTG network). Rather pricey in comparison, but with an SSD inside, the battery lasts for an extremely long time!

What size SSD did you pick for your needs?
Also: I checked the website and it is a bit confusing about which type of SD card(s) : Micro SD or "normal" SD ... or both?
Thanks.

Navmaxlp · 08-28-2014, 09:39 AM

I have a microsoft Surface 2 and it works great for me. I don't have the Pro version where you could install say lightroom (you can only add apps from the microsoft app store) but, it still is great. There's a micro SD slot in the back for a ton of storage (up to 128GB I believe) for on board memory and it has a USB 3.0 port to boot. With the type cover, you have a mouse pad and keyboard. I love it. Also look into the Dell venue Pro 8. Very inexpensive, portable and versatile.

panoguy · 08-28-2014, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by jpzk

What size SSD did you pick for your needs?
Also: I checked the website and it is a bit confusing about which type of SD card(s) : Micro SD or "normal" SD ... or both?
Thanks.

I loaded a 480GB SSD from OWC (macsales.com) after first trying an old 1TB drive in it.

See, while I got it primarily to back up photos through the normal sized SD slot (it supports MicroSD with an adapter), it can also stream multiple, concurrent videos to my iPad and Android phone (saving loads of space, since both devices have only 16GB). Perfect for long car trips with the kids!

Unfortunately, the constant spinning of a regular drive streaming video drained the battery in under 4 hours, but with the new (smaller and pricier) SSD it can go for 10+ hours, and still charge either device. Maybe not the cheapest way to go about it, but it fulfills my needs and is super compact! For just backing up photos, it can go a week (maybe longer) without needing to be recharged - the key is to turn off its wi-fi until you want to browse images from a device.

GeneV · 08-29-2014, 11:12 AM

Originally posted by panoguy

I loaded a 480GB SSD from OWC (macsales.com) after first trying an old 1TB drive in it.

See, while I got it primarily to back up photos through the normal sized SD slot (it supports MicroSD with an adapter), it can also stream multiple, concurrent videos to my iPad and Android phone (saving loads of space, since both devices have only 16GB). Perfect for long car trips with the kids!

Unfortunately, the constant spinning of a regular drive streaming video drained the battery in under 4 hours, but with the new (smaller and pricier) SSD it can go for 10+ hours, and still charge either device. Maybe not the cheapest way to go about it, but it fulfills my needs and is super compact! For just backing up photos, it can go a week (maybe longer) without needing to be recharged - the key is to turn off its wi-fi until you want to browse images from a device.

The Hyperdrive looks like a very nice unit, but the RavPower, plus a few large, fast USB flash drives is a lot cheaper.

panoguy · 08-29-2014, 04:41 PM

Originally posted by GeneV

The Hyperdrive looks like a very nice unit, but the RavPower, plus a few large, fast USB flash drives is a lot cheaper.

Well, that's why I said, "maybe not the cheapest way to go about it."

Still, if you shoot 20-30GB of images a day like I do (when I'm busy, ignoring videos), then USB flash drives can't touch the price/capacity of a conventional HDD. Like anything, totally depends on your needs.

GeneV · 08-30-2014, 05:00 PM

Originally posted by panoguy

Well, that's why I said, "maybe not the cheapest way to go about it."

Still, if you shoot 20-30GB of images a day like I do (when I'm busy, ignoring videos), then USB flash drives can't touch the price/capacity of a conventional HDD. Like anything, totally depends on your needs.

Agreed. Quite true for an HDD, where 500gb is about $50 and a tb not much more, but I bet that 480gb SSD was a lot more. If you want to get rid of the moving parts, for under $50 you can get a 128gb fast flash drive. Even at 20+ gb per day (I'm usually closer to half that), a couple of these would get me a week, and 500gb still ends up less than most 500gb SSDs. Granted, it won't be quite as fast, but plenty fast for keeping me backed up.

ruggiex · 09-03-2014, 10:15 AM

This just got announced and seems like something I have been waiting for... I have something similar made by small company that does not have SD card slot.

My Passport Wireless

panoguy · 09-04-2014, 07:00 PM

Originally posted by ruggiex

This just got announced and seems like something I have been waiting for... I have something similar made by small company that does not have SD card slot.

My Passport Wireless

Interesting stuff. Can't find any mention of the battery capacity or how long it should run, but the prices are really good ($220 for a 2TB version!).

Strangely, it seems that the entire control interface is handled through a web browser on a connected device, so a third device (phone, tablet, computer) is needed to even tell the drive to copy the SD card contents.

08-27-2014, 05:38 AM	#18
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830 Original Poster	I'm set to receive a usb 3.0 128 gb flash drive today. This size has gotten pretty cheap for performance which approaches SSD and much lower power use than any HD. If the RavPower has no trouble recognizing it, this will be the best solution of all for me. (USB 2.0 would be fine for the RavPower and even cheaper, but I might want to use the flash drive for other things) A couple of these should be more than enough, and I like the idea of dividing the files so that losing or breaking one item does not destroy everything from the trip. Two or three plus a multi port USB power adapter is still smaller than most USB HD drives and smaller than most net book power supplies. Though I did it for years, I am more concerned now about carrying my photos inside a tempting theft target like a computer or tablet or camera. ---------- Post added 08-27-14 at 07:10 AM ---------- Originally posted by rawr If you don't see the charging LED on the NEX base illuminate, for example, it ain't charging. I wasted a day waiting for the thing to charge once, only to realise that for some reason the plug wasn't connecting right. This is a frequent problem with micro usb in my experience. I have had the charging port in a Kindle Fire and on the EasyAcc (but so far not the Ravpower) do the same thing. Something about that port does not grip well unless both the plug and the jack are of very high quality. A high quality plug seems to have two more pronounced "teeth" at the end which keep it from falling out as easily. I have ended up taping lesser plugs into the sockets for a longer charge. As annoyed as I was when Apple went to the non-standard "Lightning" port, I have to admit that plug is "lightning" years ahead of the standard micro usb in reliability. Last edited by GeneV; 08-27-2014 at 06:12 AM.

08-28-2014, 06:37 AM	#23
jpzk Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Québec Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,251	Originally posted by panoguy I'm using the HyperDrive iUSBport HD, which is like the RavPower but with a built-in drive. It has an SD slot, can copy files to the internal HD or a tablet (and it only copies new files), works as a wi-fi file server, charger for USB devices, and can even power an additional external drive (which then shows up on the OTG network). Rather pricey in comparison, but with an SSD inside, the battery lasts for an extremely long time! What size SSD did you pick for your needs? Also: I checked the website and it is a bit confusing about which type of SD card(s) : Micro SD or "normal" SD ... or both? Thanks. Last edited by jpzk; 08-28-2014 at 06:44 AM.

08-28-2014, 10:44 AM	#25
panoguy Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,327	Originally posted by jpzk What size SSD did you pick for your needs? Also: I checked the website and it is a bit confusing about which type of SD card(s) : Micro SD or "normal" SD ... or both? Thanks. I loaded a 480GB SSD from OWC (macsales.com) after first trying an old 1TB drive in it. See, while I got it primarily to back up photos through the normal sized SD slot (it supports MicroSD with an adapter), it can also stream multiple, concurrent videos to my iPad and Android phone (saving loads of space, since both devices have only 16GB). Perfect for long car trips with the kids! Unfortunately, the constant spinning of a regular drive streaming video drained the battery in under 4 hours, but with the new (smaller and pricier) SSD it can go for 10+ hours, and still charge either device. Maybe not the cheapest way to go about it, but it fulfills my needs and is super compact! For just backing up photos, it can go a week (maybe longer) without needing to be recharged - the key is to turn off its wi-fi until you want to browse images from a device. Last edited by panoguy; 08-28-2014 at 10:50 AM.

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08-26-2014, 05:05 PM	#16
whk1992 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Photos: Gallery Posts: 715	If you have an Android device, connect a USB hub to an OTG cable. Note 2: OTG cable + USB hub? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com Then, you can connect both a card reader and a portable harddisk drive to the hub. Note: your USB hub must be powered in this case, since both devices draw lots of power.

08-26-2014, 10:46 PM	#17
Lowell Goudge Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,888	Originally posted by GeneV I'm curious which netbook that is? My $199 netbook (eepc) with a 250 gb HD and a built-in card reader will not charge anything from its USB port. Mine is over 4 years old, and perhaps they have beefed up the power now, but I find the external charger for the iPad, or one of the dual port chargers which are about the same size to be more useful for charging than my netbook. The iPad Air will also do raw conversions much more efficiently, but, again, that may be a matter of vintage. BTW, the NEX charging system is how all cameras should work. My hp net book can power small devices but for larger things like DVD burner, there are special cables which can take power from 2 USB ports to power the device. Because there are limits to what each port can power. Usually USB hard disks are not an issue. At least with my hp web book ---------- Post added 08-27-2014 at 01:50 AM ---------- Originally posted by whk1992 If you have an Android device, connect a USB hub to an OTG cable. Note 2: OTG cable + USB hub? - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com Then, you can connect both a card reader and a portable harddisk drive to the hub. Note: your USB hub must be powered in this case, since both devices draw lots of power. As I don't have one, I live in the Mac world of portable devices (save my web book) Do android devices have an app similar to file manager in windows? Where you can select and drag files and directories to copy. That is the key point. If they can, then with a USB hub attached, you can copy from the SD card to an external HD. No matter what you are doing, unless you have a web book, or other HD storage based device, you simply don't have the capacity for today's shooting

08-27-2014, 06:12 AM	#19
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	Originally posted by jimr-pdx My minimal solution is using SDMicro in cameras & dumping to android tablet via its memory slot. This does the job for my needs, but space can fill in a hurry! That's what I do too. Also, if you use an Asus transformer, the keyboard part has a regular SD slot. when using a tablet, space can be an issue, on the other hand if you have access to wifi and have an account on Smugmug or other hosting sites, you can upload your images in the cloud, dump them from the tablet, and keep shooting. Of course, now I use two 16 GB cards so I can shoot a great while before filling them up.

08-27-2014, 02:26 PM	#20
Lowell Goudge Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,888	Originally posted by bdery That's what I do too. Also, if you use an Asus transformer, the keyboard part has a regular SD slot. when using a tablet, space can be an issue, on the other hand if you have access to wifi and have an account on Smugmug or other hosting sites, you can upload your images in the cloud, dump them from the tablet, and keep shooting. Of course, now I use two 16 GB cards so I can shoot a great while before filling them up. Can an android device accept and simply drag to copy from the SD slot to a USB storage device, or can it only grab files from the storage device on the USB port. I have not seen an answer for this, but if it can, when my ipad dies I might go for an android tablet.

08-27-2014, 02:29 PM	#21
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830 Original Poster	I just got my Corsair 128 gb Voyager flash drive. It is not the latest model, so it is half the price of the flagship. Both in the Ravpower (which only has USB 2.0) and to an even greater degree in a USB 3.0 slot in my laptop, it is faster than my USB 3.0 HD. This is definitely the ticket for the travel backup.

08-28-2014, 06:05 AM	#22
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	Originally posted by Lowell Goudge Can an android device accept and simply drag to copy from the SD slot to a USB storage device, or can it only grab files from the storage device on the USB port. I have not seen an answer for this, but if it can, when my ipad dies I might go for an android tablet. With an Andriod device you can either work as with an IOS product (use files in apps only) OR you can use a file explorer (ES file explorer is probably the best) and simply browse your folder structure, as you would with a PC. You can move, copy, delete, rename files. When connected to a computer you can use the tablet (or phone) like a USB key, directly accessing the files (you can also use each company's equivalent of iTunes if you want a more automated process, but honestly I believe after 2 years I never once plugged my Asus tablet in a computer, I use wifi and a file explorer when I need it) Several tablets (Asus, Samsung for sure) have micro USB ports so you can insert a micro USB card and directly copy your files wherever you want on the tablet. If you use the Asus transformer tablets with the add-on keyboard, you also have USB ports and a SD card slot (in addition to the tablet's microSD), so you could copy files from the SD card to the tablet, a USB stick, a NAS storage via wifi, etc. Magic

08-28-2014, 09:39 AM	#24
Navmaxlp Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Photos: Albums Posts: 167	I have a microsoft Surface 2 and it works great for me. I don't have the Pro version where you could install say lightroom (you can only add apps from the microsoft app store) but, it still is great. There's a micro SD slot in the back for a ton of storage (up to 128GB I believe) for on board memory and it has a USB 3.0 port to boot. With the type cover, you have a mouse pad and keyboard. I love it. Also look into the Dell venue Pro 8. Very inexpensive, portable and versatile.

08-29-2014, 11:12 AM	#26
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830 Original Poster	Originally posted by panoguy I loaded a 480GB SSD from OWC (macsales.com) after first trying an old 1TB drive in it. See, while I got it primarily to back up photos through the normal sized SD slot (it supports MicroSD with an adapter), it can also stream multiple, concurrent videos to my iPad and Android phone (saving loads of space, since both devices have only 16GB). Perfect for long car trips with the kids! Unfortunately, the constant spinning of a regular drive streaming video drained the battery in under 4 hours, but with the new (smaller and pricier) SSD it can go for 10+ hours, and still charge either device. Maybe not the cheapest way to go about it, but it fulfills my needs and is super compact! For just backing up photos, it can go a week (maybe longer) without needing to be recharged - the key is to turn off its wi-fi until you want to browse images from a device. The Hyperdrive looks like a very nice unit, but the RavPower, plus a few large, fast USB flash drives is a lot cheaper.

08-29-2014, 04:41 PM	#27
panoguy Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,327	Originally posted by GeneV The Hyperdrive looks like a very nice unit, but the RavPower, plus a few large, fast USB flash drives is a lot cheaper. Well, that's why I said, "maybe not the cheapest way to go about it." Still, if you shoot 20-30GB of images a day like I do (when I'm busy, ignoring videos), then USB flash drives can't touch the price/capacity of a conventional HDD. Like anything, totally depends on your needs.

08-30-2014, 05:00 PM	#28
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830 Original Poster	Originally posted by panoguy Well, that's why I said, "maybe not the cheapest way to go about it." Still, if you shoot 20-30GB of images a day like I do (when I'm busy, ignoring videos), then USB flash drives can't touch the price/capacity of a conventional HDD. Like anything, totally depends on your needs. Agreed. Quite true for an HDD, where 500gb is about $50 and a tb not much more, but I bet that 480gb SSD was a lot more. If you want to get rid of the moving parts, for under $50 you can get a 128gb fast flash drive. Even at 20+ gb per day (I'm usually closer to half that), a couple of these would get me a week, and 500gb still ends up less than most 500gb SSDs. Granted, it won't be quite as fast, but plenty fast for keeping me backed up.

09-03-2014, 10:15 AM	#29
ruggiex Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: East Bay Area Photos: Gallery Posts: 811	This just got announced and seems like something I have been waiting for... I have something similar made by small company that does not have SD card slot. My Passport Wireless

09-04-2014, 07:00 PM	#30
panoguy Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,327	Originally posted by ruggiex This just got announced and seems like something I have been waiting for... I have something similar made by small company that does not have SD card slot. My Passport Wireless Interesting stuff. Can't find any mention of the battery capacity or how long it should run, but the prices are really good ($220 for a 2TB version!). Strangely, it seems that the entire control interface is handled through a web browser on a connected device, so a third device (phone, tablet, computer) is needed to even tell the drive to copy the SD card contents.