Overseas standards – shipping drive

[Walter Soyka]

[Joseph W. Bourke] “I am trying to decide whether 36GB thumb drives (universal, I think) or a portable 500GB USB hard drive (50Hz electrical system could be a problem) would be the way to go. Client is suggesting I purchase the drive here and ship it over – when it arrives, odds are they won’t have power conversion kits there to convert to their own local power.”

If the drive is bus-powered, it doesn’t matter what the local electrical system is.

If it’s externally powered, look at the AC adapter. Nearly all of them are universal. If it says 50/60 Hz, 110/220V, you’re good to go. You’d just need an adapter from a US plug to the local plug (not an inverter), and you could pick one of those up for a couple bucks at Radio Shack. Some products even ship with multiple plugs so they can sell the same exact piece anywhere in the world.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Jason Brown]

I echo Walter’s comments. You can EASILY get a bus powered USB or Firewire drive. I routinely send stuff overseas…

I have had some issues with some PC laptops not having enough bus power to spin up a drive…so I got some LaCie drives that have an additional plug that goes from USB to a DC looking type of plug. It just offers additional power to spin up…but that’s really only relevant when using an older laptop. These are all 500GB drives…there really should be no need to plug into a wall.

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

Thumb drives- I echo Dave, why would you chance it with a drive with moving parts?

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist

[Joseph W. bourke]

Thanks guys –

The thumb drive was the direction I was leaning, because of the moving parts issue. I can get a 36GB thumb drive for about 49 bucks at Best Buy – my secondary plan was the cheapskate in me thinking – why buy 36GB for 49 bucks when I can buy 500GB for the same price? It’s pretty hard to break a thumb drive!

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com

[Walter Soyka]

[Joseph W. Bourke] “The thumb drive was the direction I was leaning, because of the moving parts issue. I can get a 36GB thumb drive for about 49 bucks at Best Buy – my secondary plan was the cheapskate in me thinking – why buy 36GB for 49 bucks when I can buy 500GB for the same price? It’s pretty hard to break a thumb drive!”

Physical shock won’t break a thumb drive — but electrostatic shock could. It might be worthwhile to ship it in an anti-static bag.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Jason Brown]

I understand the “spinning parts” argument, but keep in mind that we use them EVERYDAY, they support our entire industry, and many others…I don’t like to vilify things unnecessarily … I personally think it’s a non-issue, it’s like arguing not to go outside because u could get hit by a car 🙂

[Dave Johnson]

I’m with the other guys … thumb drives all the way …

much harder to break
much cheaper to ship
avoids the power conversion issue altogether

By the way, yes Blu-Ray data discs do exists … easier to get broken during shipping than a thumb drive though … and assumes the recipient will be able to read the discs.

[Joseph W. bourke]

Yes, Dave, there is a Blu-Ray data disc. I’ve thought of using it for just the purpose I asked about in this thread, however, blu-ray drives seem to be as rare as hens’ teeth with my client base. I have never been asked to deliver on Blu-Ray, so I haven’t bothered to purchase a burner yet. As the price drops, I probably will give it a second thought.

My local problems have just been solved in terms of backup. I just bought a Drobo 2nd generation 4-drive unit with 8TB of storage. That ought to get me through at least a year of projects. I’ve only had it a few days, but it’s ridiculously easy to set up, and brainless to operate.

Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com