Review: Compact, Cost-Effective Media Wrangling Tools

The Key Factor: USB 3.0 

When you're trying to move several large SD cards’ worth of data, USB 2.0 is no longer fast enough. The same external USB hard drive that I wrote to at 70 MB/sec using the WinBook with USB 3.0 (Figure 9, below) manages a write speed of only about 13MB/sec using USB 2.0. This is 5 times slower. The more footage you have, the longer the transfer will take. Moreover, writing to two HDDs slows the overall throughput. 

Figure 9. The exceedingly rare, full-size, blue USB 3.0 port. Here, on a $100 TW800 WinBook tablet. Click the image to see it at full size.

Utilizing an app (or command line, if you’re savvy enough) to manage the copy means you can read once and write twice. Using the "desktop" to copy files means you have to establish two different copy processes, and each copy process must be initiated separately. Add USB 2.0 on top of this, and you might as well hire a person to do it while you shoot because it's going to take a long while. 

So the bare minimum of USB 3.0 for media wrangling in the field is critical and no mobile device without USB 3.0 (or Thunderbolt, and associated accessories) should be considered. 

Thinking it Over...

I really was looking for a compact, inexpensive device to copy my media onto client HDDs while out on a shoot. I didn't want to dedicate a $2000 laptop to this. Nor do I want to carry around 2-4 pounds of gear just to copy media. 

My initial hopes of a tiny media copy device were dashed quite quickly. Stepping up to a tablet seemed the natural order of progression, and I would gain considerable functional capability--especially the ability to view my video clips. 

Previously, there were expensive, dedicated media storage devices, with tiny screens, like the NexTo DI (Figure 10, below) that I reviewed previously. These units could copy your media to internal drives, but they were very expensive, and could only do this one task.

Figure 10. The NexToDI media storage device.

For comparison, a tablet that now costs $100 makes it easy to view the video on an 8" ISP display, and directly push a clip to the outside world via WiFi or USB modem. Tablets can also check mail, Skype, take photos, and more, though I found the photo capability at this price point is quite poor compared to a decent smartphone. Nevertheless, $100 buys a lot of functionality. 

Stepping up to $200 gets a 10" model which would seemingly make it so much easier to work with media, and just easier to see everything on the screen. But I found that the limitations of the TW100 outweighed the advantages. In fact, I ended up preferring the smaller 8" device because it was lighter and easier to wield with one hand. Both devices have the same exact resolution, so the 8" model is certainly harder on the eyes. I tried resizing the desktop resolution to make icons and text bigger, but moving away from the native resolution really means everything also gets blurrier. So I was no better off that way. 

The 8" WinBook also had better WiFi. Not by leaps and bounds, but it saw one more hotspot in my office, and it was more reliably able to connect, hold the connection and downloads came faster. 

Both devices also have an internal MicroSD card slot. Typically, this would be used to dramatically expand the device's storage space. But given the included apps, and what little I needed to add, I would be better served changing my camera media to MicroSD with an SD card adapter, and leveraging that MicroSD slot as the source for my media copying, freeing the USB 3.0 to deliver the files to the external HDDs. It also lowers the power demands on the USB 3.0 port since the SD card would be internal (Figure 11, below).

Figure 11. USB power draw. Click the image to see it at full size.

The power demands are not to be trifled with; they could potentially botch transfers by having the HDD quit out in the middle of writing. I recommend connecting one thing at a time, and letting the tablet access everything it needs to (image previews, etc.) before connecting the next device.

When I tested the 10" tablet, I got a power warning. When I tested the 8", I connected the external USB power charger, and, because I took my time, I never got an error warning. 

While the screen does a good job showing video, the speakers, on the other hand, are on the back of the tablets (Figure 12, below). Specifically, they’re on the flat part of the back of the tablets, which means that when you put them down on a flat table, the volume of your audio is greatly reduced. Prop the tablet up on an angle and you get more sound. Turn it around so the speakers face you, and it's a lot clearer and louder. 

Figure 12. Speakers on the 8" TW800. Click the image to see it at full size.

There are other tablets with forward-facing speakers, such as the $100 Lenovo A7, $300 Nvidia Shield tablet, and Google's Nexus 9 with HTC BoomSound stereo speakers, but they are limited to USB 2.0, and it's unknown if these offer full file control to connected devices like a "computer" tablet does. I'm just not able to test every tablet in an ever-changing market. 

Even the just-released Dell Venue 8 7000 series (Figure 13, below), with its impressive 8" OLED screen and forward-facing stereo speakers, is limited to USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 specification was established way back in 2008. Still having USB 2.0 on devices in 2015 clearly marks these as media consumption devices. They are not meant to connect to other devices, or transfer large amounts of data--which is exactly what we need. 

Figure 13. The Amazing-looking, and sounding, Dell Venue8 7000. But with only USB 2.0. Click the image to see it at full size.

So when you’re looking for solutions, start first with USB 3.0. That seems to be the great limiting factor. Then consider the screen for viewing your footage: Is it big enough? IPS? OLED? I found that even these $100 units were capable of downscaling my 4K footage to the screen resolution on the fly. They are media consumption devices and, as such, the video playback capability is usually pretty good (Figure 14, below). But if you plan on editing or transcoding clips on your tablet, you'll need to look at higher-end models for speed. 

Figure 14. The IPS screen gives wide viewing angles on the WinBook TW800. Click the image to see it at full size.

Also think about connectivity. The models I had were not stellar WiFi performers and there was no cellular option. I could add a USB dongle for connectivity, but if it's something you expect to need often, make sure the device you get has it built-in.

Lastly, don't forget the speaker quality and placement. When you start playing back your footage, you realize how important it is to you (and your client) to hear good sound from the clips you review. Otherwise, make sure you have a good set of headphones that travel with the tablet. 

In short, my priorities are as follows: 
• USB 3.0 
• Quality Screen 
• Powerful Processor 
• Connectivity 
• Speakers 

This has been my look at some cost-effective, compact, media-wrangling solutions for producers looking for an alternative to bringing along a big laptop and power supply to every shoot. With the fast pace of the consumer electronics industry, the entire market will change in just a couple months. But the key assessment points will remain the same. Let’s hope as this year’s new devices emerge in the aftermath of CES, tablet makers will add USB 3.0 to their new models in an effort to find an edge among the competition. 

Disclosure: No material connection exists between me (Anthony Burokas) and any product or company mentioned in this article. I purchased the RAVpower and both WinBooks with the full intent of keeping them for my media management use. The RAVPower and the WinBook TW100 were returned for the reasons discussed in the article. I returned the TW800 and purchased the TW801, which has double the RAM and storage of the TW800.