Will this work in the field with Sony SxS cards reader (it can fit in the pocket); plugin it using USB
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-UX380N
what about Samsung Q1

Too bad it doesn't have an Express 34 slot. You'll still need a card reader and a mirrored RAID to store the data. Then it's a lot less compact.

And at that price you might consider spending a bit more and getting a laptop which will provide a lot more functions.

1. of course I'd use supplied by Sony SxS card reader with USB connection
2. why would I ned RAID to transfer it to storage HD; even if it takes longer ( one or two minutes) it is OK with me as long as I can secure the footage...
3. laptop is too BIG
4. VGN-UX380N can fit in your pocket (it is palm size mini computer)
btw. check Samsung Q1 - it has huge screen so you could preview some fragments while shooting on assignment

A mirrored RAID is not for speed but for security because of data redundancy.

If you're hiking into the middle of nowhere then getting the smallest possible equipment to download makes sense. However, if you're thinking of downloading the cards while you're covering an event, then you might want to reconsider your options.

What I did is get enough cards to cover me for a day's worth of shooting. In my case it's three 16-gig cards and the 8-gig card that came with the camera. That's almost 3.5 hours of recording time at 1080p30.

For multi-day field work I have a MacBook Pro and a mirrored RAID. In case one of the drives drop dead I still have data saved to a working drive. So in my case I can operate out of a base camp with a laptop. For actual field work I keep the data on the cards until I can download them at the end of the day.

I was using a Panasonic P2 Store with my HVX and the process of downloading cards while covering a real-time event can be risky. If you forget whether you've downloaded a card you could take time to try downloading it a second time and waste a considerable amount of time. Or chance it and just format the card under the assumption it was properly downloaded.

The SxS cards have a much greater recording capacity than the HVX so I don't need to download until after the day is over. That was one of the reasons why our company invested in the system. If the EX1 had a pre-record cache I'd sell the HVX. But every once in a while that particular feature is valuable and I can't consider parting with it yet.

Dean,
Why did you choose EX1 over Z7U; I will have to make that decision myself but I am undecided. If I'd like to sell/produce something for TV station in HD will they even look at Z7 (HDV) material???

Marius...

The Z7U is HDV format and I wanted something with a better format. The EX1 records to XDCam EX format which has less compression and is a format accepted by higher-end broadcasters. While we're not providing material to higher-end distributors, we wanted to keep that particular door open.

I also wanted to stay away from tape.

The interchangeable lens on the Z7U wasn't a factor. I used to own a Canon XL1s and only changed lenses to get a manual lens. Never did make use of the ability to use longer or wider lenses.