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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
killah1661 said: "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"
No, you cant. Even with the hard drive you still need a large memory stick.
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rktboy said: "Tthe CD211 is exactly the same unit minus the HD."
This isnt entirely accurate. The CD311 allows for on-board file security. The CD211 does not have this feature. The 311 also comes, atleast for a limited time, with a card reader. It also comes with more cables.
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They need an interface like that for the iPods. I don't really want to buy a whole new HD...
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ProjectGSX said: " rktboy said: "Tthe CD211 is exactly the same unit minus the HD."
This isnt entirely accurate. The CD311 allows for on-board file security. The CD211 does not have this feature. The 311 also comes, atleast for a limited time, with a card reader. It also comes with more cables."
My bad.
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killah1661 | Alabama USA
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 +
okay in otder for this thing to even be of any use you need a 1gb memory card
What it does is hold info and then when you want something it will send it to your card ONLY 1GB'S WORTH THOUGH If you want to watch another movie or something you have to take the movie off the card and then put the other on get it?
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I just got this - it is awesome... agree with all the above reviews - awesome storage, battery life....
crappy but effective interface..
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I just got the cd311 the other day. It is an awsome product. Pefect for use with the PSP. I highly recommend this product .
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I think it's a great idea but can't they give us a 1gb card and 39gb's on the hard drive just to save us a $100. You know?
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If its worth every penny then Ill get it for sure...
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hey does anybody happen to know the (holland please) site where i can buy this from. the prospect of coupling this up to my PSP is sooooo hot cant wait
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i have a few questions
does it play mp3s.. like atleast headphone jack
and whats the battery life like for doing that if it can
also can you select folders... like what if i want to transfer an entire albums music...
do you guys think this is a cheaper alternative to that black one with the tutorial... i only know that one plays movies too, but anyone know what else it does
thanks
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can anyone tell me if it is able to delete files from the psp's memory, without need to format it from psp? or there is only the cut and paste function? in this case the time needed to exchange files between hd and psp is doubled...
and one other thing... what's approximately the time needed to transfer 1 gb of data from hd to psp?
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