Which is the best Multimedia storage unit??

[markcoleman]

I am looking to buy a storage unit to hold my digital photos and Charles from the forum mentioned the Archos Gmini 400 20GB (2.2inch screen), which looks great and is small enough to carry everywhere.

I have also seen reviews on other sites e.g.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/epsonp2000/page3.asp

where they mention the Epson P-2000 which is 40GB and has a 3.8inch screen, which would be great to review photos. However it does seem rather large in comparison. Any thoughts on these or any other devices they are worthy a mention??

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[Franglais]

I am looking to buy a storage unit to hold my digital photos and Charles from the forum mentioned the Archos Gmini 400 20GB (2.2inch screen), which looks great and is small enough to carry everywhere.

I have also seen reviews on other sites e.g.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/epsonp2000/page3.asp

where they mention the Epson P-2000 which is 40GB and has a 3.8inch screen, which would be great to review photos. However it does seem rather large in comparison. Any thoughts on these or any other devices they are worthy a mention??

Thanks in advance.

Mark

I don't think there is a "best". It all depends on what you need. Here are my criteria:

Size: the larger the device the more visible the image BUT the more difficult it is to store safely. If you crack the LCD screen on one of these things it's finished.

Compatibility: All these devices know how to display JPG and DIVX. Few know how to display RAW files and the Motion JPG coming out of my F10. I can live with not displaying RAW because I always shot RAW+JPG but for the films it's a nuisance, especially as they take up a lot of space

Image quality: It has to look good.

I already have the ARCHOS GMini 420 which is small enought to carry with my camera. I'm now thinking about a second device to show the results to my friends (I don't get prints made any more so all last week I was carrying a portable PC around to show my pictures of Gay Pride). My current choices:

EPSON-P-2000: Fairly small and light, maximum compatibility with RAW and Motion JPG. But the screen is fairly small and it can't communicate with the GMini.

ARCHOS 700: Big screen, USB Host feature to communicate with the GMini (I think) and cameras, can't read RAW and Motion AVI. Just seen one in the shops and I'm interested. Have to see what the image quality is like.

Portable PC: The price of these devices is getting close to that of a low-end portable PC but - I was really disappointed with how the images looked last week (on a DELL Latitude 600). Sure you can do lots more things with a PC but it's 2-3 kilos in your baggage instead of 500g for portable device.

Charles