Patrik Svatoš There are many options for expanding the often insufficient storage space on iPhones and iPads. On the one hand, it is a virtual solution using different clouds, but there are still users who prefer a "piece of iron". For them, PhotoFast's second generation i-FlashDrive HD could be the solution.
i-FlashDrive HD is a 16- or 32-gigabyte flash drive, the special feature of which are two connectors - on one side classic USB, on the other Lightning. If you need to free up space on your iPhone, which is quickly running out, you connect the i-FlashDrive HD, move the photos you have just taken to it, and keep taking pictures. Of course, the whole process also works in reverse. Using USB, you connect the i-FlashDrive HD to your computer and upload data to it that you want to open later on your iPhone or iPad.
In order for i-Flash Drive HD to work with an iPhone or iPad, it must be downloaded from the App Store application of the same name. It is available for free, but it must be said that in 2014, when we have iOS 7 and iOS 8 is approaching, it looks like it is from another century. Otherwise, it works quite reliably. Thanks to this application, you can have all your contacts backed up to the i-Flash Drive HD and also use it to access both the files on the iOS device (if you enable it) and those stored on the flash drive. You can create a quick text or voice note right in the app.
But that's not what the multifunctional key is about, the more important part of the i-Flash Drive HD is the files uploaded from the computer (and of course also those from the other side, i.e. the iPhone or iPad). You can open different types of files on iOS devices, from songs to videos to text documents; sometimes the i-Flash Drive HD application can deal with them directly, other times you will have to start another one. The i-Flash Drive HD can handle music in MP3 format by itself, to play videos (WMW or AVI formats) you need to use one of the iOS players, for example VLC. Documents created in Pages will again be opened directly by i-Flash Drive HD, but if you want to edit them in any way, you must move to the appropriate application with the button in the upper right corner. It works the same way with pictures.
The i-Flash Drive HD opens smaller files immediately, but the problem occurs with larger files. For example, if you want to open a 1GB movie directly from the iFlash Drive HD on the iPad, you will have to wait a full 12 minutes for it to load, and this will hardly be acceptable for many users. In addition, when processing and loading the file, the application displays a nonsensical Czech label Charging, which definitely does not mean that your iOS device is charging.
Also important is the speed of data transfer in the opposite direction, which is promoted as the main function of the i-Flash Drive HD, that is, dragging photos and other files that you do not necessarily need to have directly on the iPhone, saving valuable megabytes. You can drag and drop fifty photos in less than six minutes, so you won't get too fast here either.
In addition to the internal storage, i-Flash Drive HD also integrates Dropbox, which you can access directly from the application and thus download additional content. All data can then be managed directly on the i-Flash Drive HD. However, it is the integration of Dropbox that raises the question that may come to mind when looking at external storage from PhotoFast - do we even need such physical storage today?
Today, when most data is moving from hard drives and flash drives to the cloud, the potential for use of the i-Flash Drive HD is diminishing. If you already work successfully in the cloud and are not limited by, for example, the inability to connect to the Internet, i-Flash Drive HD probably does not make much sense to use. The power of physical storage could be in the possible speed of copying files, but the times mentioned above are not dazzling. The i-Flash Drive HD thus makes sense, especially on the road, where you simply cannot connect to the Internet, but even this problem is gradually disappearing. And we are also slowly ceasing to transfer movies in a similar way.
In addition to all of this, the price speaks very loudly, the 16GB i-Flash Drive HD with Lightning connector costs 2 crowns, the 699GB version even costs 32 crowns, so you will probably only consider a special flash drive from PhotoFast if you they really took full advantage.
Thank you to iStyle for the loan of the product.
Otherwise, about 100 Euros for 16GB, no thank you. It is better to decide on an iPhone or iPad with 32 or 64 GB right away when buying.
To be honest, I would be more concerned about the data transfer speed than the price. 50 photos = 6 minutes? This is something terrible.
A review of the first version of this device was already three years ago:
http://jablickar.cz/iflashdrive-flash-disk-pro-izarizeni/
The equipment was not widespread in our country at that time. This device is not 2nd generation but maybe more like 3rd generation. The 2nd generation had the designation HD and was connectable using a dock connector. The first version then started to become a bit unreliable and eventually stopped working completely after an iOS update. The manufacturer did not react and did not answer questions, so you need to think carefully about such an investment.
It is complete nonsense to consider this device as a memory expansion option. Data transfers are too slow for that, so it doesn't even make sense to possibly consider a variant with a higher capacity. The magic of this little thing lies in a completely different place – transferring data from an isolated computer without iTunes to an iPhone or iPad, with the subsequent possibility of their use or distribution over the Internet. This is something that cannot be done otherwise. Today it is, for example, with the use of the iUSBport device, which can handle much higher transfer speeds. That's why today iFlashDrive is more or less outdated and doomed for the price.
Why did you delete the comment that I recommended a better and cheaper product? :)
What was the product?
An unnecessarily expensive and now inconvenient solution.
What memory expansion?! After all, it can only upload photos, and iOS doesn't allow anything stupid.
You are completely off. Those photos are the last ones.