Field Report
(by Gary Gray)
(Wolverine ESP-160 shown with optional cradle)
If you are like me, you don't always have room to pack a laptop computer. Is there a better solution to storing those photographs while on the road with limited space?
I used to travel abroad with a laptop computer. I say used to, because about a year ago I had my laptop stolen from me in Mexico and on that laptop were over a thousand photographs that can never be replaced. I vowed never to take a laptop with me if it could be avoided. I stocked up on Compact Flash cards and kept my photos stored on the chips. It gets expensive though, and I decided there had to be a better way. In comes the portable media storage device. They've been on the market for some time now, but replacing the functionality of a laptop computer with the convenience of Compact Flash storage was a challenge. I want to be able to see my pictures while on the road. I want to be able to store everything I shoot. I don't want a big, bulky, noticeable package that will attract a thief or weigh me down.
I selected the Wolverine ESP - 160 GB Multimedia Storage Player to solve my problem. The Wolverine ESP - 160 can be purchased directly from Wolverine Data at this link. http://www.wolverinedata.com/
I purchased the 160-GB version for $549.00 (US)
Wolverine also makes other storage devices at a lower cost. Check their website for most recent products and pricing. There are other similar devices out there, Epson makes them, Canon reportedly has one in the works, the choices are many. I selected the Wolverine for several reasons.
1st, the 160 Gig hard drive. This thing will store some data. I doubt I could fill it up in a month of constant shooting.
2nd, Portability. It's small enough it can be carried in a coat pocket or in the case on my waist belt.
3rd, Compatibility. I can download Canon Raw files directly into the unit from Compact Flash cards and view them on the screen.
4th, Versatility. It also plays MP3 files, Movie files, and has a built in FM tuner (with included ear phones...not shown.)
It's an IPod on steroids without all the hassles of being an IPod. I can download a substantial music library to it before I leave and listen to my favorite tunes, copy a couple of DVD's to it for watching on the flights and still have room for about a gazillion photographs. Plus, I can tune in the local radio stations and get the weather reports or baseball scores. Add to it the fact that it will fit into a pocket on my backpack or in the bottom of my camera case, what more could a groovy guy ask for? Well, for starters...a spare battery and charger (not shown.) I got those too, and so should you.
A few of the specifications of the Wolverine, taken directly from the user manual.
Video - 3 hrs will full charge. AVI, MOV, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, XviD, WMV9
Audio - 8 hrs with full charge. MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, CDA
Photo - JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF & RAW (check their website for compatibility with your camera...it works with Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Olympus, Kodak, Pentax, Minolta & Panasonic)
Voice Recording - Built in microphone, output MPEG-4 Audio AAC format
Video Recording - With optional cradle (shown) 352x240 @ 30 fps
FM Radio - 87.5 Mhz - 108 Mhz
Direct Printing - (Doesn't Canon cameras have a button for this too?) Pictbridge compliant
Built-in speaker - 8 Ohm, 400 mw max.
Supported Memory Cards - Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD, MMC, MicroDrive, xD, Mini-SD.
Hard Disk size - This particular model is 160 GB, they have smaller versions. The hard drive is a laptop type drive and upgradeable.
AV device - Analog AV-Out composite RCA jack (you can hook it up to a television or VCR or DVD burner)
Display - 3.6" TFT high resolution LCD, 320x240 pixels, backlight adjustable.
Interface - USB 2.0
Power - 5V/2.5A DC In, Li-ion 3.7V 2300mAh battery
TV system - PAL/ NTSC
Dimensions - 5.25"L x 3"W x 1"H
Weight = 10.3 ounces (including battery pack)
You can see that this is a feature packed little gizmo. It has a solid feel to it and fits nicely in the belt case without feeling bulky. The real question is "How does it perform in the field?" I have a photo trip planned for mid-April to Costa Rica and the Wolverine will be going with me. I'll have plenty of opportunity to give it a real thorough testing in a rugged environment. In the meantime, I've used it around town and I've found it to be fairly easy to operate and trouble free. One item of note though, the slot for inserting a Compact Flash card is located on the top of the unit protected by a plastic flip cover and is not weather sealed. I found it requires a gentle touch when inserting Compact Flash cards, as the slot isn't recessed into the device very far and it appears that it would be easy to bend pins if you get too aggressive with inserting the flash card. That said, I haven't had a problem, I'm just noting what I consider to be the weakest design feature of the device with some casual use.
Tune back in for more field results. I'll be back from Costa Rica in early May and will be using my Wolverine to store all my photographs during the trip. I'll give you an updated field report with a more in-depth evaluation of this device and how it faired in the Rain Forests and Volcano lands of Central America.
*UPDATE* May 1st, 2007
Having just returned from Costa Rica, I have had the opportunity to give the Wolverine a good work over during a two week trip that included a stay in the ocean jungle near the Caribbean, rain forests, mountain cloud forests, airports and air travel.
In a nutshell, the unit performed flawlessly during the entire trip.
I began the trip from Denver to San Jose with my Wolverine stashed in my coat pocket, using it as a MP3 player during my travel to Costa Rica. On a single battery charge, I managed to play an extensive collection of high resolution (320kb) MP3 files on the flight, arriving in Costa Rica some 10 hours later. The Wolverine wasn't on the entire time; however, it did hold a charge playing music for at least 4 hours with battery to spare. Most of the time it was in the pouch attached to my belt. I'd recommend a headphone cable with a 90 degree angle on the plug though, as it would be difficult to keep the cover of the pouch closed (Velcro) with a plug that came straight up. No problems here at all.
During my two week stay, I took an average of 300 photographs each day using my Canon 5D and 30D. All files were RAW format. With each camera, I would normally have a 4GB flash card in the camera and carry two additional 2GB compact flash cards as spares. The best strategy I could come up with was to download all my compact flash chips each evening to the Wolverine, verify the files and then reformat the CF chips for the next day's shooting. Each chip download created a directory for that chip on the Wolverine hard drive. Once all the images were downloaded, I could hook the Wolverine up to the hotel television (when available) and play them out as a slide show. This worked very nicely, even on the small 19 inch screens. From time to time, we would take the Wolverine with us to dinner and look over the shots from that day while we ate. Very convenient.
I found that I could download 300-400 files each night and view a slide show afterwards on the television, for about 2-3 nights without having to recharge the battery. I kept a spare battery though, and eventually began each day with a freshly charged battery. Due to frequent power outages while traveling in Costa Rica, I decided that It was a good idea to keep the batteries charged. Battery life was never an issue though.
During the entire trip, not once did the Wolverine fail to successfully copy a file. 100% success rate on storing at least 3000 RAW file images without data loss.
The LCD display does a decent job of reviewing the photos, but I found that better viewing results were to be had by hooking it to the video input on a television. In this mode, the LCD screen shuts off and the display is transferred to the TV set. Control functions that would normally be seen on the LCD were identical on the television.
The unit endured temperatures in excess of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity levels of up to 90% (100% if you count the times it rained.) Our first week was in a jungle hut without air conditioning and was entirely open to the environment. No problems at all. The second week was in the cloud forest and highlands of the central part of the country between San Jose and Arenal Volcano. Again, no problems encountered.
To summarize, the Wolverine performed flawlessly. It makes a perfect alternative to traveling with a bulky and conspicuous laptop computer, clips nicely to a belt, will hold more photographs that you can take in a month and never required attention.
If there is one complaint, it would be the functionality of the software. Navigating through thousands of photographs is time consuming and the unit does a default sort of the files that can't be changed. If a future release of the firmware could allow for better file manipulation, I'd be a happy guy. Not that it was unusable, but more tedious than necessary. The only other complaint was the inability to change the delay time for slide shows to anything other than 3 seconds per photo. This makes for a pretty speedy slide show, but we often wanted to dwell on our work a little longer than the Wolverine allowed.
Overall, I give the Wolverine ESP compact media storage/playback unit a big thumbs up! I'm glad I purchased it and can recommend it highly.