Epson P-5000 Multimedia Storage Viewer Review

Review Date: January 29th 2007

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Conclusion

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4.5
Ease-of-Use	4.5
Value for Money	3.5

The Epson P-5000 is both a forward leap in terms of functionality and speed, and perhaps a backwards step for some photographers in terms of the overall design. The P-5000 is much quicker than the older P-4000 model. The transfer speed from memory card to the P-5000 is twice as quick, helping to ensure that you can achieve over 25 x 1Gb transfers before the battery runs out. Many photographers will probably want to upgrade on the strength of this single improvement alone. The Epson P-5000 also supports larger JPEG files and more RAW formats, plus it has expanded support for video and music, although it's still primarily a photo-oriented device.

Epson have shifted the design concept of the P-5000 - it's more functional for the working photographer, rather than stylish as with the older designs. The P-5000 now more closely resembles one of its main competitors, the Jobo Giga Vu Evolution, which we'll be reviewing soon. Some photographers will welcome the more rugged look and spartan menu system, whilst others will miss the glitz and glamour of the previous, more stylish design.

The main downside of the P-5000 is the non-upgradeable 80Gb hard drive, which may not be big enough in a couple of years time, or even now, depending on the particular camera that you use, especially if you intend to use it when travelling for a week or longer. I'd have liked to have seen a 120Gb or larger version. Also the need to buy an adapter if you use anything other then Compact Flash, MicroDrive or SD memory cards is a pain, and RAW files from some digital cameras are not currently supported (although you can still store them on the P-5000).

Having said all that, for owners of compatible cameras who don't already have a similar device, the Epson P-5000 is one of the better portable storage solutions available today. It's certainly not cheap at over £450 / $700, but if your situation demands a smaller device than a laptop then the P-5000 makes a great choice.

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