Castanet

My father-in-law came to me with a deceptively simple question that has stumped me.

He has two cameras with SD cards, but he has no computer whatsoever. He wants to view the photos on a larger screen than the camera's tiny LCD. He wants to delete unwanted photos and arrange photos into folders. Finally, he wants to store photos somewhere other than his camera (ie. doesn't want to lose them).

Important: He has no internet nor does he have the ability to get it. He's *way* out in the middle of nowhere. He doesn't have power either other than a generator, so something battery or very low power would be required.

A laptop seems overkill. I was wondering if there was a mini-pc solution? I have very limited experience with things like Raspberry Pi, Arduino, etc so I don't know if they'd be suitable. I'm surprised / disappointed in my self that I haven't been able to Google the answer to this :)

Suggestions?

Try googling FlashTrax by SmartDisk.

They said this on some website.

"I purchased the FlashTrax by SmartDisk. It is a 20GB hard drive with a 3 1/2" screen. It has a nice zoom feature. The whole thing will fit in your pocket. It accepts compact flash cards.

I used this when I had to travel acrross the country and take wedding photos. I reviewed all 240 photos with the bride and groom after the wedding. They thought it was great.

It does not display RAW files well. I shot both RAW and jpg so we could look at the jpg images.

When I got home I just connected it to my computer and downloaded all the images to my computer."

Bazinga 42? I feel old all of a sudden at 44. :)

I'm out to lunch too with these new fangled gadgets.

No sarcasm :)

That flashtrax thing looks suitable, if it weren't 13 yr old tech that's no longer available.

Right idea... If only

Don't know if this will help.

http://glenbarrington.blogspot.ca/2016/ ... raphy.html

The more I look it seems the best solution at the moment is a cheap laptop and at least 2 portable HD's for back up if he is worried about losing them at all.

Many cameras come with video output that you can use to connect to a TV.

Also - many smart TVs are now coming with SD card readers. But if buying a $600 computer is overkill, buying a smart TV may be as well.

How about a $148 10" Android with 32Gb ram, 6.0 Lolipop, detachable keyboard, microSd, Usb port, HDMI port etc...
On sale right now at WallyWorld.
Bought one for travel. Did not want to bring my more expensive equipment in case of theft. Got it at Black Friday sale for $108. Battery lasts a long time. Use a cordless usb mouse sometimes and works great. It's like a touchscreen laptop with detachable keyboard but it is definitely a cheaper feel. But the quad core processor and the 10" screen makes it good for travel and I have used it many times. You can plug in a USB flash drive and view all photos and videos.
I especially like the fact the keyboard acts like a case and protects the screen from scratches when jammed in my carry on bag.

It's a RCA Viking Pro 10 btw

32gb is nowhere near enough, and microSD isn't SD.

I guess a SD USB adaptor would work? Can a portable HDD be plugged in for storage? I didn't think Android supported non-SD storage.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a 64gb microSd card plugged in and have used a 64Gb USB flash drive in the USB port. I have not tried anything bigger or a usb portable hard drive. I have transferred files from the built in 32Gb to the microSd or the usb flash drive. No problems moving them around and deleting or adding files.
I will try and give it a shot in the next day or 2 as well as a flash card reader. Kind of interested now if I can transfer my full size SD card using my cheap $5 card reader I have. Also never thought of straight transfer to a portable drive.

How about a $200 Chromebook for viewing and an $80 1TB WD Passport 2 1/2" hard drive for storage?

So I tried using 2 different portable drives and neither worked. Not sure if it's because they are over 1 TB or if it's a USB 3.0 issue. Most of the time I either transfer using wifi or a usb flash drive so my suggestion may not be the best fit for your needs. I do like the Chromebook suggestion but I know very little about them. Good luck.