Review of the Epson P7000 Storage/Viewer

Manufacturer: Epson

Model: P7000 Storage/Viewer

Price: £490

www.epson.co.uk

If you find yourself going on long winding photo walks or shooting Raw+JPEG for any kind of extended photo shoot, chances are that you’re going to fill up your memory card in short order.

The options for getting yourself some extra capacity are several – you can either buy more memory cards, carry a laptop around with you in the field, or get yourself a separate standalone photo viewer/storage device, such as the Epson P7000.

As far as convenience goes, having several memory cards with you is likely to provide the lightest load, but then you run the risk of accidentally corrupting or losing a fragile memory card. Conversely, a laptop will offer you a nice large screen, extensive storage and the ability to edit the images on the fly, but the bulk of a laptop may be a bit tough to stomach on a long day’s shooting.

The P7000, then, seems to cover both areas successfully. The device boasts 160GB worth of storage, to begin with, and the device boasts both CF and SD/SDHC card slots, meaning that uploading your images to the device is a cinch.

Once your images are on the device, viewing them is a pleasure as the P7000 sports a 4in ‘Photo Fine Premia’ LCD screen, boasting a top-end DSLR matching 920k-dot resolution. Usage of the P7000 therein is varied. You can either simply have it as back-up, view the images in slide show format, or access the unit’s image processing module – one that’s compatible with most Raw files. The interface for said functions is easy to navigate and to use, with a scroll wheel being a real benefit for quickly working your way through multiple images. On top of the photo functionality, the P7000 supports MPEG 4 for video playback and AAC / MP3 files for audio, turning a photo-targeted device into an all-round multimedia station.

Pros:

LCD screen, scroll wheel, Raw processing

Cons:

Very expensive, slow image editing

Our Verdict:

So, sounds like the perfect option for your photo storage options, right? The catch – the P7000 will set you back around £500. Now, while it’s hard to argue that the P7000 isn’t perfect for the photographer, the fact that you can pick up a good quality netbook for around half that price, means the P7000 seems more than a touch expensive. If you’ve got the cash, it could be the perfect device for you, but for most photographers there are better storage and viewing options on the market.

What Digital Camera Score: 83%