I try to respond to all reader gadget questions. But instead of helping out one person, I’m starting to post my answers on this blog in hopes that other readers also have suggestions to share. Thanks to all who have contributed to “Stump the Gadgetress.”

Today’s question comes from Elisa of Fullerton:

Hi Gadgetress:
I was reading your article about the Coolpix today and wondered if there is a fairly inexpensive gadget that we can take on our European vacation to download images from the camera and store in the gadget. I don’t want to take the chance of bringing my laptop and getting it stolen or smashed, and I don’t want to buy a dozen compact flashes with the chance of losing them. Thanks for whatever information or suggestions you can provide.
Regular reader,
Elisa

Elisa, you didn’t say what your definition of “fairly inexpensive” is, but here are a few suggestions.

1. The Wolverine MVP, which I reviewed HERE. As mentioned in the review, I prefer the beautiful Epson P2000, but that’s is the opposite of cheap. The Wolverine is in the $300 range. It’s a hard disk drive with several types of memory card slots so you can easily transfer photos to the drive. It works, it’s easy to use and it’s pretty fast. The screen doesn’t dazzle, but at least you get to see if the photos transferred over. My gripe with it in my review was battery life. Just don’t expect it to keep you continuously entertained during the transatlantic flight. If you’re not watching movies on it, the rechargeable battery should last long enough to hit the road for a few days without needing more juice.

2. Your iPod. Do you have one? If you have one of the Photo iPods or newer video iPods, Apple sells a little $29 add-on device that lets you transfer photos directly from a camera to the iPod. I have one and it works. But it’s very, very slow. Still, this means you can lighten your vacation load since you’ll probably take your iPod on the trip anyway. Before you buy though, make sure it works with your camera.

Belkin also sells a camera connector, currently $25 at Amazon but reviews were pretty negative.

3. A number of other storage gadgets are available. Look for small hard drives with “USB host,” which means they can be treated like a computer. Plug in the camera’s USB cable and photos should transfer over. These are cheaper than the Wolverine but most have no image-viewing capability so you’ll be crossing your fingers hoping the photos actually did transfer over, like Transcend’s Photobank.

As with all these posts, I invite readers to share their solutions with Elisa by commenting below. If you have your own stumper, just try me.