Photo Safe lets you leave your laptop behind
The Photo Safe offers an easy, portable way to transfer photo files without your laptop.
At PMA today, Digital Foci announced a new portable hard drive designed for on-the-go photographers who want to transfer images from card to hard drive, but don't want to lug around a laptop. The lightweight (0.6 pound with battery) Photo Safe drive comes in 40GB, 60GB, and 120GB capacities, and sports a memory card reader that works with all of the popular formats (some require an adapter). To transfer your photos, simply insert the card and press the autocopy button. Digital Foci claims the drive can copy a full 1GB card in about five minutes.
The drive has a front-mounted, backlit, text LCD that displays information such as operational status, battery life, and remaining capacity. It also lets you track the current copy task, showing percentage completed and the number of files copied. You can even partition the hard drive, and the LCD shows you which partition is active. The included lithium ion batteries are rechargeable via USB or external AC power.
Once you're back to your PC, simply connect the drive via USB to transfer your photos to your PC. You can use the Photo Safe as a backup target for your PC or Mac, as well.
The Photo Safe starts at $140 for the 40GB version and will be available in April. Check back then for a full review of the drive.