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iPad iPad file manager
- Thread starter MCAsan
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USB connected hard drive? Doesn't work. I use a wireless file hub (both Kingston and RAVPower) to connect to a hard drive attached to the file hub and FileBrowser works great with it - it can directly see/access the hard drive.
http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Vers...wer filehub&qid=1462887629&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Digi...670&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=kingston+g3+filehub
The Kingston has the benefit of supporting 802.11ac on the 5GHz band and the RAVPower has a larger internal battery. Both work equally well for transferring files to/from the iPad. Each has their own free app which you need minimally for configuring the device but I like FileBrowser for file management.
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The WD MyPassport Wireless does wifi N with dual bands and has a integrated SD reader. I think it would be the fastest wifi drive to do things like move photos from iPad. Also it can be a wifi hub and hotspot. It seems as if you have to jailbreak an iPad to get it to read and write with a Lighting to USB connected hard drive.
802.11ac is faster than n, the Kingston also has an integrated SD reader, it can be used to charge other devices with its internal battery, and has the advantage that it works with any USB drive and so is not limited to its own local storage. Not to mention that it is significantly cheaper.
But isn't the USB port USB 2, not USB 3? I know, I want mission impossible.....AC wifi and USB 3 ports.
Guess you'll just have to wait for Tom Cruise to help But to be realistic, how much data do you really expect to transfer to/from your iPad at any time that USB 2 will a problem? Both the Kingston and RAVPower are fast enough to stream video from an attached HDD. The 802.11ac is definitely a plus when using the device in wireless bridge mode
You may want to consider using a laptop then with a USB 3.0 HDD and card reader. I'm off to the Galapagos for 3 weeks, taking my Canon 70D with a 128GB card loaded in it and I'll use the file hub to transfer nightly to a HDD. I don't use my iPad for doing large photo transfers - I use my Android smartphone and set it all off to the side while the transfer occurs. Did that on a recent week-long trip to Alaska and it worked great as while laptop speed would be nice, on these trips I value size and weight more.
I do not want the size and weight of my rMBP in the field. We hated carrying those around for 3 weeks in Kenya in November. We head to Lake Clark in August and do not want the rMBPs with us for that trip.
While the WD MyPassport Wireless looked like a viable candidate, it does not do dual band AC spec wifi. But the iDrive One product does do dual band AC wifi. Their IOS app will like you download all your IOS photo and video files to the device. You can get the device with either HD or SSD. And it looks like a cheaper price than the WD product. The downside of the iDrive One is that it does not have a battery. So you have to power it via USB to make it work. Personally I find that OK. I just may purchase one and experiment with it.
IDrive® One - Personal Cloud for Backup and Streaming
https://www.idrive.com/one/idriveone-quick-start-guide.pdf
IDrive One on the App Store
While the WD MyPassport Wireless looked like a viable candidate, it does not do dual band AC spec wifi. But the iDrive One product does do dual band AC wifi. Their IOS app will like you download all your IOS photo and video files to the device. You can get the device with either HD or SSD. And it looks like a cheaper price than the WD product. The downside of the iDrive One is that it does not have a battery. So you have to power it via USB to make it work. Personally I find that OK. I just may purchase one and experiment with it.
IDrive® One - Personal Cloud for Backup and Streaming
https://www.idrive.com/one/idriveone-quick-start-guide.pdf
IDrive One on the App Store
Understand on the laptop - that's why I leave mine home now, too. The iDrive - doesn't that have the disadvantage of having to copy from the camera's SD card to the iPad and then to iDrive? Or did you want to do that? I just copy from the SD card direct to the HDD and then I can cull from the HDD. I shoot 100% RAW so having that on the iPad anyways is not very useful given the limited support for RAW.
If you want to copy from card to drive, them the MyPassport Wireless can make sense. But, I want to cull before saving so I need to import to iPad Pro 12" (supports USB 3 speed). Then I can cull and send the keepers via wifi AC to the iDrive One. Once I get the equipment I experiment on how long it takes to upload a full 128GB card and how long to wifi them to iDrive One. It is very sad you have to jailbreak an iPad to get it to copy files directly to a drive connected via USB.
Definitely but at least we have options than work, albeit slower than desired. Good luck with it.
I always have a backup plan when I travel to remote areas where replacement of parts/devices is impossible for days if not the entire trip. I was using a tablet as above for transferring files on one trip and it died on day one. My current backup for backup is to copy from the camera's SD card to the 128GB microSD in my Note 4 phone using a miniature microUSB card reader. I can then attach the HDD to the phone directly using a on-the-go (OTG) cable, and then copy off the phone card to the HDD. Clumsy, but it works in a pinch. I do use USB 3.0 HDDs so that transfer back at home is fast.