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Jun 13 2005
Share Steno CD311 Portable HD Review
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| Summary: A must for media junkies like me
97
First impressions; the unit is a bit bigger than I was expecting. Not unmanageably so, but bigger than I thought. It's about, say, 5-8% bigger than an iPod, which is not bad at all.
I was very impressed with all the goodies that came packed in. Most notable was the 14-in-1 card reader (though, I'm told this is a special promotion and don't know how long it will last). It's handy because now I can just slide a card into the card reader and load stuff that way, without having to get out the whole PSP. Also included is a 3' USB cable with a standard size male USB jack at one end and a micro USB jack at the other end. Conveniently enough, it's the same one that the PSP uses so I now have an extra cable. Also, a 5" USB cable with male micro USB jacks at each end and a 5" USB cable with a male micro at one end and a Standard sized female jack at the other. I'm assuming this last one is for use on the road with cameras that don't use a micro jack. I didn't really have a need for it so I tucked it away for later. Last but not least are an A/C power adaptor for charging, two driver disks (one for the CD311 and one for the card reader) and a nicely made carrying case for the CD311 itself (the case also incorporates storage for the two 5" USB cables. Nicely done, Apacer).
The unit comes pre-charged but I let it sit on charge for a bit to top it up. Finally started the CD311 up and played with the interface a bit. With nothing on the drive yet, there wasn't much I could do so I connected it to my PC. The drive was immediately recognized as a mass storage device (I'm using XP. The manual says you'll need to install drivers for older versions of windows). Moving files to the drive is as simple as dragging them on to the unit (though I recommend being very organized about it. More on that in a bit). Transfer time for files is marginally slower than moving them around on your internal drives. I was pretty impressed.
The next test was to connect the CD311 to the PSP. I booted up the PSP and put it into USB mode. Connected the CD311 to the PSP (the 5" cable is just the perfect size, which means you won't need to lug the full 3' cable plus 5" adaptor around with you. Another nice one, Apacer) and the PSP was immediately recognized. The interface for moving files around was a little counter-intuitive at first but I was able to figure it out. Basically you navigate to the files on the drive you want to copy, highlight them, press the menu button and select "copy", navigate to the folder on the PSP where you want to put them, press the menu button again, select "copy" again, select yes to confirm and presto, the drive starts moving the files over. It's all pretty easy and the file transfer time is about the same as it is on the PC.
My only complaint about the unit is the same one that others have had and that is that the interface on the CD311 truncates any filenames longer than 7 characters. For example, "Arrested Development" becomes "ARREST~1". It's not a huge problem, as long as you're willing to be very organized about how you put stuff on the HD. Basically, I'm just very conscientious about setting up directories to put stuff in. Not a huge complaint, I know, but it seems like such a simple thing for them to fix. I should mention that the full filename is preserved when you move it to another device; it's only truncated when displayed on the screen of the CD311.
Well, that's pretty much it. All in all, I'm very pleased with my purchase and foresee getting a lot of use out of it. If you're like me and you use your PSP to play media everywhere you go, I think this unit or something comparable is pretty much a necessity. You just can't cram enough stuff on a memory stick to get you through more than a day or two. Plus, resized for viewing on the PSP, I could take pretty much my entire DVD collection with me everywhere I go. Pretty cool!
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Comments
I have this too.....it is absolutely fantastic. Get this and a 1Gb memory card and all your media requirements are satisfied. I have about 50 films on my hard disk so I can choose to watch any film I want when travelling. I think this is one of the PSP must have's.....good review
ps if your in the UK import it from Holland it works out about 95 quid
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06/13/05
15 
aroundfam
| Florida USA
I ahve a question about the number of times this can be done until the battery is drained. Regardless, its a great travel accessory since you will need to charge your PSP sometime if you are on the road. Just want an idea of the power consumption this has.
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06/13/05
4
GT
| Masschusetts USA
I read somewhere you get about 6gb worth of transfers on a single charge. That would cover approx. 12+ movies.
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06/13/05
12
rktboy
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I've read the same (about 6 gigs). I haven't had the opportunity to try exhausting it yet.
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06/13/05
4
dvst8
| Michigan USA
ive been saving for this i no have....... 11 dollers dam well my birthday is coming soon 
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06/13/05
14
ProjectGSX
| Texas USA
Supposedly it has a 1hr battery life when youre copying at full tilt. I have my movies formatted for about 450mb each and can copy one in 2-3 minutes. That means youll get somewhere around 20-30 movies copied per charge on the hard drive. So, 40-60 hours worth of movie watching per charge. Really not bad. The only time its an issue is when youre initially filling up the device. I set up about 20 gigs worth of stuff to transfer and went to bed without plugging it into the ac adapter. Of course, it didnt have the juice to copy that much data all at once. Not a big deal, but something to watch out for.
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ummmm does the CD211 work to because i live in Canada and the CD311 doesnt ship here
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06/13/05
12
rktboy
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Tthe CD211 is exactly the same unit minus the HD. You install a notebook drive of your own in it.
Although, for the record, I'm Canadian too and I was able to get my hands on one. It took a bit of hunting. I contacted Apacer directly and obtained numbers for a couple of their distributors in my area and, by contacting them, was able to track down a local retailer that was able to order the unit for me. Just FYI.edited: Jun 13 2005
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06/13/05
6
Froogle
| Ontario Canada
does this mean that you need a large enough memory card (1 gig, 2 gig) inside your psp to copy files from the cd311 onto?
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06/13/05
4
dvst8
| Michigan USA
yes but a 512mb would be efficent
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06/13/05
4
dvst8
| Michigan USA
i have found a cd211 with a 40gb hardrive for only 139.99 will this still work
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06/14/05
4
BMXerXXX
| South Carolina USA
a 512 would be...well, enough for a full movie on slightly above medium quality (say, medium-high), but for extreme high quality go with the 1 gb. I do have to point out though, that on medium quality (not medium-high), it is almost possible to fit two entire movies on a 512. Its fairly hard to notice large amounts of quality difference as well when viewing a medium quality movie to a medium-high quality movie, and similarly when viewing a medium-high quality movie to a high quality one. I just normally stick with medium quality (plenty good enough), so for me a 512 is all i need.
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06/14/05
Gringo
| Netherlands
I bought the Apacer CD211 here in Holland, but I ran into a problem: the CD211 doesn't ship with the Micro B (M) to Micro B (M) cable, so I can't connect my PSP yet! Does anyone know where I can get this cable, or maybe an adapter, perhaps?
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Okay U guys i tottaly understand sending the files to ur memory cards and playing them but can u read them straight off of the hdd to prevent buying a memory card and the steno thanks
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06/14/05
72
Panther
| California USA
In order to have the PSP talk to a computer or external HD through the USB, it has to be in "USB Mode". So the answer is no. You cannot have it read straight off the hard drive. Of course that would be wonderful as it would open up alot of things! *waits for the hack*...
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