Just was in the process of viewing my 1st 300 shots taken with new 30D and stored on the above (in preparation for trip to Kenya only 12 days away) and the p 2000 just stopped. It will not shut off. NOthing show on the LCD All I see is the number of the last photo...381 and that is it. Can't call Epson til tomorrow. What should I do? Anyone have any ideas? I am just sick about this and worried now that this could happen to me over there!

I don't have an answer for you but please post the answer after you figure it out or find out from Epson. I have been using a different device (a Flashtrax) and have been planning on buying a P-2000 before our October trip.

Well, first of all, do nothing. Wait until you talk to Epson. The thing about the P-2000 is that the OS is stored on the hard drive itself. So, any attempts by you to reformat or defragment the hard drive will result in your P-2000 dying completely.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/s...amp;foid=57934

Do nothing until you can contact Epson. As for what to do if you can't get it fixed before your trip - look for alternatives that you can get pretty quickly if Epson can't do anything for you in the short term. I know that Costco sells some portable storage devices (Wolverine somethingorother?), and with Costco's very liberal return policy, they may be the best bet for a backup device in case you can't take your Epson.

As for the Epson's reliability in the field - from most reports I've read, the Epson is pretty reliable. There are always a few reports of in-the-field failures, but that's to be expected of such a device. I've run into plenty of pros who take these along in the field. There aren't any devices that are going to be any more reliable in the conditions you're going to experience.

I personally take two means of storage - a laptop with card reader and a PSD, but not everybody can afford the cost or weight for that much redundancy. You could always take two PSDs - either two Epsons or an Epson and something else.

Can you take out the battery? Shutting off the power will cure many electronic gadgets. And if it is on and can't be turned off it will run down the battery anyway. So just yank the battery if you can. I hate it when these things take control away from me but then I smile as I pull its plug
regards - tom

I read your question to my wife (who stores thousands of images on various portable devices). The first thing she said, without knowing Tom's reply, was: "Remove the battery". Sounds like the way to go. If that doesn't fix the problem, at least it shouldn't do any harm until you call Epson.

John

Hi 13moons,
O.K. first, don't panic. I have an Epson P2000 and here is what to do. Press the reset button located just beneath the ON OFF HOLD switch on the right side of the Epson. You will need to do this with an paperclip. The instructions for this are on page 56 of your owners/users manual. A picture of its location is on page 7 of the same manual. On page 56 it states that if the unit "locks up or stops working, this is the fix". Of course the battery must be in place for this to work. Hope this get you going again.
Cheers, CJ

HI Everybody!
Well, o nce agin you have all given me a bit of peace of mnind and added some levity and great solutions. I have now done it all...pulled the battery contacted Epson and nnow we have determined that I have a faulty device. epson has allowed me to return it and is going to Fed Ex me a replacement! How is that for service? Pretty great!!! I think I will go buy a secondary device and if I don't have to use it return it when I come home, Again, THANK YOU so much for your help!

"we have determined that I have a faulty device"

The big Q is "are your images safe?"

After reading the initial post here, I took a look at DPReview to see if any device was being mentioned in the same breath as the Epson. Surprisingly, there is one which is just coming out and was getting excellent comments from people in Europe who have tested it. It's the Giga Vu Pro Evolution. Has anyone here heard anything about it?

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/mul...id=7-7892-8176

A bit pricey, but it looks good.