Storage solutions for vacation

I am headed out of the country (norway, denmark, swedeny, Iceland) for a few
weeks, and am trying to figure out how to best maximize my storage capacity.
I have an olympus stylus 400 (4mp) and two 256M xD cards. If I shoot at the
highest res, this only gives me about 180 pics, although if I shoot at the
next highest res, this gives more like 500 (and should still be ok for 4x6
prints). My girlfriend has recently gone picture crazy, however, and I am
concerned that she'll fill up both cards in the first couple days. I can
think of a couple possibilities, but not sure if there are others:

1. Buy another xD card. Not my favorite option. doesn't add a ton of new
capacity, and fairly pricey.

2. Take along blank CDs and try to find an internet cafe with a CD burner
(I'm assuming in scandanavia this ought not be a problem, but I'm not sure.
Also, is there just one worldwide data cd standard?)

3. Look for some sort of portable drive. Is there some kind of portable
drive I could connect to the camera via usb, or pop the xD cards into? Does
such a device exist? What are the pro's and cons.

One final question- I'd like to order a European version of my battery
charger so I don't have to take a transformer along (we don't use anything
else electrical). Is there anyplace in the states I could order one from?

Thanks
Justin

"Justin W. Holmes" wrote in message
...
I am headed out of the country (norway, denmark, swedeny, Iceland) for a
few
weeks, and am trying to figure out how to best maximize my storage
capacity.
I have an olympus stylus 400 (4mp) and two 256M xD cards. If I shoot at
the
highest res, this only gives me about 180 pics, although if I shoot at the
next highest res, this gives more like 500 (and should still be ok for 4x6
prints). My girlfriend has recently gone picture crazy, however, and I am
concerned that she'll fill up both cards in the first couple days. I can
think of a couple possibilities, but not sure if there are others:

1. Buy another xD card. Not my favorite option. doesn't add a ton of new
capacity, and fairly pricey.

2. Take along blank CDs and try to find an internet cafe with a CD burner
(I'm assuming in scandanavia this ought not be a problem, but I'm not
sure.
Also, is there just one worldwide data cd standard?)

CDs are international formats. From my time in europe, internet cafes are
common and most offer burning services. Just give them your card and a few
bucks and they will hand you a CD with the images on them.

This is the best option, IMO.


3. Look for some sort of portable drive. Is there some kind of portable
drive I could connect to the camera via usb, or pop the xD cards into?
Does
such a device exist? What are the pro's and cons.


They do exist. In fact, they even have an attachment for the iPod that does
this. However, these portable drives can cost as much as the camera ($300+).
They can double as data storage and mp3 player, so that helps to justify the
investment. It is, however, one more piece of equipment you have to lug
around with you, and given that you arent willing to even bring an adapter
for the power, this may not be what you want. Unless, of course, you want to
listen to some good tunes as you snap away.

One final question- I'd like to order a European version of my battery
charger so I don't have to take a transformer along (we don't use anything
else electrical). Is there anyplace in the states I could order one from?


There are plenty of sites that are geared for travelers with electronic
gear. Google turns up a lot of places, but i dont like to reccomend
retailers personally.


Thanks
Justin

Thaks Skroob, and may the Schwartz be with you. In digging around on google,
I haven't found a eurpoean voltage version of my charger, but I did discover
that to buy it seperately is around 45 bucks. I'll just carry some blank CDs
and my transformer I think.


"Skroob" wrote in message
...

"Justin W. Holmes" wrote in message
...
I am headed out of the country (norway, denmark, swedeny, Iceland) for a
few
weeks, and am trying to figure out how to best maximize my storage
capacity.
I have an olympus stylus 400 (4mp) and two 256M xD cards. If I shoot at
the
highest res, this only gives me about 180 pics, although if I shoot at
the
next highest res, this gives more like 500 (and should still be ok for
4x6
prints). My girlfriend has recently gone picture crazy, however, and I
am
concerned that she'll fill up both cards in the first couple days. I can
think of a couple possibilities, but not sure if there are others:

1. Buy another xD card. Not my favorite option. doesn't add a ton of new
capacity, and fairly pricey.

2. Take along blank CDs and try to find an internet cafe with a CD
burner
(I'm assuming in scandanavia this ought not be a problem, but I'm not
sure.
Also, is there just one worldwide data cd standard?)

CDs are international formats. From my time in europe, internet cafes are
common and most offer burning services. Just give them your card and a few
bucks and they will hand you a CD with the images on them.

This is the best option, IMO.


3. Look for some sort of portable drive. Is there some kind of portable
drive I could connect to the camera via usb, or pop the xD cards into?
Does
such a device exist? What are the pro's and cons.


They do exist. In fact, they even have an attachment for the iPod that
does
this. However, these portable drives can cost as much as the camera
($300+).
They can double as data storage and mp3 player, so that helps to justify
the
investment. It is, however, one more piece of equipment you have to lug
around with you, and given that you arent willing to even bring an adapter
for the power, this may not be what you want. Unless, of course, you want
to
listen to some good tunes as you snap away.

One final question- I'd like to order a European version of my battery
charger so I don't have to take a transformer along (we don't use
anything
else electrical). Is there anyplace in the states I could order one
from?


There are plenty of sites that are geared for travelers with electronic
gear. Google turns up a lot of places, but i dont like to reccomend
retailers personally.


Thanks
Justin

Aha, it says on the bottom it will work with anything from 100-240 volts. I
guess I just need a little adaptor plug. THank you so much, and I can't wait
to get there.
"Gisle Hannemyr" wrote in message
...
"Justin W. Holmes" writes:
One final question- I'd like to order a European version of my
battery charger so I don't have to take a transformer along (we
don't use anything else electrical)

Are you sure you need one? Most modern chargers can handle everyting
from 110V to 240V (here in Scandinavia the juice is 220V or 230V, and
50Hz). I just use my «standard» charger when I visit the USA, and it
works fine. Check out what your current charger can handle before you
waste money on buying a new one.

One thing you will need, however, is an adapter from the flat pins
used in the USA to the standard round pin found over here (it is type
C has described in this guide: http://kropla.com/electric2.htm ).

These type of adapters are sold a number of places, including airport
shopping malls (but get it in the USA - the adapters sold over here go
the other way).

And welcome to Scandinavia! I hope you will have a nice stay over
here.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
================================================== ======================
«To live outside the law, you must be honest.» (Bob Dylan)

On Tue, 29 Jun 2004
10:02:52 -0500, Justin W. Holmes wrote:

Thaks Skroob, and may the Schwartz be with you. In digging around on
google, I haven't found a eurpoean voltage version of my charger, but I
did discover that to buy it seperately is around 45 bucks. I'll just
carry some blank CDs and my transformer I think.

A flash card reader is also nice, as downloading via the camera is usually
slower, especially if you have to download 2 x 256mb and are in a hurry.
(Based on experience with my oly c750.)

Don't skimp on your CDR's, they can vary in quality, make sure you test
burn a few and verify them before you go. And figure out some way to
verify the CD's after they are burned, ideally you want to read the whole
CD, as well as verify it has the right number of files. I don't know how
to easily do that under windows, probably just copy the whole CD to a hard
drive.

-- Patrick Mansfield

"Justin W. Holmes" wrote in message
...

I don't have much to say about storage -- I take my laptop with me and burn
CDs as I go.

One final question- I'd like to order a European version of my battery
charger so I don't have to take a transformer along (we don't use anything
else electrical). Is there anyplace in the states I could order one from?

Most likely, your charger is dual voltage and will work in Europe without
the need for a transformer. Check the specs -- if it say 120/240 50/60 Hz,
then it will work just fine in Europe. All you'll need is a plug adapter,
which you can get in any travel store or at Radio Shack.



Thanks
Justin