Gizmos for taking films with you on the move
SIZE isn’t everything” – an inaccurate platitude typically uttered by those whose equipment is lacking in some way.
That’s right, folks, we’re talking about mobile media storage solutions. And in this game, the length of your battery life and the girth of your storage capacity are kingmakers.
It’s no longer just music collections we want to have on tap from our mobile devices. Anyone who’s ever traveled long-haul, especially with small children, knows the appeal of having access to the Crown Jewels of their entertainment repertoire: an extensive film collection.
That’s where a new crop of mobile media storage devices come to the rescue. These nifty little gadgets can store movies and stream them directly to your iPhone or iPad using their own Wi-Fi network and dedicated iOS apps. Once up and running, you can put them away and forget about them. Very elegant.
One of the smallest and most affordable is the Kingston Wi-Drive (£99.95 for 16GB or £139.95 for 32GB from Widrive.co.uk). Unlike other devices, you can’t expand the storage beyond its 32GB maximum. Three people can use it simultaneously though which might be handy. And, unlike its competitors, it also enables you to use the internet while connected to it.
SUPERIOR SOLUTION
A superior solution in my eyes is the AirStash. It’s very small, light and only has one button. Crucially, it accepts SD cards, so you can brings as many as you want with you. Battery life is about five hours. No word on UK availability yet but you can buy it from AirStash.com for $99. You’ll have to add shipping and the cost of your SD cards of course.
My favourite, however, is the Seagate GoFlex Satellite 500GB (£187.90 from Amazon.co.uk). It’s on the bulky side, I grant you, but with good reason: it has far and away more storage than any of its competitors. With 500 GB of capacity, it’s got room for hundreds of films and enjoys a pretty decent five hours of battery life. Oh, and it uses the very fast new USB 3.0 standard to load up your files in the first place.
Size, it turns out, is everything. But you’ve never said otherwise, right?
The author is the editor-in-chief of luxury lifestyle magazine TheProdigalGuide.com