buy a little portable hard disk, 60 or 80 gig, between $150-200.  with usb 1.1 it might be a little slow, but you will probably only be uploading 1 gig at a time anyways. here is an option
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail~dpno~491470.asp
but there are many others, just find one that suits your needs and budget.
amnon

unfortunately if you want to ditch the laptotp it will probably cost more than 250$. here is what i think is the cheapest option out there..
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail~dpn...tion~Detail.asp

however i would recommend the epson p2000, which is double the price

amnon

I have a small USB hub that fits a 3.5" HD and works with USB 2, it has a 250meg HD in it at present. They cost very very little but need an external power supply.

I was going to say shoe boxes under the bed ... but, never mind!  :p

Digital Rebel, 1.5 gigs of Smartcards, antique laptop with 4 gigs of space (WIN98, USB 1.1, three weeks of shooting (it will never do), and a budget of about 250 Cdn tops.

Any suggestions?

IPOD too expensive, think I need about 120 gigs if I edit in the antique.

Leaving Saturday morning, possibly able to shop in Toronto on Saturday afternoon. ...

Thanks for your reply, Amnon, and that was what I was thinking I might need to do. I was hoping that I could ditch the laptop, and I'm concerned with the USB not being compatible with a new drive. I think it's time I visited my friendly computer store.

I really appreciate your input!

If you have a pc slot in your computer you can purchase pc cards that convert to USB 2.0  or Firewire.

around $25   can make any of these new drives (smartdisk and the like) compatible with your current computer.
This would eliminate the absolute necessity to purchase a new computer, unless of course, you just want to upgrade.

Thanks, everyone, for your input. That little reader looks wonderful amnon.

This morning I purchased an external hard drive - 120 Gigs, which will read files from the antique laptop despite the slow USB 1.0 port. It will transfer them to this desktop, which is a terrific new machine much more quickly. The drive requires AC to run, but that is not impossible to deal with. I will need to charge batteries anyway.

The hard drive works as a back up for other data as well, and the cost was only 200 Cdn, taxes included. I am pretty happy with it.