Media Buddy: portable digital data storage device and MP3 player

Media Buddy, is smaller than a laptop (5.8” L x 3.4” W x 1” H) and weighs 0.7 lb., but is a lot larger than an iPod, which can also be considered a portable storage device. The main advantage of the Media Buddy is that it will accept a wide range of input sources. It will support the following memory cards: CompactFlash I & II, MicroDrive, SmartMedia, MultiMedia Card, SD Card, miniSD, Memory Stick, MS Po, MS Duo, and MS Pro Duo. It will also store twice as much as an iPod with its 80 GB, 2.5” hard drive with a 480 Mbps transfer rate. The backlight text only LCD screen measures approximately 2” x 1 ¼”.

In addition to a storage device, it also functions as a media player for MP3 music, but it makes for a bulky player compared to the usual MP3 player. However, I don’t think you should consider this its main mission, which is data storage. It’s limited battery life of only 1.6 hours on a fully charged battery also dictates against much MP3 music.

It comes in four sizes ranging from 30-40-60-80 GB and varies from $189 to $329 according to capacity. For the fashion conscious, it comes in arctic silver, powder blue, and pearl grey.

The box contains a nice, black leather case to protect the unit with a storage compartment to accommodate cables and pockets for extra storage cards. Don’t plan on putting it in your pocket though. You will also find a USB cable for connecting with computers and an AC adapter for 110-240 v charging. The resource CD gives you drivers for PC (Win98) and MAC along with some utilities including Ulead Photo Explorer 8.5 SE software for photo management and manipulation. There is also a Manual and a Quick Start Guide in .pdf format included on the CD. The box also includes a set of 3.5 mm earphones for your listening pleasure.

For accessories at additional cost, DigitalFoci offers a car charger and extra batteries.

Below the screen, on the front of the device are three buttons. The Auto button accommodates automatic transfer of data from a storage card. Each time you copy files from a card, the device creates a series of folders according to the card type and numbers each photo sequentially within the folder. For instance, you would see a folder from a CF card designated at CF0001, CF0002; an SD card as SD0001, SD0002, and a MemoryStick card as MS0001, MS0002, etc.

Below the Auto Key, you will find the Play/Enter button, which you can use to select, enter, or play a highlighted menu item. Below that is the Stop/Cancel button that exits from the current location.

On the left side of the machine are four buttons. The first two are for volume control, followed by two scroll buttons for navigating menus. Below the buttons, we find a CF card slot.

On the lower right side are two more card slots for SD/MMC/MS and SM cards. Centrally located, the recessed reset buttonhole precedes a mini USB port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the DC power input. The rechargeable lithium ion battery is only accessible by unscrewing four screws on the back panel so that it is not easily changeable.

The first time I tried to sync Media Buddy with my desktop, it would not work at all. In fact, the unit just went dead on me, and I thought that surely I had a defective unit on my hands. What I learned subsequently was that the USB cable does not supply power to the unit; you must use the AC adapter to supply power and to charge the battery.

Once I got it up and running and attached the USB cable again, all the proper directories were there starting with the unit itself, which appears as an additional hard driver. If there are cards in any of the slots, they appear as directly addressable portable drives. You can copy. Paste, delete, and manage files and folders as you normally would.

Let me share some of my first reactions when I removed the Media Buddy from the box. My first thought was that the screen was pretty small for such a large device, particularly when it comes to viewing video. Then I discovered that it will only store video, not play it back, so the screen issue became a moot point. Then I thought that if it really only stores data, why does it have to be so big? Then I discovered that DigitalFoci had anticipated me on all fronts. It has a unit that will store and play video as well as audio. It has another, smaller unit that just stores data and acts as an external hard drive, but it will not playback audio, and it will not accept expansion cards. So, it appears that DigitalFoci has a device to suit the needs of almost any portable person. Check it out yourself at www.digitalfoci.com.

As with any hard drive, the user should treat it delicately. Don’t mount it on your handlebars and take it on a cross country bike ride.

The Media Buddy should appeal to people who need to transfer and store data while on the road, would enjoy listening to audio files, and who need to share, store, or transport a large amount of data. I found it easy to use and remarkably well-suited to a variety of tasks while on the road. It is particularly useful if you do not wish to pack a portable PC when traveling, but you still need to store a lot of photos or other data. I cannot avoid giving high marks to Media Buddy, and I intend to use it to its fullest advantage during my summer sojourn.