Going Traveling with Tablet

[chiangrai]

I'm going to India and I want to leave my laptop and hard drive at home.

I have a Lenovo TB-8504X with Android 8.1.0.

This is my second post about this subject I know a little bit more abut it than I did

when I made the previous post.

 

So the situation that I want to prepare for is having no wifi or cell phone reception.So I will

want to be able to hook my hard disk up to my tablet.

I have watched a few videos on this and they say that I should get a powered USB hub.

There is a guy with a USB hub which one end  plugs into the wall,the other end plugs into

his tablet and he plugs the hard disk into one of the ports.

I have been trying to find one of these hubs on Lazada but can't.

 

Does anybody know what hub I'm looking for and could give me a link to where I can find them on

Lazada,eBay or Ali Express.

 

Then we can talk about formatting the files.

[CharlieH]

Why not put a few movies etc onto a usb stick(s), no need for power outlet then either.

 

Just a suggestion.

[gk10002000]

I don't understand what you really are trying to do.  Are you saying you want to travel with just your tablet?  Are you saying you want to upload files to the tablet or download files from the tablet later?

[utalkin2me]

I do not bring my laptop anywhere. Ever. They are huge. Things are changing. We think laptops aren't huge because they were not a decade ago.

 

Those western digital my passport wireless pro units are what i do. Can hook it up to a tablet and can actually see files have been imported to the drive. They import sd cards upon insertion. Awesome units. Laptop replacers for me when used with a small tablet. You could be somewhere remote and upload 1TB of data to the thing, and it doubles as a power bank. There are ssd u its too which may be worth the stretch.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/wd-my-passport-wireless-pro-3tb-wdbsmt0030bbk-pesn-wi-fi-mobile-storage-i135239352-s152813747.html?ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI9qrl6LzC4gIVWB0rCh1VtgqmEAQYASABEgJKMfD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3152!3!286179630377!!!u!296303633664!&exlaz=d_1:mm_150050845_51350205_2010350205::12:1498579383!58089999096!!!pla-296303633664!t!296303633664!152813747!128039089&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9qrl6LzC4gIVWB0rCh1VtgqmEAQYASABEgJKMfD_BwE

Edited May 30, 2019 by utalkin2me

[watcharacters]

8 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

I do not bring my laptop anywhere. Ever. They are huge. Things are changing. We think laptops aren't huge because they were not a decade ago. 

 

You think a 13" Macbook Air is "huge"?

 

You must be talking about 15" and 17"models of laptops.

 

 

[chiangrai]

CharlieH...

I will be gone for a few months and want to bring about 600GB's

of stuff but you have a point.

2 x 256GB flash drives would cost about 3000bht and another

1000bht for a memory card and shipping.

 

One of these USB powered hubs would be much cheaper though,

just a few hundred baht.

 

 

 

 

 

[chiangrai]

 

[chiangrai]

This is what I'm looking for(above video).

Unless some one has a better idea.

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

A Wifi HD may be suitable... 

 

I use a Leef Wifi Hard Drive (SSD)...  I can connect the HD to my computer and drop files across using a USB. I can connect my iPad to the Leef HD via its own Wifi connection (via a Leef App on my device) - it only goes up to 512 GB though.

https://www.leefco.com

 

Other options for your tablet may be to use a Portable SSD, but only if your tablet can run a portable drive directly. 

I use the Sandisk Portable SSD (1TB) for my computer backup (but it doesn't link to my iPad - I haven't tried it anyway).

https://th.sandisk.com/home/ssd/extreme-portable-ssd

 

[maccra]

Have you tried to plug your external HDD into your tablet without a USB powered hub. The newer external HDDs don't need as much power as the older models and different brands require more or less power. So it may be possible that your tablet can provide enough power to your external HDD without an extra power supply from the USB powered hub.

 

Give it a go. If it does not work then the external HDD will not show up in the tablet.

[CharlieH]

Seems from the video you need one of these ?

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/8-port-usb-desk-charger-and-mains-extension-with-lcd-display-for-multiple-mobile-phonesipadstablets-i102235747-s102467291.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.8.2c8c62ddxDDs5e&search=1

[maccra]

Here is one with USB 3.0

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/high-speed-5gbs-4-ports-usb-30-hub-onoff-switches-with-ac-power-adapter-cable-for-pc-laptop-eu-i125136598-s131202837.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.60.4b3e7a59Ve0IB5&search=1

 

Here is another with USB 2.0

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ybc-new-7-port-hi-speed-usb-20-hub-power-adapter-for-pc-laptop-phones-i123879764-s129623129.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.27.4b3e7a59Ve0IB5&search=1

[chiangrai]

Maccra.

Thanks for your help.

I can't connect my hard drive to my tablet.I think I nee a little OTG cable.

 

So I will order one and see if the tablet will run the hard drive with out external power.

If it doesn't I will order the hub you sent a link for.

Does that sound right to you.

 

 

 

 

[maccra]

First I would test if you need OTG cable by plugging in a USB stick. If the USB stick works then you should not need a OTG cable.

What connection do you have on your tablet? USB 3.0, micro USB 2.0?

What external HDD do you have?

 

[chiangrai]

Maccra.

 

I have a memory stick that works with out reformatting the files that I copied  from my laptop.It's a micro usb port on my tablet but I don't know what number.

My hard drive says WD-My Passport on the casing if that's any help.

It's 1TB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maccra]

I have a WD-My Passport Ultra. It is about 5-7 years old now. I can plug that into my phone and the HDD powers up.

Your tablet is from September 2017, so about 18 months old. I would expect that the tablet should be able to power the HDD (again but that depends on model and how old the HDD is). You said you can not plug the HDD into the tablet. That sounds like you need an adaptor from the HDD USB connection (which is?) to your tablet micro USB (specs say 2.0). Do you have an adaptor?

 

You said the memory stick worked. That sounds like you do not need an OTG cable.

[utalkin2me]

1 hour ago, watcharacters said:

 

You think a 13" Macbook Air is "huge"?

 

You must be talking about 15" and 17"models of laptops.

 

 

What on earth do I need a laptop for? 

 

In any case, the op asked how to get on without one. My answer is phone or tablet and a WD my passport wifi drive. And yes that combo will be much smaller than you Macbook. 

[chiangrai]

I don't know if my HDD is "ultra" or not but it's only 2 or 3 years old.

 

 

I don't have an adapter for the cable that came with the HDD which looks like a male large USB.Can you post a link to what I'm looking for on Lazada.

 

If your right this will have saved me a ton of hassle.I was watching videos on youtube on getting a usb hub,an OTG cable and rooting the tablet..

[sunnyboy2018]

1 hour ago, chiangrai said:

This is what I'm looking for(above video).

Unless some one has a better idea.

 

 

 

 

 

These are the norm. Or just transfer your movies to the cloud or a normal usb and empty your external drive gradually.  You can get all ghus sorted out in Thailand.  

[maccra]

I could only find these 2 on Lazada, but they both come from China with 6-20 days delivery! Maybe you can find a local one somehwere else.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ugreen-micro-usb-20-otg-adapter-compatible-with-samsung-lg-sonyhtc-android-smartphone-white-i9170862-s11448017.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.51.1bd279f9MwEGnq&search=1

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/1pc-micro-usb-male-to-usb20-female-host-otg-adapter-for-samsung-mp3-pc-i226010826-s345500656.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.4.17dc79f9PRAD2g&search=1

 

They both mention OTG so I think an adapter has the OTG built in anyway. ( I may have made a slight error in my previous post about OTG and you should get an adaptor/cable with OTG to be safe).

 

You should be able to buy one of these at those stalls that sell mobile phone acessories i.e. cases, charges, adaptors, cables, screen protectors etc

 

I have a tablet from 2012 and I can connect my HDD to it without a USB powered hub. SInce yours are relative new it should work without a powerd hub. You don't need to root. All you need is the right adaptor/cable.

 

Your memory stick? Do you use an adaptor with that to connect to your tablet?

 

You mention also about formatting files. That I am confuses why you need to do that. It should just work unless you have some files (probably video) in some unusual format.

 

[chiangrai]

That's what I'm saying.If you hadn't told me I would have followed the YouTube video and bought a hub and rooted the tablet.

 

Me misses is gone into the village and will try to buy an adapter.

 

The USB stick I use is double ended and has a micro USB on one end and a

large USB on the other.

[chiangrai]

There are no adapters for sale in the village.

How about this one......

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/type-c-female-connector-to-micro-usb-20-male-usb-31-converter-data-adapter-high-speed-android-certified-cell-phone-accessories-black-i237420372-s364329244.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.27.2e3b58d2c8FhmV&search=1

 

If not I will have to order the one from overseas.

[maccra]

No.. because you said previously that the HDD has a large USB, so large USB to micro USB.  That is type C to micro USB (small to small USB). I saw many of them on Lazada.

[maccra]

This one on shopee looks right (Shopee is in Thai only)

https://shopee.co.th/Earldom-OTG-Micro-USB-to-USB-2.0-adaptor-i.38072520.1323688697

[maccra]

or this one from Lazada

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/otg-usb-flashdrive-smartphone-i151331452-s176876514.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.66.6723fcc7HgTDGC&search=1

[maccra]

This one also on Lazada

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/remax-ra-otg-usb-20micro-usb-i166931732-s209712587.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.86.6723fcc7HgTDGC&search=1

 

[ABCinSG]

I use this Belkin USB hub at home, it's tiny and powered. 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/belkin-superspeed-usb-30-4-port-hub-with-power-adapter-f4u058tt-i10490146-s13135580.html

 

I sold my laptop for an iPad Pro 10.5, with the same reasoning as yours. I regret my decision! 

[ABCinSG]

Note that while them OTG dongles are great for Android, they don't quite work on portable hard drives which require more power than your tablet can provide. Memory sticks work fine though.

[chiangrai]

O.k,Thanks Maccra,

I managed to order it off shopee and they say it will be here tomorrow.

I will let you know,

Thanks again for your help.

[kkerry]

43 minutes ago, ABCinSG said:

Note that while them OTG dongles are great for Android, they don't quite work on portable hard drives which require more power than your tablet can provide. Memory sticks work fine though.

 

Here's a screenshot of my 1TB Western Digital Elements portable drive, connected to my moderately priced two year old Android phone, using a 60 baht OTG adapter from Mr. D.I.Y. No external power required, but I copy items like movies I want to watch to my phone rather than play from the portable drive, as it will drain the phone battery faster if I leave the drive connected.