patrick43 Loc: Los Lunas,NM

I've been considering getting a tablet to take with me when I travel. I have an old (2008) desk top iMac at home and so I'd like to find something that I could transfer the photos when I get back, or better yet, send them to my home computer while I'm on the road. With that in mind I priced a few apple tablets on line from Best Buy and the Samsung tablets. Quite a price difference. One thing I couldn't figure out was if the apple had a slot for your memory card. It appeared the Samsung did, but the info on line was limited. All suggestions or real world experience would be welcomed. I always get good feed back on my questions. Thanks. Patrick

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I haven't much success using tablets for this purpose. Perhaps a small laptop would be more suitable. They work more like a PC and have PC like capability such as USB ports. You might need to also carry a small USB drive since they have small hard drives.

I would certainly watch for how many USB ports they have as well as hard drive size.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You can implement a card reader on the IPad with Apple's SD to lightning adapter, or there are any number of multiple card format readers with lightning connectors for IPads. The limitation I find with the IPad, which causes me to use a small Lenovo PC with SSD are twofold - limited disk storage and PP application availability. While you can purchase a 128GB IPad, it's expensive, and the post processing aps are limited, while the PC does not have these limitations (large disk is typically much less expensive and you can run any of your typical PP aps as well as using N external monitor for editing). It is heavier, but not that much.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

I have all Apple equipment, including a late 2013 model MacBook Pro, an "old" iPad 2, a newer iPad Air, and for 3 weeks, a brand new iPhone SE. I know a fair amount about how to transfer image data using iPads, but I'm not a computer expert by any means. In general, I'd recommend getting a tablet that is compatible with the your desktop or laptop computer, e.g. a MacBook with an iPad.

No, per se, iDevices, including iPads, have a memory card slot. However, one can buy an adapter that plugs into the Lightning port (of current iDevices,) on one side while on the other side one has a choice of an SD card Reader or a USB port. The adapters are strictly one way in use: image data can go into the iDevice, but not out, to my knowledge, using those adapters. However, for the past year there has been a workaround for getting data downloaded from an iDevice to a USB Flash Drive. While there are a growing number of FDs being developed now to fill this niche, the prototype is made by Sandisk, known as iXpand.

If you check my Created Topic list, I "wrote up" the iXpand in a Main Photo Discussion about 2-3 months ago. Good luck!

blackest Loc: Ireland

It depends on the tablet but I have done a few experiments. A wifi SD card is fairly easy to connect to but it requires your camera to stay connected which means setting the off time to a large value or fiddling with the camera to keep it awake. plus side no cables.

Sdcard reader can work I found it worked better with my micro usb port and an OTG cable. My Tablet has a full size usb port designed for use with a 3g modem and provides power at that port I can plug in my camera and transfer files to and from. I use es file explorer on my android tablet for this.

My tablet is wifi only I don't have the optional 3g dongle for it (just as well since the port is in use). However I can connect it's wifi to my mobile phone so uploading a file isn't difficult perhaps a little slow but thats the network. Photo processing i have found nothing i like.

My tablet is getting a bit old now, could do with a bit more ram and its on android 4.01 my phone is better but it lacks usb otg (mostly samsung galaxy phones have this almost exclusively)

Overall it feels like i'm working with one arm tied behind my back, i'd much rather work with my macbook.

One problem is the minimal storage on a tablet, although you can supplement this with a portable hard drive. life gets easier with a powered usb hub. hmm now that has given me an idea i have a powerbank with a solar panel. This might make things easier without mains power.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

As discussed on numerous prior MPDs, Wi Fi is comparatively slow for transporting image data, particularly if one shoots RAW. So its use depends on the volume of images the OP typically shoots.

photocat Loc: Atlanta, Ga

I have been happy using a Surface pro for this type of work.

At one time I carried a laptop but switched a few years ago and haven't thought twice about the change

I also carry an iPad and on occasion have downloaded an image or two to that device for fun but the space is moe limited

tonyy Loc: New Zealand

Hi, have you considered a Microsoft surface? They have a USB port you can attach an external hard drive to. I attach a card reader to the tablet, copy the contents to a file on the Windows desktop, copy this to the external hard drive then delete the file on the desktop. A 64Gb Surface can take an almost full 64Gb memory card. Of course you can have more than 1 external drive for redundancy.
Works a treat for me as it is quick and uses a system (Windows) that is familiar to me.
Good luck. Tony

spdmn54 Loc: Avon Lake, Ohio

I use the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, it had the ability with the usb dongle accessory to download photos, even edit. I even have Lightroom on my tablet. I edit and save to the cloud whenI am in the field. World's well.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Much easier and cheaper to use a tablet/phone to monitor file transfer to a memory storage device.

The RavPower WD03 is exactly that. Using it's SD card slot, you can transfer files from the card to a USB memory device - I use a pair of 128gb flash memory sticks, but you could use a portable hard drive, or anything else you can connect to a USB hub.

It is also a mini-router, with a 6000ma battery (to drive it's own functions or supply charging power to a phone). You manage the file transfer on a wireless device. I like the memory stick solution because it is easy and cheap (and small) to create redundant or double redundant backup. And you effectively have unlimited storage.

I got mine at Amazon for $35, it might be a little higher now.

Only drawback is the speed - the current model is only USB 2.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

As long as you are not wanting to do PP work on a tablet, or while traveling you are much better off getting a portable hard drive with wireless built in. Around $150. I've included a link to a 2TB model, but you can certainly go smaller. As others have said storage is limited on a tablet, they really don't make good storage devices or editing devices.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Wireless-Portable-Built-STCV2000100/dp/B00JSQV44S

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I was in your situation a few years ago, and I got a tiny Acer Netbook computer for $243 from B&H. It has a 300+ GB hard drive, so I could easily transfer anything I shot during the day. It was also a full fledged computer. I brought a small hard drive as additional backup.

MTG44 Loc: Corryton, Tennessee

If price is not a factor the MacBook Pro Air would be perfect for you. Since you already have Apple products it will transfer all your photos between devices easily . I have Apple products and find it very easy to integrate them.

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

Use a Galaxy note 10 with 36gb on board and a 16gb mini sd card. Limited photoshop and lightroom. Uploaded 166 jpegs yesterday in about 2 minutes over wifi.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

:thumbup:
I have a Samsung tablet and really enjoy it. Yes, mine has a card slot, but it is for the micro SD card, not a regular-sized SD card.
I also have a small laptop, it is about double or triple the thickness of the Samsung tablet and not really very much larger. It has become my "travel-computer", mostly because the storage is much more than the Samsung tablet, AND because it has three USB ports plus a card slot, giving me the opportunity to easily back-up my photos when on the road.