NextoCF PSD impressions

[marcof]

Two days ago I received my NextoCF PSD. I opted for the 40 gig version, I thought it'd be plenty in the field. Tired of taking my laptop with me I was looking for something more compact. I didn't care much for color previews, all I needed was speed and storage.
So, according to the press release and reviews this one is the fastest on the block.

The package came with the PSD, a leather pouch, firewire and USB cable, car charger, AC connector and english/korean and dutch manual. Even a small screwdriver if you wanted to exchange the HDD or internal battery.

images:
NextoCF without clothes on:


NextoCF with its leather pouch:


Connectors:

left to right: external 1800mAh Lion battery, USB, FireWire, AC

CF slot:


the device feels very sturdy, it's all metal, I think.
Usage is very simple, there is only one button. It works with short or long press combinations, that's about it. Functions include: copy, move, browse HDD, verify files.

Charging takes 1.5hrs for the internal battery, 6 hours for the external (when empty). charging can be through USB or FW as well.

Speed. I use Kingston Elite Pro (40x) CF cards and transferring a full card takes about 2m25s, which is pretty fast I guess. When finished, the device beeps to confirm.

all in all, a very nice device, if you don't care about mp3, movie, previewing, etc.

more info at http://www.nextodi.com

[DougJGreen]

What's something like that cost? Also, BTW, there's no way that the thing is all metal. If it was, it would not be very reliable, as I could guarantee that the thing would have a short circuit as soon as you turned it on.

[E B]

Nice information. Thank you.

[marcof]

What's something like that cost? Also, BTW, there's no way that the thing is all metal. If it was, it would not be very reliable, as I could guarantee that the thing would have a short circuit as soon as you turned it on.

I know part is aluminium at least, not sure if it is 100% covered in metal. Mind you the powerbooks are aluminium as well, and they work pretty well

mine was €280 including the external battery and shipping.
I think it can be bought cheaper elsewhere probably (I got hinted that http://www.powerinnumbers.com.au also has the NextoCF in stock - for a lot less money)

[marlof]

I have the same one, with a 60 GB harddisk, and ordered through JALDigital, another Australian webshop. They were swift and easy to deal with. Do realize that if you order from Australia from the EU, you need to add some VAT to the price quoted on the site. As expected, I got billed a few months later by UPS, the carrier.

I like the Nexto CF, it really held out well when I was in Botswana last year. I knew I couldn't get to a power source for about two weeks, and that made me consider the CompactDrive PD70X as well (a similar device, but can use AAs). The Nexto CF looked a bit sturdier (although I'm not sure if it really has), and (more importantly) has firewire which is a pro for me since my iBook doesn't have USB2. I read good reports on its battery life, so I still went with it. I was not disappointed: I managed to get over 30 GB of data on the internal/external battery combination and still had plenty of power left when we left Botswana.

[First Light]

... Speed. I use Kingston Elite Pro (40x) CF cards and transferring a full card takes about 2m25s, which is pretty fast I guess. When finished, the device beeps to confirm. ...

Hi Marco,

What was the capacity of the CF card that you used for the test?

[marcof]

Hi Marco,

What was the capacity of the CF card that you used for the test?

woops, forgot to mention: 1 Gigabyte
so the NextoCF copies a 1 Gigabyte Kingston Elite Pro (40x) card in 2m25s. Faster cards may be faster even, slower cards obviously slower.

[rich007]

Does anyone know if this is available from photo/computer shops anywhere in the U.S??? TIA

[rich007]

Does anyone know if this is available from photo/computer shops anywhere in the U.S??? TIA

OK, I found the answer to my own question No retailers carry NextoCF in the U.S. The only way to buy it is either to scan eBay or use the Australian shop JAL Digital

I got my off eBay (shipped from Singapore). Bought the basic version w/o the HDD. I will get one from Newegg.com which sells Fujitsu laptop HDDs. Their MHV series are marketed as "High Shock tolerant for exceptional toughness". Not sure how true that is but I expect it them be better at handling my occasional 'roughness'...

Anyways, I have a question for you, more computer oriented folks: Is the difference in laptop HDD's speed (4200rpm vs. 5400rpm) important in a device like a PSD??? Thanks.

[marcof]

according to the dutch manual addendum, the fujitsu HDDs are not adviced because of serious perforrmance degradation.

They advice hitachi drives for optimal performance.

5400 vs 4200 or even 7200 makes a difference, but usually the CF is the bottleneck. Also, the faster a HDD spins, the more energy it consumes and the hotter the device can get.

[OzRay]

Perhaps this thread could go into the User Reviews of Accessories, so as not to get lost in general technical discussion?

Cheers

Ray

[marcof]

good idea,
done!

[rich007]

Thanks Marco,

Good to know about the HDDs. I will check out the Hitachis then

[rich007]

For others interested in this product, here is a weblink to more thorough review and speed tests:

http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/in...l-nextocf.html

[rich007]

So, I have just received my unit from an eBay seller in Singapore. Extremely fast shipping. I ordered it at about 9:20PM on Monday, the Fedex was knocking on my door at 9:00AM this morning (Wednesday). 36 hours... Seriously, talk about fast!!!

Exactly as described by Marco. Very well built. Ready to pop in a HDD and try it out. I'm still waiting for mine from ZipZoomFly (80GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series); Newegg.com was out of stock.

The only difference was the included external Li-ion battery. It was OEM, with voltage regulator. As long as it keeps my PSD chugging, I really don't care if it's Panasonic or OEM. Besides, it was for free.

So again, thanks Marco for your review and HDD advice. Your post really sold me on the NextoCF

PS: For others still looking for a decent HDD here is a nice review of 80GB 2.5" HDDs to make your decision easier: 2005 Notebook Drive Roundup

[marcof]

let us know how the NextCF fares with your hdd (since it's quite a bit faster than the standard 40Gig I have)

[rich007]

let us know how the NextCF fares with your hdd (since it's quite a bit faster than the standard 40Gig I have)

Not much time, too busy @ work but I did a quick speed check yesterday:

NextoCF: v1.30
HDD: Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 80GB ATA-6 2.5in 5,400RPM, 8MB cache; FAT32 formatted by NextoCF, avail. capacity 74.5GB
CF card: Sandisk Extreme III 2.0GB
Camera: Oly E-500

I have filled the CF card with RAW+SQ files (13.5MB+1.2MB) for a total capacity of 1,934.4MB. Downloading it to my NextoCF took approx. 158 seconds, transfer speed approx. 12.2MB/s.

Not bad if you ask me