Digital Video - August 2008 - (Page 23)

WESTERN DIGITAL MY PASSPORT ELITE IN REVIEW PASSPORT, PLEASE THIS PORTABLE DRIVE WILL KEEP YOU ON THE GO. BY DOUGLAS BANKSTON A vailable in 250GB and 320GB capacities, the My Passport Elite drive pulls its power through the USB 2.0 bus. It comes preformatted as a FAT32 partitioned drive and with backup and synchronization utility application installers. The beauty of FAT32 is that you can read and write to the drive from both Windows and Mac. However, that beauty turns ugly when dealing with large files. FAT32 has a write-to ceiling of 4GB in file size. Most of the HDV footage I transferred to my Elite was far above that and disallowed with extreme prejudice. So, in its out-of-thebox state, it isn’t so handy for field use. There is a relatively easy solution: Change the drive to NTFS. Windows XP and Vista uses the NT File System, which has no write-to file-size limit. If you do switch to NTFS, Western Digital recommends reformatting the drive as NTFS from scratch and not to go the Convert.exe route via the DOS prompt. NTFS unlocks the Passport’s full capability to store and backup digital video files, and even record video, depending on the shooting format. After all, USB 2.0 has a 480Mbps data transfer rate. Mac users will grumble at this solution because NTFS is read-only on the Mac platform, but don’t fret. With OS X, there are third-party applications that allow Macs to both read and write to NTFS drives. I came across two: NTFS 3G, which is a free download but you must also install the MacFUSE Core and Tools apps (also free); and Paragon’s NTFS for Mac OS X 6.0 ($39.95). Archived Web videos and HDV footage that I had transferred to the 320GB My Passport Elite played back effortlessly. For giggles, I copied some HDCAM footage and tried to play it back, getting the expected result — the image froze nearly instantly. But I could store HDCAM footage on the Elite with no problem. Archive backup anyone? After converting to NTFS, My Passport Elite is the perfect complement to a field laptop and a great way to store footage in your pocket. DV SCORE MY PASSPORT ELITE PROS: Compact, high-capacity, USB bus powered. CONS: Formatted as FAT32 but an easy fix. BOTTOM LINE: Makes for a great field accessory. MSRP: 250GB $169.99; 320GB $199.99 CONTACT: www.westerndigital.com http://www.westerndigital.com http://www.edirol.com/f1 http://www.edirol.com/f1

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - August 2008

Digital Video - August 2008 Contents DV Update My Studio Close-Up Wristshot HV30 Camcorder Tiffen DFX Bench Test PCM-D50 & R-09HR Recorders Camera Cradle Instant Expert My Passport Elite High School Confidential The Ultimate DIY Raid DV101 Click to Play Production Diary

Digital Video - August 2008

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