Transcend, famed for its high-performance storage devices, has introduced the Photobank 20 GB Portable Photo Storage drive. This device is a portable, palm-sized hard drive and a multi-card reader for fast and easy photo/file transfer and storage on the go. It integrates a 20 GB 1.8’’ hard drive and a memory card reader compatible with different formats including CF Type I and II, MicroDrive, SM, SD, miniSD (with SD adapter), MMC, RS-MMC (with MMC adapter), MS, MS Pro, MS Duo (with MS adapter), MS PRO Duo (with MS adapter). It features a B&W, blue backlit LCD that indicates the basic functions of copying, deleting, formatting and dis- playing information. It connects to a PC, laptop or Mac via the USB 2.0 cable provided, allowing speeds as high as 480 Mbps. The rechargeable Li-Ion battery lasts for nearly three hours on a full charge, but takes four hours to fully charge! The Transcend Photobank is a blessing that allows pro- fessional photographers to backup their memory cards. Business people can use it as a portable hard drive to transfer data between their home PC and aptop. When con- nected to a computer, it shows up as a removable hard drive with various memory card slots. It supports the FAT12/16/32 file systems. On the visual appeal front, the Photobank
doesn’t really score. The buttons feel tacky, are sometimes unresponsive, and generally not
very comfortable. It posted a drive index of 16 MB/s in the SiSoft Sandra 2005 SR1
benchmark. In the data transfer test, 1 GB of assorted files could be copied from the Photobank in 57 seconds, while copying the same files to the Photobank took 119 seconds. But at 285 gm, it is very light and can be easily carried around in the protective leather pouch provided. Unlike its more costly sibling with the TFT LCD and MP3 playback, the Photobank 20 GB is a no-frills but useful device. At Rs 18,000, it’s somewhat expensive… but if you are a pho- tographer, you will find the price is justified.
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