GNARBOX- DURABITLY AND SUSTAINABILITY
by Nathan Waters, Photojournalist

Gnarbox.comGnarbox.com

Rather you’re a photographer, photobug, shutterbug, professional, real-estate photographer/agent, blogger, photo blogger, video film-maker, producer, or amateur to professional level drone pilot, you need something that is mobile, light, easy to use, app friendly, dependable, durable, and then on top of all that, has amazing customer service support. Well, look no further than this new company called, Gnarbox.

Durability of Gnarbox is Shockproof, Dust Proof, & Water Resistant.Gnarbox.com This year, among many of the amazing vendors and inventors at this year's PhotoPlus Expo 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to meet-up with the team Gnarbox. The interview began with some simple questions and getting to know who I was speaking to, and to learn about Gnarbox a little more so that I could ask the right questions and dig a little into the company and its history. I can say without the shadow of a doubt that it was one of my favorite interviews with Will Africano, Co-Founder of Gnarbox. In this interview, Africano discussed the features of Gnarbox and the purpose. He also explained the features and we briefly touched on what other people are saying about the device. I quickly learned in spite of my initial criticism and hesitation, that this title compact piece of technology packs a punch in the photography industry with its ability to not only sustain itself in the hazardous conditions, but its also light-weight, slim, and is swarming with features that make life so much easier when you're on the go and need to dump your cards. After-all, let's face it, when you're on the go, carrying a laptop computer everywhere can get a bit wearing on you, as well as the computer. 

So, what is Gnarbox? Gnarbox is a portable backup hardware solution for people on the go. It’s for your grandma, your dad, your mom, your son, your daughter, your friend’s neighbor’s uncle, the dog, … Ok, not the dog. With the Gnarbox, you’re now able to travel anywhere around the world in the most extreme conditions and environments to capture footage, take photos, and simply, quickly, and easily capture and manage your photos and videos right onto the Gnarbox via direct USB connection or WiFi. 

Gnarbox PortsGnarbox contains: 1xSD Card Reader, 1xmicroSD card reader, 1xusb 3.0, 1 xusb legacy 2.0, 1x usb mini port for charging and high-speed transfers This contraption comes with 5 ports for archiving and transferring data: SD Card, mini-SD, USB 3.0, USB Legacy 2.0, and a mini-port for USB Charging and connection to your Mac or PC platform. It is compatible also with Android and iOS applications for on the go mobile users to adjust and make the changes and edits you need directly through Drop Box, iCloud, or on the internal drive via WiFi. 

What is even better among many of the features is the durable external shell that will stand-up to the brink of time. While you are more than welcome to purchase an external soft case for this, it’s definitely not required as its rated and tested for harsh environments that deems it water resistant, shockproof, as well as dustproof. Internally, you will find a rechargeable 4000MAH battery giving the drive a total 4-6hr battery life, which will definitely sustain the gigantic 4K file videos and RAW photos that will be transferred via one of its high-speed ports. Gnarbox also features file transfers up to speeds of 4GB/min to it’s 128GB or 256GB internal flash storage, thanks to its Intel® Quad Core, 1.92GHZ Processor, supported by 2GB of RAM, while automatically arranging and organizing with the assistance of metadata tagging. It also includes Dual-band 300mbps (37.5MB/s) 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, 4 Core Intel ® HD Graphics GPU.

This small compact device currently only comes in two sizes 128GB or 256GB. All the version 1 units which consisted of just the 128GB capacity contained a Toshiba eMMC, which was the most viable option to prevent what could have been a near 33% drag on battery life, as well as shot the price up to a potential $450-500 in price, thus defeating their primary goals in making the product affordable and still appealing. For those of you who don’t know, eMMC stands for “embedded Muti-Media Controller. The eMMC solution consists of three components- The flash memory storage, the card interface, and the flash memory controller. This past Summer 2017, Gnarbox tested the newly announced and very anticipated SanDisk 256GB eMMC. The prices are $299.00 for the 128GB +64GB microSD, and $399.00 for the 256GB +64GB micro SD version. Standard Shipping is Free, with optional upgraded priority shipping via UPS, which can from $7 up to $60 Domestic US, depending on your location and shipping option.

Currently there is talk of higher sizes due to the demand of larger drives by those video makers and producers who we all know, can go through these things in a heartbeat. That being said, Gnarbox has made it easy to attach an external drive for direct export transfer to back-up. Since you are using Gnarbox, it is definitely recommended to use an external ssd to keep your data safe and sustain continuity between your drives, as HDD’s have tons of moving parts and can fail easily while on the go.

You definitely don’t have to worry about the customer services at Gnarbox. Once you start a chat or email, its often that someone will get back to you immediately or within a very short amount of time. Another great thing about the customer support is that you don’t have to worry about being transferred outside the country to talk to someone you can barely understand like many other companies today. Everything is right here at home.

So rather you’re on the go looking for a quick easy transfer solution, or just need some extra space, I would highly recommend the Gnarbox as a “go to” for photographers, drone pilots, and video film-makers alike.

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