Customer Reviews

INOi 20GB Photo HardDisk USB 2.0 External Hard Drive ( HD182-20 )

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This photo hard disk seemed like a really great deal. 20BG of storage for $199. Much cheaper than 20 1GB cards. But when put into use, the device gives a message stating that the copy failed when in actuality it didn't. This is a very basic device. You cannot preview your images or edit them. There is a log but it doesn't really give you any information other than when a copy was made. It doesn't allow you to name the log. During copying, the device would lock up about half of the time. On one occasion, the device kept giving the failed message and later I discovered that only about half of the images from the card actually copied onto the hard disk. It also doesn't seem to be consistent as to the memory it has left. It dropped 5GB when I had only copied one 512MB card. There is no way to check how much memory there is left on the device unless you are about to make a copy. Also, I sent the company an email over two weeks ago asking how to delete the logs and as of this date, still have not heard back from them.

I bought this photo hardisk for my trip, mainly because of its small size - it is no bigger than my subcompact digital camera. I have no problems backing up 600 photos, 950 mb in 8.5 minutes, from a 2 gb SD card.
But since I've read some negative reviews on this Inoi card reader drive, I ran some tests on it.
First, I backed up 1.3 gb of data in 750 folders, 5000 files, from my 4 gb sd card, to my computer, then I tried to copy the card to the HD182. After 4 minutes it stopped. I found that it copied only part of one subdirectory and stopped at 350 mb. Not all files in that directory were copied. I suspected that the HD182 cannot handle so many folders and subdirectories.
Then I deleted some directories from the computer, and copied the backup to a blank 2 gb SD card so I can copy it again to the HD182. But as I was coping the 4gb backup to the 2 gb SD, the computer saids some files are corrupted and gave errors during the coping process. SO I removed those corrupted files, and the HD182 successfully copied 1.1 gb of program/data in 22 folders, 110 files, without problem, in 11 minutes.
I do not have problems copying photos straightly from a digital camera SD card at all.

So, IMHO, this is a very practical photo backup drive. It is very small, and self-contained, plus you can replace the battery if you are on a long trip when recharging the battery is not an option. Granted, the 20 gb hard disk is not much in today's standard, but I think you can replace it too (I haven't tried.) It is perfect for travelers to back up photo memory cards, but if you like to back up computer files too, you have to make sure none of the files are corrupted.

Very highly reliable digital picture storage device. Get this one, it will become an element of your camera set.

I found that this device sort of does the job, but has what I consider to be serious limitations. I downloaded a couple of images, and could see them on the PC, but was not clear on whether I should be able to see them on the device. The manual did not address this. I was also not clear if I could view the images on the device or whether I had to use the computer. It was also not clear whether images could be erased from the device or whether they first had to be downloaded to the PC. The manual did not address this either. I guessed that it meant that the images had to be downloaded in order to be erased. I guess they assume that people will just sort of know this.

My reason for getting this device was for back up while traveling, and I typically do not travel with a computer. The inability to see images on the device and the likely need for a computer to erase images made this item very iffy for me. I can download images from my camera to my i pod and see them...and it plays music too!

MOST aggravating was the lack of response by tech support. I called twice and each time reached an answering machine. I e-mailed twice and never got a response. I called customer service twice and each time was told that the mail box was full.

If you will notice, the one reviewer who rated this device high still seemed to eperience a lot of problems. If you can't view the images and some don't get recorded, how are you going to be able to depend on this thing...??

The USB cord is very short...

So, you have been warned.

I have returned mine..

I bought this item a year or more ago.. never had time to play with it and it just sat here. Then my husband and a couple of other guys bought these wildlife cameras to put out and get photos of the deer in the area where they will be hunting. They didn't want to remove the cards from the cameras.. have to drive all the way back in to see the pictures and then drive all the way back out to put the camera cards back in, and I thought of the INOi. They have 3 cameras and if its a windy day those cameras can take a couple hundred photos. They do wish the INOi had a preview screen, so they could view the photos out there with a sneak peek, but they take the INOi with them, put the camera cards in it (It doesn't support ALL cards, make sure it supports the ones you use), they download the photos and stick the camera card back into the camera so its ready to take more pictures and bring the INOi back to town with them. I simply plug it in to the USB port and the pictures download. It's been wonderful for that and the guys really like it. The best part tho, was when I bought it and I can't remember where... I got it for $40.

I bought this item 5 months ago. I followed the instructions on the included "Quick Start" card regarding the battery, which was to top it off every week if not using it. The battery now lasts 4 minutes. When I went to write INOi the FIRST time, I opened the pdf version of that card that was on the disk to include the erroneous instructions. Guess what, they are not on that version. I've written to INOi twice and they have not answered, I can't find a battery for it anywhere. I now have a $150 piece of junk - other firms market this type of device - look elsewhere.

Great size and price and well packaged but simply doesn't work. The support is non existent and the FAQ and downloads on the site don't address the issues I have or the other reviewer mentions regarding consistent back up performance.

It works fine with sony cards (you'll need to by an adaptor tho') but you have to put tape over the card and use an adaptor but I use CF cards and it simply fails (every time!) to complete the copy process. As a back up you need to know that you have captured the files and it simply doesn't have that ability. Connect to the MAC and ...nothing! Myabe it likes PC's better but frankly I have had enough and am sending it back.

Spend more and get a product that works.