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Gnarbox Alternatives?

molson
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

I'm planning on doing several week-long trips to remote areas where I don't want to bring a laptop and where there will be no cellphone or internet service. I was thinking of picking up a Gnarbox 2.0 for backing up my memory cards on location, and possibly bringing along my iPad mini to be able to check the files. I saw that Gnarbox has recently gone out of business even though stores are still selling the product - I wonder if it is worth the risk to buy one despite the fact there will be no warranty or support going forward? I've been looking around for alternative products, like the LaCie BOSS SSD, but it has been discontinued as well.

What are people doing for backups while travelling in remote areas - or am I the only person that doesn't lug a laptop into the remote backcountry or up to the top of a mountain?

May 21, 2022 at 09:31 AM

jcolwell
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

I use my phone connected to a SD/CF reader (via OTG cable, aka null modem) to copy cards to the phone's microSD card. Then, I also pump the files from the phone to a portable USB SSD. I also have sufficient cards to save them, too (barring close encounters).

May 21, 2022 at 11:05 AM

molson
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

jcolwell wrote:
I use my phone connected to a SD/CF reader (via OTG cable, aka null modem) to copy cards to the phone's microSD card. Then, I also pump the files from the phone to a portable USB SSD.

Not possible with my iPhone.

May 21, 2022 at 11:22 AM

jeffbuzz
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

I looked at the Nexto devices but so far am not impressed. Can't get any direct info as their own website cert is expired and giving other red flags. Maybe it's safe, but if a tech company can't be bothered to keep their website security up to date I'm not feeling too good about their products. B&H has some of their gadgets in stock. The pricing just seems really steep for what it is. Especially considering you have to provide your own SSD/HDD in most of them on top of the device price.

Weighing the price of one of these gizmos with a 2TB SSD it is no more expensive to just buy 2TB worth of memory cards. The cost:benefit makes a little more sense if you put a spinning disk in the external storage device. But that really detracts from the durability in my mind.

I'll be continuing to use a laptop. You can get an old 10 or 11 inch laptop and put a 2.5" 4TB SSD in it for less than the cost of one of these specialty devices. There is just no economy of scale for these boutiques storage devices as the apparent customer base is so small.

May 21, 2022 at 12:46 PM

mitesh
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

iPad mini plus SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD + card reader all connected via USB-C hub. Just used Files app to select images on card and copy to folder on SSD. Used recently in Wapusk. IIRC, transfer rate was about 6GB/min.

May 21, 2022 at 02:37 PM

molson
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

May 23, 2022 at 09:19 AM

cocovetc
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

I just got back from a trip to Panama where I used the Ravpower Filehub to copy my images directly from an SD card to two 4TB external hard drives.

https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-wd009-filehub

It saved me from having to take a laptop or other device with me, and it connects to your phone via wifi so you can initiate and monitor transfers. It also works without a phone via the "SD -> USB" button. Takes some time to read through and explore the manual, but it worked great for me.

May 23, 2022 at 09:58 AM

jeffbuzz
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

cocovetc wrote:
I just got back from a trip to Panama where I used the Ravpower Filehub to copy my images directly from an SD card to two 4TB external hard drives.

https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-wd009-filehub

It saved me from having to take a laptop or other device with me, and it connects to your phone via wifi so you can initiate and monitor transfers. It also works without a phone via the "SD -> USB" button. Takes some time to read through and explore the manual, but it worked great for me.

Amazon pulled all the ravpower products from it's site last year. They were apparently paying for reviews.

Same gizmo now appears to be sold under the "NewQ" brand.

These are an interesting solution to the backup puzzle. Just not sure how carrying 3 devices and all the accompanying connectors is simpler than one laptop. Of course these filehubs do serve other purposes too.

May 23, 2022 at 12:07 PM

mitesh
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

jeffbuzz wrote:
Amazon pulled all the ravpower products from it's site last year. They were apparently paying for reviews.

Same gizmo now appears to be sold under the "NewQ" brand.

These are an interesting solution to the backup puzzle. Just not sure how carrying 3 devices and all the accompanying connectors is simpler than one laptop. Of course these filehubs do serve other purposes too.

Speaking for my preferred solution of an iPad mini + USB-C hub + SSD + card reader, the whole bunch weigh probably less than half what my 14” MBP weighs and take up less than half the volume. The weight and space savings aren’t critical for everyday use or even on most trips, but when they are important, this is a viable alternative to a laptop.

May 23, 2022 at 01:36 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

Allison makes great gearboxes.

May 23, 2022 at 02:31 PM

sjms
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

those props don't do much w/o them

May 23, 2022 at 02:35 PM

mike650
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

mitesh wrote:
iPad mini plus SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD + card reader all connected via USB-C hub. Just used Files app to select images on card and copy to folder on SSD. Used recently in Wapusk. IIRC, transfer rate was about 6GB/min.

6GB/min with USB-C is much faster than my Ipad Air gen 3 with Lightning port to USB3 adapter and then to a USB3 hub. I could only get around an effective 0.3GB/min as file copy would temporarily first copy from SD card to ipad internal memory and then to the SSD drive.
I ended up using my Android phone with a USB-C hub to get around 2.2GB/min from SD card to SSD drive.

I also tried a RAVPower Filehub and found it could copy entire SD card folders to SSD drive at 12MB/s (0.7GB/min) but the speed was halved if copying group of files.

May 23, 2022 at 06:30 PM

kosin
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

For years, I’ve been using the Lacie DJI Copilot 2TB HDD as my main backup solution when traveling - https://amzn.to/3lHpKBm

It works with external card readers and can also mirror data to the secondary HDD. It supports most, if not all, RAW formats as well as video codecs. It can also backup your phone. All that without a need for a laptop. I believe that Lacie has their own (orange) version of this drive.

May 23, 2022 at 09:29 PM

molson
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

kosin wrote:
I believe that Lacie has their own (orange) version of this drive.

It's been discontinued.

May 24, 2022 at 08:09 PM

mike650
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

molson wrote:
Thanks for that info. I've ordered a Lightning to USB-C adapter and will give that a try.

Could you let us know how fast the transfer speed is once you get it all set up? I tested with a 2GB folder of photos.
'mitesh' ipad has a USB-C while yours is Lightning just like my Ipad Air 3. I couldn't get any faster than 0.3GB/min going from SD card to SSD drive using file copy. Plus I needed another power supply to for my combo 6 in 1 Ankor USB-3 hub/card reader.
ipad > Lightning to USB3 > USB3 hub/reader > SD card and SSD drive
Hopefully, I was doing something wrong and you'll get better results.

May 25, 2022 at 08:35 AM

wordfool
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

molson wrote:
It's been discontinued.

You referring to this one? -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNKM55D

May 26, 2022 at 11:09 PM

molson
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

wordfool wrote:
You referring to this one? -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNKM55D

No... the SSD version. No longer available, according to the LaCie web site.

The one in your link uses spinning drives - not really something I would want to use for this sort of application.

May 26, 2022 at 11:30 PM

cocovetc
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

Do you know if this method would work with an iPhone and a HDD instead of an iPad and SDD?

mitesh wrote:
Speaking for my preferred solution of an iPad mini + USB-C hub + SSD + card reader, the whole bunch weigh probably less than half what my 14” MBP weighs and take up less than half the volume. The weight and space savings aren’t critical for everyday use or even on most trips, but when they are important, this is a viable alternative to a laptop.

May 27, 2022 at 08:04 AM

molson
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

cocovetc wrote:
Do you know if this method would work with an iPhone and a HDD instead of an iPad and SDD?

My Apple Lightning/USB adapter arrived, and the bad news is, my old iPad mini does not recognize any external drives, although it does recognize the SD card reader and will transfer files to the iPad - you just can't offload them except to the cloud (not much use when there's no internet or cell service).

The good news is, my iPhone does recognize my Samsung T5 and T7 SSD's, and I can transfer files from the SD card directly to the SSD very easily. However, the iPhone will not work with any of my bus-powered HDDs.

May 27, 2022 at 10:03 PM

cocovetc
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Gnarbox Alternatives?

Thanks for checking. Seems like the iPhone and SSD yields faster transfer rates than the RAVPOWER.

molson wrote:
My Apple Lightning/USB adapter arrived, and the bad news is, my old iPad mini does not recognize any external drives, although it does recognize the SD card reader and will transfer files to the iPad - you just can't offload them except to the cloud (not much use when there's no internet or cell service).

The good news is, my iPhone does recognize my Samsung T5 and T7 SSD's, and I can transfer files from the SD card directly to the SSD very easily. However, the iPhone will not work with any of my bus-powered HDDs.

May 31, 2022 at 08:15 AM

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