Information on downlaoding photos

[debcsus]

This was one topic I was very curious about before I left. After all of the warnings I decided that downloading pictures at an internet cafe was not feasible. So I went out and got a lot of memory(fortunately Fry's was having a sale, I got a 512 card for $40 after rebate!)

My plan was to download the photos at camera stores and have them burned onto a cd. So far this is how it's been working out...

Every city I have been to so far (except for a teeeny tiny town in Ireland called Whitegate) has had a camera or photo store that could burn your photos directly from your camera to a cd.

I've only done it once, but the cost was about 6£, and this seems to be about right. One thing that I had not realized before this trip was that the cds they put the photos on are not as big as the ones I'd normally burn pictures to. So instead of fitting 750mg onto a cd, you are only allowed to put 120 photos onto a cd.

If you are like me and take a ton of pictures this can add up really fast. So if you are going with this method, it is definately doable, just be aware that it will cost around 6£ for every 120 photos you take.

[BigRay]

I just recently went through Spain, France and Belgium and also had no problems finding camera shops or internet cafes that can burn CDs straight from the memory card. They have these machines that just copy the memory card onto CD, and apparently sometimes these machines can be limited, as I had to to make one CD for each 128MB card I had. Others places, though, this wasn't a problem. I noticed that in these other places, they would copy the pictures first to the computer's hard drive, then burn the CD. This way they were able to put more than one card on the CD.

As for prices, I never paid more than 7 Euros, and found places as cheap as 4 Euros.

[Michelle]

Well, I thought of doing the same thing, but instead I purchased an Apacer Disc Steno before I left for Europe. It cost me about $220 CDN, and let me tell you, it was the best thing I could have ever bought! It's a portable CD burner, and you just plug your memory stick into the side, press record, and voila!! You have a CD with all your pictures on it! And you can do it in the comfort of your hostel or hotel room, and not have to walk all over town looking for a place that will charge you 7 euros to do it!! I can honestly say, it was the best $220 I even spent! It was so convenient, and now I can take it on any trip I take and not have to worry about finding somewhere to do it for me. Seriously, if you can spend a bit of cash before you go, think about it.. BUY IT!!!

[jessica]

Michelle--

Does it have any sort of screen on it that you can see the pictures on? So you know for sure that they've recorded onto the disk before you erase your card?

[Eagle]

Michelle, glad to hear the Disk Steno worked well for you on your trip. BTW, have you posted any pictures yet? I read many of your reports - sounds like you had a great time!

Jessica, I don't believe the Apacer Disk Steno has a screen to allow viewing of pictures. From what I recall, the CP-100 has very basic controls and no display, while the newer CP-200 has a small display to indicate function,and display of pictures on a TV is possible.

If you want something with a small LCD screen, have a look at the FlashTrax portable Hard Drive (www.smartdisk.com). The monitor on these devices isn't the best, but it does provide confirmation that pictures have been properly transferred.

Cheers all!!!

[Michelle]

Jessica -- Eagle is right, there is no screen to see your pictures, but I never had any problems... There are two buttons used to record the pictures, just plain "Record" and then "Record with Check". The "Record with Check" takes a bit longer, and uses a bit more battery, but it will let you know if there was any problem downloading the pictures by flashing a red light. I always used the "Record with Check", and like I said, I had no problems at all. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll be more than happy to help!

~Michelle

[debcsus]

Just a quick update...

In Scotland there is a camera store chain called Jessops. It's only about 3£ there to copy onto a cd. You can only do it from a single card to a single cd. So if you have 2 256 cards, you'd have to put them on 2 different cds. But it is the cheapest place i've found for it in Scotland.

[Kim]

That Disc Steno sounds great - I've gotta check that out!

Problem for me with burning the pictures is that I have a digital SLR which takes massive photos - great for resolution, not so great for the space they take up!

Also, I have this fear that I will burn a CD in a shop, wipe out the pictures then find out something went wonky with the CD and it didn't work or something. Paranoid, yes! I have several 512 cards but I do try and erase bad pics as I go.

Kim

PS Michelle, check your instant messages.