hgraf Thanks for your input. I've heard and read competing information with regards to drive speed. It seems a friend showed me some tests where the power draw of a 7200 vs 5400 RPM HDD was disproportionately small compared to the additional speed of delivery. I don't claim to know that much about it, but the article he showed me seemed to make sense. My objective is to speed the entire through-put, not because I'm impatient, but because every second the computer is on the battery is going south. There are times when I must make one charge last a week or more with daily use.
shashinkaman Yes, it's true: I'm an amateur photographer. So, what's your point? As I said, I travel alone and on foot or by motorcycle, so every cubic centimeter and every gram of weight matter a lot. And as for quantity of shots taken, I certainly take a lot more than I ultimately keep. Sorting, storing and processing the keepers is why I have to carry a computer and hard drives when in the field, since my excursions are typically multiple months at a time.
pwp Thanks for the heads-up on the Sanho device; it's nice to hear you and Don Haines have had good luck with them. I'll take a closer look online as my Nexto battery now lasts maybe 5 minutes and cannot be replaced (in my model).
I also appreciate everyone's kick in the butt to stick with RAW. I guess I was just hoping for an easy way out...