SmartDisk Flash Trax XT 40 GB Digital Multimedia Player and Storage
By: SmartDisk Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 10
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 On: 2008-06-05
I got this unit because I am an IPod hater & the other units such as the Zune are WAY overpriced. I am EXTREMELY pleased with this thing! I personally dont have any use for a CF card at all, just need a portable player. My favorite feature on this is you can plug it into any DVD player & record straight onto the hard drive while the movie is playing. This is something I have not seen ANY other player do ever. The only other feature I could ask for is more format compatibility when it comes to videos, but hey, ya cant have it all I guess. Great buy! Best player I have ever had!
 On: 2008-04-23
First and formost, the SmartDisk Flash Trax XT is designed to backup and review your digital images. I use it for two devices: Nikon Digital Camera and Marantz portable recorder. I have no problems seeing the raw files from my camera, or playing back audio recorded on the Marantz recorder. Why I love this device is that it provides me plenty of on-demand backup for my field recordings and photos, while providing me some basic entertainment capabilities.
Copying a memory card: Just stick your Compact Flash card in the side and press copy. It will copy the card to a time-stamped folder. Note-copying your card does not erase it, so if you backup your card, and continue shooting, without reformatting, you will end up with duplicate files, each in their own timestamped folder. The Flash Trax XT does not decided whether a file is a duplicate or not, rather everytime you backup your card, it places that backup in a new folder.
I successfully use SanDisk 1GB CF and Fujitsu 4GB Microdrives with the FlashTrax.
Caveat, I can only backup 2GB SD cards using my SD to CF adapter, even though the adapter will read larger cards in my laptop.
Music Player. The music player sounds good, but its no iPod. When I really want music, I carry my iPod. However, I keep a couple thousand songs on my FlashTrax so if Im working in a studio, I can have music. The music player will play MP3 (I would never use Microsoft WMA-ever!) but it will not play AAC files. You can choose a song or playlist when displaying photos in a slideshow.
Video Player. I have managed to get some DVD content into this device from DVDs that I OWN, by using MediaFork (Mac) and choosing Divx/MP3 as the file format. MediaForks MPEG4 isnt compatible with the FlashTrax XT. Again, it is handy to have a couple movies ripped for travelling, and fun to have some favorite comedy episodes handy. Cool Feature-using the included AV cable, you can display anything on the FlashTrax screen on a TV with RCA inputs. Video playback looks pretty good, no skipped frames and only a little fuzzy on a normal TV.
Photos. The core purpose of this device is backup, storage and display of photos. I keep my favorite images in a seperate folder all the time, which gives me the ability to view them or share with others anywhere. In addition, the camera card backup is handy and simple. This feature is well-thought out. You can also playback photos in a slide show, even pick an mp3 song.
Radio. The radio only works if a cable is plugged into the headphone jack. Either headphones or an audio cable connected to speakers will work. The cable should be at least 3 feet long. Reception is alright, but could be better.
Audio/Video recorder. Strangely, this device has an analog capture input. It records computer-quality video, which plays back nice on the screen. Ive used it as a backup to my video camera, although the quality is worse, once I had a tape eaten in the camcorder and the Flash Trax video was the only source of an important speech at a wedding. A little After Affects made that video clip useful in the final product.
Overall, this is primarily a photography data storage/display device with some fun features. As a photographer, this device is priceless. If you are primarily looking for a portable audio/video playback device, this is no competition for a Video iPod.
Note: I had absolutely NO problems upgrading my original hard drive to a new Hitachi Travelstar 160GB laptop drive. The unit had no problems formatting the drive, and it has been working well. I recycled my old 40GB drive into an older laptop. So, if you have the 40GB model, there is upgrade hope. At 160GB, I find this device to be extremely useful.
 On: 2008-04-16
Bought the FlashTrax Media Player. After a power outage the hard drive was fine, but the main computer would not recognize the drive. We were only three months over the one year warranty, and even though we would pay for the repair they said they wouldnt touch it after it was out of warranty. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. Poor attention was given to detailed emails, had to keep repeating the same thing over and over.
Their final response...."But it is the way that we have everything set up. We can not change things because you want us to. It would not be fair to every other customer who fellows the rules and saves their paper work. Good luck." Hello? I had the paperwork.
On: 2008-01-11
I picked this item up to use as a photo dump for vacationing. Really liked the ability to read RAW camera files. Picked up a cf to xd adapter so i can dump photos from my cameras xd card with the touch of the copy button. If you were to run out of tape in your camcorder you could hook it up to this and record direct to the hard drive. Not to mention the use of watching movies and listening to music when traveling. With the help of a program called clonedvd mobile i was able to transfer 20 full dvd movies to this device using up only 9 gb of space! The headphone out sounds great with a decent pair of headphones. External speaker is ok, but keep in mind its basically a mono speaker setup. Use headphones!
Ive read some concerns of hard drive failure, but with some research online i found a few step by step guides to replacing a dead 40 gb drive with up to a 120 gb regular laptop hard drive with zero modification! The unit comes with an internal mic for recording which i modded to accept an external mic to use as a field recorder. It is suprisingly decent in the recording aspect. Records from mic, a/v source, or radio. Truthfully i have found the radio pretty useless but it does have one. Lion battery is not built in so when it dies you just pop the old one out and order a new one. Try that with an ipod!
Overall it is a great product that i would definately purchase again! The only reason i didnt give it a perfect 5 stars was because of the radio feature....which i personally dont care too much for anyway.
On: 2007-12-18
I got this last month (November) & I am having a ball with it! One upgrade I would like to see is a "VIDEO" icon in the main menu. If this is possible, the videos can be streamed (ie. played one after the other without having to manually select & start the next one)as is done in the "MOVIE" menu.
All in all this is a great device.One regret I have is not purchasing the 80GB!
Any new upgrade on the horizon? Last one was dated 2005 (system upgrade 0070).
On: 2007-12-17
I got this last month (November) & I am having a ball with it! One upgrade I would like to see is a "VIDEO" icon in the main menu. If this is possible, the videos can be streamed (ie. played one after the other without having to manually select & start the next one)as is done in the "MOVIE" menu.
All in all this is a great device.One regret I have is not purchasing the 80GB!
Any new upgrade on the horizon? Last one was dated 2005 (system upgrade 0070).
On: 2007-01-12
A very basic tool to review & store images in the field when you dont have access to a laptop (or dont want to carry one). Downloading pictures is easy and quick. Transferring them to my desktop is a snap. Large viewing screen is a plus. I have not and dont plan to use the recording feature. I needed a compact unit to load my 4 gig cards to so I could reuse them during my shoots and it works perfectly for that reason.
On: 2007-01-11
A very basic tool to review & store images in the field when you dont have access to a laptop (or dont want to carry one). Downloading pictures is easy and quick. Transferring them to my desktop is a snap. Large viewing screen is a plus. I have not and dont plan to use the recording feature. I needed a compact unit to load my 4 gig cards to so I could reuse them during my shoots and it works perfectly for that reason.
On: 2006-08-23
I really am excited about this purchase. Even writing about it makes me smile. I gave it only four stars because of the weight, otherwise it is easy to operate, easy to trasfer images and music. I also like the radio feature. A great device to store pictures when on holiday!
On: 2006-08-22
I really am excited about this purchase. Even writing about it makes me smile. I gave it only four stars because of the weight, otherwise it is easy to operate, easy to trasfer images and music. I also like the radio feature. A great device to store pictures when on holiday!
 On: 2006-04-01
It is a great item except it will not accept cards of more than 1G.
It chokes on anything larger. I was assured by the company it would work with my 2G cards, but it does not.
While talking with technical support they revealed the unit will not work with anything larger than 1G. It will sometimes work with a 2G card, but rarely.
If you use nothing larger than a 1G card the product is great.
On: 2005-11-04
I couldnt find any (non-photo) reviews of this media player, but it appeared to be best buy relative to current media players. I recommend it as a all around media player even though its not perfect.
It is very useful as a music player, video player, audio and video recorder, file transfer, image preview, CF card (RAW and jpg) download, etc. I love how it folds up, providing a built-in stand and screen protection. It makes traffic and work bearable. Spend a little more to get the 80 GB!
However, there are a few issues to be worked out.
1. A firmware update is needed so that I can view the video files with the latest software out--I couldnt get ANY video files (new and older ones) to play. You have to find the OLD Dr. DivX (DivX 3, 4, or 5)! However, dont expect to be able to get the TV to play the converted DivX files with tolerable quality. But LCD is great.
2. The interface gets old quick--one must navigate thru menus by repetitively pressing buttons. Shortcuts are needed to go straight to the main menu, and to like go straight to a song list (bypassing the CF option when there is no CF card and non-music files, and straight to song file).
3. Finding a certain song and editing the playlist on the Flashtrax is very cumbersome. I still havent figured out how to change file order except by removing the file and returning it one at a time using a computer. Moreover, it organizes itself oldest to newest, not alphabetically like the computer.
4. A radio antenna would be help!! So would a remote. And some games would be over the top.
5. There is no "on" light. When it is actively playing the amber light flashes, but I often accidently leave it on draining all power because I didnt realize it was on when screen is black like when its hooked to the computer.
Customer service--very prompt and responsive. If you keep at it with them (and Google), you will probably get any issues resolved one way or the other.
While it may not the smallest or well-known media player, it does everything a media player should do and then some! The interface is easy to figure out, if a bit cumbersome. Once you figure out the quirks (and all media players appear to have some), you wont be sorry, especially with 40-80 GB! I find it fun and very useful.
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