Have anyone here bought from that shop in the past? How reliable are they? How reliable is their product? I ask this, because the online store seems to be the only resource available on buying it, it's not on any photography stores I can see :| Also, so much free stuff, free shipping to Brazil, only paypal payments, only shipping on Feb 20 on... I got a bit suspicious :| You know, too good to be true?
No problems when I ordered and got mine. I got all the goodies and it was delivered in 3 days. I don't think you have any worries with the company. This is the only US distributor of the HD80 aka Compactdrive PD70X.
I ordered two HD80s one week ago and they have not been received. I am somewhat doubting the legitimacy of the company (perhaps a garage operation in the US), since not even an e-mail was sent. I will be contacting my credit card company on Monday (2/20).
EB-1 wrote:
I ordered two HD80s one week ago and they have not been received. I am somewhat doubting the legitimacy of the company (perhaps a garage operation in the US), since not even an e-mail was sent. I will be contacting my credit card company on Monday (2/20).
EB
On their site there is a message saying all HD80 units are backordered untill monday ( Feb 20th ), when a new batch of items is supposed to arrive.
The other primary distributor of the PD70X aka HD80 is eastgear.com out of Singapore. They have the reputation of getting the PD70X to you in 3 days, if in stock.
HI Guys, just got this thread, am not familiar with the Hyperdrive but took a look at the online specs and it appears to meet my needs. Questions for those of you that own one:
1) Does it come with a DC power option. In other words, can I plug it in the wall to use it or only via batteries?
2) Does it come with the batteries or do I purchase those separately?
3) Does it really backup 80GB of files before needing to recharge or reload a fresh set of batteries?
1 - It has a power adaptor which charges and runs the unit. You can also get a car charger for it.
2 - It uses 4 AA batteries. Typically, NiMH rechargables are preferred since the HD80 will charge them.
3 - I haven't been able to get 80 gb per charge but I have gotten 50 gb. YMMV.
I have had it die on me while downloading. No problems.
Depending on the deal, you may be able to get a car charger and batteries with your purchase along with free shipping. Check the site. I know when I got mine, they also had a 10% discount.
From personal experience, the HD80 is reliable, convenient, fast, and probably the best bang for the money. I also had its predecessor, PD7X and it was an excellent unit.
jhom wrote:
Phil,
1 - It has a power adaptor which charges and runs the unit. You can also get a car charger for it.
2 - It uses 4 AA batteries. Typically, NiMH rechargables are preferred since the HD80 will charge them.
3 - I haven't been able to get 80 gb per charge but I have gotten 50 gb. YMMV.
I have had it die on me while downloading. No problems.
Depending on the deal, you may be able to get a car charger and batteries with your purchase along with free shipping. Check the site. I know when I got mine, they also had a 10% discount.
From personal experience, the HD80 is reliable, convenient, fast, and probably the best bang for the money. I also had its predecessor, PD7X and it was an excellent unit....Show more →
That brings up more questions.
What happens when the cells die during transfer -- is there an indication when the unit is turned on the next time?
Has anyone tried primary lithium cells in the HD 80 -- what is the battery life? Thanks.
When you have a successful transfer, you get a on the screen. Otherwise, you get a with unsuccessful transfers or problems. This has only happened to me once because I let the battery charge go to minimum. With a little diligence, you should not have any problems. Typically, I carry extra set of batteries for the HD80 and my 580EX.
jhom wrote:
Depending on the deal, you may be able to get a car charger and batteries with your purchase along with free shipping. Check the site. I know when I got mine, they also had a 10% discount.
I got one 2 weeks ago - came with 2 sets of rechargable batteries, mains adapter, car adapter and a screwdriver.
I ordered the PD70X from Eastgear, and couldn't have been happier with the transaction. It was ordered on a saturday, and received it the following tuesday.Don't hesitate to buy from them just because they're not in the states!
EB-1 wrote:
That brings up more questions.
What happens when the cells die during transfer -- is there an indication when the unit is turned on the next time?
Has anyone tried primary lithium cells in the HD 80 -- what is the battery life? Thanks.
EB
why would you want to use throw away cells to begin with? on average from a set of 2500mah nimh you get between 40-50MB of transfer. depending on the speed of the card and how it interfaces with the unit. the sandisk ultras amd extremes do quite well.
there is a battery level indicator. and if your batteries are too low to transfer you get an error code 20- please replace batteries. the major fault codes are right on the inside of the door. oh yes and as a last resort, when all else fails, there is common sense.(for some that option is not available ) http://i.pbase.com/v3/89/44489/1/49677496.49365726.jpg
avg joe wrote:
I ordered the PD70X from Eastgear, and couldn't have been happier with the transaction. It was ordered on a saturday, and received it the following tuesday.Don't hesitate to buy from them just because they're not in the states!
Actually, I'm just not going to buy from them, because with payed shipping, it gets more expensive than the HD80 site For Brazil, Free Shipping makes quite a diference
Thanks for all the comments folks, now I'm just waiting for a certain payment to cash in
I ordered 4 hyperdrive's from hyperdrive.com and I live in Canada, ordered at 12am on Feb 7th and the website said that they were backordered for the product, but as a bonus because it was backordered they offered a extra set of rechargable batteries and the car charger. This is in addition to the one set of batteries and the ac adapter.
They shipped the order on Friday Feb. 10th. from Sunnyvale, California and I received my 4 hyperdrive's on Monday Feb. 13th in the morning.
I emailed them twice asking them when the order will be shipped out since they said it'll be available on Feb. 7th, and I didn't receive a reply for my first e-mail, but for the second e-mail I sent they got back to me quickly and informed me that it'll be shipped out on Friday.
So far my experience with the hyperdrive has been wonderful. Performs the way I expect it to and installation was very easy. Hardest part was opening the 'door' for the hard drive because the aluminum casing is a bit tight. But after that it was smooth sailing.
Meanwhile, there's someone ( a smugler ) that is known to buy equipment on B&H and deliver it to you for a lower cost than custom taxes. I had asked him to price the wolverine for me, and he phoned me yesterday, to tell me he doesn't deal the Wolverine.
Reason being, he has been asked to buy wolverines before, and he did, but once arriving, all of them were defective units. He had to bring them back to B&H in NYC and trade them under warranty, and usually, the other units proven defective after a while as well. So, he considers it bad business for himself to sell wolverine units, and if I wanted one, he would even agree to smuggle me one, but I would have to agree on no warranty from him, because I would be buying knowing there is a high chance of the unit malfunctioning after a while. He never heard of the HD80 before, he's asking people to buy the Epson P2000 instead.
If you want to buy slow and power consuming units then buy the Wolverine and Epson. The Hyperdrive is the fastest unit out there. Also, BH doesn't sell Hyperdrives and that's probably why he hasn't heard of them.
p2000 vs HD80/PD70x
6-7 minutes to do a 2gb card vs 2-3 minutes
propriatary battery vs included 2500 mah AA nimh batts
too pretty to use seriously vs sort of utilitarian (more like ugly)
limited size HD (can be upped but warranty void and sort of a major pain to do) vs pretty much any drive anytime in about 5 minutes.
$$$ vs $$
it does have a pretty screen though which of course requires lots of power to use. secondary battery $69 vs $10/set
on the screen. Otherwise, you get a 
with unsuccessful transfers or problems. This has only happened to me once because I let the battery charge go to minimum. With a little diligence, you should not have any problems. Typically, I carry extra set of batteries for the HD80 and my 580EX. 
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