Nixvue Vista 20GB Portable Storage Device: A Great Carry-Around Digital Wallet
Written: Jun 22 '04 (Updated Jun 23 '04)
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Pros: Easy to use, quick, and reliable
Cons: This product is SO in the wrong category
The Bottom Line: ^______^
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| november-rain's Full Review: Nixvue Nixvue Vista 10GB Portable HardDrive Visual... |
Anyone with a digital camera knows that memory cards can get pretty expensive. On average, a 256MB memory card of any format can set you back $50 or more and let's face it: with everyone toting a 3-5 megapixel digital camera, 256 megabytes of memory just barely covers a day. A personal example of the need for extra memory is my boyfriend's recent purchase of the Canon PowerShot Pro1, an 8-megapixel beast that requires as much memory as we can afford. At the highest setting, we can take around 288 photos with 1 gig of CompactFlash memory. And a one gig memory card costs around $200. I myself have two Canon digital cameras, both 4 megapixels, using CompactFlash memory as well. As two broke college students, we are going even broker. So with our trip to Asia coming up in July, we cannot fathom spending an estimated $1500 in CompactFlash cards, what we consider adequate to take enough pictures for the whole month we will be there.
I started looking for a cheaper alternative option and began researching portable storage devices specifically for use with digital cameras. These lightweight made-for-travel PSDs would allow me to upload pictures directly from my CompactFlash cards into the drive's internal storage, which can be transferred to my PC later on. After that, I can erase the memory card and re-use it. Some that I had considered were the Vosonic X's Drive Pro, Tripper, Super DigiBin 2, Flashtrax, Nixvue Vista (or its rebranded cousin, the Delkin eFilm PicturePad) and even the Ipod. Aside from the Vista and Flashtrax, none of the other options had an LCD for viewing uploaded pictures. Although reviews show that those drives work just as well, I like the security of knowing my pictures were safely stored before I delete them from my memory card. The Flashtrax seems to be a more popular choice but costs around $600, which was more than I was willing to pay. My final decision was the Nixvue Vista.
The Nixvue Vista is sold with either a 5, 10, 20, or 30 gig capacity internal 2.5" hard drive. I chose the 20 gig storage model because it was the right amount for my usage. The unit itself is small, but not too small (5.7' x 3.2' x 1.1") - I can grip it with both hands. It is made of plastic, but fairly sturdy, weighing at 10 oz. What I'd suggest Nixvue add to future models is a rubber handgrip at the sides - when I took it out of its box, it promptly fell to the floor and the battery lid flew right off. I was not amused, but was relieved to find out there was no damage to the hard drive inside and functioned promptly after I powered it on. The design is very simple, with a power button at the top left corner, a 4-way navigator and an "Enter," "Cancel" and "OK" command keys. This makes the interface intuitive - after powering it on, you choose a command from the list using the up or down button, press "Enter" then "Cancel" or "OK." You slip in the CompactFlash card (or any other format with the help of an adapter) at the bottom of the unit, the AC adapter/charger, video cable and USB cable at the side and the optional Firewire adapter at the top. The only problem I found is that the CompactFlash card doesn't go in smoothly, but all it takes is a bit of practice (I found that forceful shoving doesn't help.) A 1400 mAh rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery pack is installed at the bottom. Everything makes its purpose pretty obvious. I never read the manual.
The Vista's menu has but a few choices; you can copy your memory card to the internal storage, write back to the card, format your CF card, view a file list, turn on USB connectivity and change some display settings. The real use of its 1.8" color LCD screen, though, is for viewing your pictures, which can be magnfied up to 8x onscreen. Newly uploaded 4-megapixel pictures will take about 5-6 seconds before it can be viewed in full; afterwards, it is retrieved from the cache and shows up almost immediately. The color and quality of the picture shown on the LCD isn't marvelous, but you can make out the necessary details and it looks satisfactory. The Vista also supports EXIF viewing, meaning you can check out the data your digital camera recorded for the image - i.e, the camera make and model, filename, focal length, exposure setting, etc. You can also view your pictures on a TV screen using the supplied video cable and remote.
The transfer time for the CompactFlash card to the Vista is quite fast, averaging a little more than 1 megabyte per second. A 256MB card took just a few minutes. In this area, I'm very happy with the Vista's performance, especially considering the fact that that battery life is expected to run for around 2 hours (allowing the transfer of up to 3 gigs of memory). Transferring to my PC was different - using a USB 1.1 interface, it is noticeably slower. I don't really mind that, but Nixvue made USB 2.0 optional when it shouldn't be. If you have Windows XP like me, then it is purely plug and play; XP will recognize the Vista as an external drive and you can begin transferring from there. For older versions of Windows, Nixvue provides a CD with the necessary drivers.
Relatively speaking, I find the Nixvue Vista a very good investment. I'm not disappointed so far - the unit is easy to use, apparently free of glitches (IF you download the latest firmware from their website: http://www.nixvue.com/vista/index.html) and gives me a peace of mind. Customer service, although I have no personal experience, seems to be good. A Nixvue representative appears regularly on dpreview.com's forums to answer questions people may have about their products. Companies who listen to their customers and address their concerns gets business from me. The Vista's flaws are few and doesn't really hinder the usefulness of the product. I'd recommended for anyone into hardcore picture-taking or travelers who doesn't want to pay the price of their airfare for memory cards to store vacation photos.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
Recommended for: Professional Videographers - Broadcast Quality Videos
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Epinions.com ID:
november-rain
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Member: happyhardcore
Location: confines of gravity
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