As you know, most digital cameras and camcorders rely on memory cards for storage purposes these days. Those that don't usually use hard drives in order to store data. By using a 30GB (or larger) hard drive, there's a small chance that you will end up without storage space in the middle of an important event, but, on the other hand, memory cards have barely broken the 30GB barrier. And if you're looking for one, don't expect to find them anytime soon.

So what can card users do in order to eliminate the storage limit? They can use the NextoDI NEXTO ND-2725 imaging backup solution. The basic concept of the device is very simple. Take a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, place it in an enclosure equipped with a lot of input/output interfaces, strap an LCD to the enclosure and sprinkle some basic logic so you can transfer data in and out.

NextoDI has outfitted the ND-2725 with two memory card slots and made the device compatible with CF. MMC, SD, SDHC, MS, MS Pro (with and without MagicGate) and xD card formats. Plus, it even reads MDs (Micro Drives). Quite a load by anyone's standards. It can also connect to any PMP or USB capable device, without the need of a computer, and backup all its relevant data.

In order to provide a more reliable backup management system, the manufacturer has equipped the device with a small monochrome LCD, which can be used to verify data, delete old backup files or completely format the entire disk. Not something very special these days. Most PMPs can do this and even more.

What's actually interesting with this storage solution is the attention it provides to detecting backup errors. There are two features that aid users in assuring a safe backup. The first is a HDD and memory card diagnostic function. This is used in order to ensure that the source (memory card) and the destination (internal HDD) are within working parameters and don't contain any errors (bad sectors). The second feature is a data verification function, which verifies the backup by comparing the source data with the HDD copy.

All in all, it looks like a decent solution and I'm sure there are lot's of users in need of such a device.


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