Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160
Review Date: 2nd June 2005
Introduction
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is a portable storage device that is aimed at the digital photographer who wants something that is both easy to use and affordable. The VP2160 is a compact device thanks to its use of an internal 2.5 inch hard drive, but it still offers a generous 2.5 inch monochrome LCD screen that allows you to view the transfer status of your file downloads (there is no actual viewing of the images themselves). 12 different memory card formats are supported by the Vosonic VP2160 via two external memory card slots. As the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is basically a hard-drive in a stylish metal case, any type of file that you would normally find on a computer can be stored on it. Copying your digital photos from a memory card onto the VP2160 takes just one button press, and copying them from the VP2160 onto your computer is via a speedy USB 2.0 connection. With a price tag of under £150 for both the 20Gb and 40Gb versions, should the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 find a home in every photographer's camera bag? Find out by reading my review.
Price
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 has a recommended retail price of £135 inc. VAT for the 20Gb version that I reviewed. There is also a 40Gb version available which costs £149.00 inc. VAT.
There is no limit on the hard-drive capacity that the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 supports, so in theory you could keep upgrading the unit with larger hard-drives to accommodate larger file sizes in the future.
Features
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 supports 8 different kinds of memory card; Compactflash Card type I / type II (CF), IBM Microdrive, Smartmedia Card (SM), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Pro (MS Pro), Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC) and XD Picture cards (XD), which fit into one of the two card slots on the sides of the unit. 4 other formats are supported with the use of a suitable adapter (not supplied) - they are Mini-SD, RS-MMC, MS Duo and MS Pro Duo.
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 uses a fast USB 2.0 interface for quick file transfers to your PC (also backwards compatible with USB 1.1 ports). When it is plugged into your PC the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 also doubles up as a multi-card reader/writer, so you can save yourself some money by not having to buy a card reader as well.
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is powered by a rechargeable 3.7V Li-ion battery which has a lifespan of around 3 hours. Alternatively you can use the supplied 100-240V AC/DC adapter to plug the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 into the mains power in most countries; this is also the way in which the battery is recharged.
On the front of the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 are 2 buttons: power and copy. There is a 2.5 inch monochrome LCD screen which allows you to control the drive and view transfer status. The screen is not back-lit.
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 has a small recess marked Reset on the side of the unit which allows you to reset the device. It weighs 230 grams including the hard-drive and battery, and its dimensions are 116 (L) x 78 (W) x 23 (H) mm.
The following items are supplied with the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160: Power adapter, USB cable, User Guide, Driver Disc and a a protective Carrying Bag.
Design
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Front / 2.5 Inch LCD Screen / 2 Buttons |
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Front / Power On |
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Cards Inserted |
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Back |
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Side / Memory Card Slots / DC Power Socket / USB Port / Reset Button |
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Compact Flash Slot / Memory Card Slots / DC Power Socket / USB Port / Reset Button |
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Side |
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Top / Compact Flash Slot |
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Bottom |
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Front |
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Carry Case |
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Compared to the Vosonic X'S Drive Super VP6210 |
Ease of Use
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 has a relatively small list of features which in turn means that it is very straightforward to operate.
It's extremely easy to copy your photos onto the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160. Simply insert the memory card into the correct slot and press the Copy button on the front of the device (the larger of the two buttons). The LCD screen displays the name of the file that is being copied, the percentage of the current file that has been copied and how many files have been copied so far. A small green flashing LED in the top right of the device indicates that a transfer is taking place and "Copy: OK" is displayed when the transfer has completed. It took just 6 minutes 02 seconds to copy the contents of a full 512Mb 24x speed PQI compact flash card (86 Canon EOS 10D RAW files, 488Mb total data). This gives a transfer rate of 1.35Mb/Sec (488Mb transferred in 362 secs). Note that because the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP216 is such a small device, compact flash cards do protrude quite a long way out of the top of the unit when inserted.
The transfer of the files from the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 onto your PC is equally as straight-forward. Plug one end of the supplied USB cable into a USB 2.0 port on your computer and the other into the mini-USB port on the side of the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160, turn the device on, which creates 3 new drives in Windows Explorer (one for the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160's internal hard-drive and one for each of the 2 memory card slots). You can insert your memory card and use the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 as a card reader, or you can copy and paste the contents of the hard-drive onto your PC. If you know how to use Windows Explorer, then you know how to access what is stored on the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160. The USB 2.0 connection means that the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is quick to transfer files onto your PC - it took 1 minute 12 seconds for 488Mb data. A small green flashing LED in the top right of the device indicates that a transfer is taking place and "HDTrans..." is displayed on the LCD screen.
When the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is not being used to transfer files, the LCD screen displays the current battery level, how much hard-drive space is left on the device and the message "Insert card". The small green LED in the top right of the device is lit but does not flash. The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 automatically turns itself off after approx. 2 minutes of inactivity to conserve battery power.
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 partly solves one of the main drawbacks of the original X'S Drive, which is the inability to verify if your files have been successfully copied onto the device. The addition of the 2.5 inch LCD screen allows you to check what is being copied onto the device, and if a transfer has been successful or not before you format your memory card (if you have sufficient time that is!). Unfortunately, the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is a much simpler device than the Vosonic VP3310 that I have previously reviewed, in that you can't browse through the names of all folders and files stored on its hard disk, which were transferred from your memory cards. Therefore the verification process is only really a partial one, as you can only check the transfer process while it is taking place, not after the event.
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 has improved on a couple of other things that annoyed me about the original X'S Drive. Firstly, the noise of the unit has been significantly reduced, so although not whisper quiet, it is now barely discernible. Secondly, the biggest design flaw of the X'S Drive is the Power and Copy buttons, which are slightly raised above the level of the rest of the device, leading to the unit inadvertently turning itself on. Vosonic have addressed this on the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 by slightly indenting the Power and Copy buttons within the body of the unit.
Conclusion
(out of 5
stars)
The Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is a no-frills, easy to use and very compact portable storage device that will definitely meet the needs of many photographers. If you don't require features like a colour screen, album management, video-out and MP3 playback, then the VP2160 should be on your shortlist of inexpensive PSDs. With a price-tag under £150 for both the 20Gb and 40Gb versions, the Vosonic X'S Drive II Plus VP2160 is much more economical than buying the equivalent storage space in memory card format (despite the recent fall in memory prices). Vosonic have also made a number of improvements to the VP2160 when compared with its previous generation of devices, notably the transfer speed from a memory card onto the VP2160, which is twice as quick as the older Vosonic VP3310. The battery life is also respectable enough at around 3 hours. Only the inability to review your downloaded files after the transfer process has taken place and the lack of a backlit screen spoil what is otherwise an excellent option in the entry-level portable storage device market.