Photo Storage and backup

[pmenefee]

Dave, I just bought an Asus 1000 HE, and installed the 2 GB ram card that Amazon sold to go with it. Installation was a snap. One trick I picked up from the internet discussion boards was to press F2 on boot up after installation and then simply press F10 to save the configuration, otherwise the computer may not recognize the 2GB, and see in only as 1GB.

Pete

[Aplmac]

I am one of those people who takes thousands of photos on vacation

gets them onto my computer and never ends up doing anything more than that...

Within 24 hrs. of returning from a cruise (or ugh-Air Travel) holiday

I assemble all photos taken, as is, fresh outa the camera, into one folder called Cruise 17 or whatever

and burn it to a CD or DVD.

 

Thereafter, I can play with what's on the hard drive, knowing that when it crashes(not if)

I have original material stored near-archivally in that cupboard to my right!! Real good feeling!

 

I have CDs in there with photos burned on them, from four and five hard drive crashes ago. :)

[ciara]

Samsung NC10 seems to be getting rave reviews - any opinions????

[compulady]

Also look at Acer Aspire One, Dell Mini 10 and 12, HP Mini, MSI Wind and Asus Eee PC 1000HE.

[SheilaNC]

I have the Asus Eee HA1000 WITH 10 in. screen. The deciding reason is that the keyboard is about 95% of a reg. laptop keyboard and the battery life is supposed to reach 7 hours (6 cell)...I've gotten about 5.5 hours from it so far with setting to maximize battery. It's much better than the battery on my reg. laptop.

[Jade13]

I am one of those people who takes thousands of photos on vacation, gets them onto my computer and never ends up doing anything more than that...although I'd like to. I'm so far behind at this point that I'm afraid one of these days my computer will crash and I'll lose them all. I really need to get a system for printing and copying to a disc or something but for now...I need a secondary storage idea.

 

What is the best backup/storage for them. I was considering a Netbook or a Storage Media Player (I found an Epson-3000). Do these work as a backup/storage to my computer hard drive?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

Wow. This sounds like me.

[vegs1]

Also look at Acer Aspire One, Dell Mini 10 and 12, HP Mini, MSI Wind and Asus Eee PC 1000HE.

 

Hi Compulady....

 

I've been looking more into the netbooks. You had earlier mentioned SSD drives vs. the spinning hard drives. I've noticed that most of the netbooks I've seen have only 60GB hard drives and only 1 had a SSD drive but was only 8 GB. Is the cost of the SSD drive quite a bit more?

 

Which netbook gives you the normal keyboard layout (or do they all)?

 

Can you always add additional hard drive space?

 

Thanks!

 

OOps - almost forgot to ask...where do they sell those ASUS netbooks? I can't seem to find any instores here in Canada but maybe I'm not looking in the right stores!

[compulady]

SSD in terms of on board computer storage is a new technology. It is similar to camera memory cards and as of yet not available in the larger sizes of conventional HDD and is more expensive per GB. I'm not quite sure of the keyboard layout features of each model. I would google the ones you are interested in and look for reviews from CNet or PC Mag or similar for comparisons. For on the go photo storage go with HDD unless you want to spend alot on the netbook or carry an extra storage drive.

 

I'm not sure where in Canada to get one. I would look online rather than in brick and mortar stores for the greatest variety of netbooks. In the US I have seen the more common brands at Costco, Target and Best Buy.

 

It depends on what type of camera you have and how many photos you take but I would look for one with a 120 -160 GB HD now. A 60 GB will only give you about 40 GB once you have all your apps and updates installed.

 

Without removing the original hard drive you can't add space internally on a netbook (though some will use SD cards to expand but they are still pretty small and not what you want). So get the biggest drive you think you'll need for the money you want to spend.

 

 

Hi Compulady....

 

I've been looking more into the netbooks. You had earlier mentioned SSD drives vs. the spinning hard drives. I've noticed that most of the netbooks I've seen have only 60GB hard drives and only 1 had a SSD drive but was only 8 GB. Is the cost of the SSD drive quite a bit more?

 

Which netbook gives you the normal keyboard layout (or do they all)?

 

Can you always add additional hard drive space?

 

Thanks!

 

OOps - almost forgot to ask...where do they sell those ASUS netbooks? I can't seem to find any instores here in Canada but maybe I'm not looking in the right stores!

[pmenefee]

I got my Asus at Amazon. Can you not order from Amazon in Canada?

Another fairly cost effective addition is a hard drive that plugs into a USB port. I got a 250 for about $100 or less.

 

Pete

[vegs1]

SSD in terms of on board computer storage is a new technology. It is similar to camera memory cards and as of yet not available in the larger sizes of conventional HDD and is more expensive per GB. I'm not quite sure of the keyboard layout features of each model. I would google the ones you are interested in and look for reviews from CNet or PC Mag or similar for comparisons. For on the go photo storage go with HDD unless you want to spend alot on the netbook or carry an extra storage drive.

 

I'm not sure where in Canada to get one. I would look online rather than in brick and mortar stores for the greatest variety of netbooks. In the US I have seen the more common brands at Costco, Target and Best Buy.

 

It depends on what type of camera you have and how many photos you take but I would look for one with a 120 -160 GB HD now. A 60 GB will only give you about 40 GB once you have all your apps and updates installed.

 

Without removing the original hard drive you can't add space internally on a netbook (though some will use SD cards to expand but they are still pretty small and not what you want). So get the biggest drive you think you'll need for the money you want to spend.

 

Thank you Compulady for all of the great information. I think I will stick to the HDD drive. I went to Costco here this morning and found an Acer Aspire One (8.9" screen) with 160 GB hard drive and 1 gb memory for $399.99 which seems pretty good. They will give me a mouse and bag included and they have a 2 year warranty, 90 day return and their own support if needed. Since I have 90 days to return it...I may as well try it. I don't want a bigger one since I'm hoping to travel with it and would like to just keep it small.

 

You have provided wonderful information. Thank you again.

[compulady]

Enjoy your new little netbook, with 90 days to check it out you can't go wrong.

[Rosieo]

I think that is what I am going to do, get my Netbook through Costco since they have the 90 day return policy. Plus I think they double the manufacturers warranty ( I think I read that somewhere).

[vegs1]

I think that is what I am going to do, get my Netbook through Costco since they have the 90 day return policy. Plus I think they double the manufacturers warranty ( I think I read that somewhere).

 

They do here in Canada. 2 years...the 1st year is through the manufacturer, the 2nd is through them. They also do technical support although I don't know how good that is. Can't go wrong I guess.

 

pmenefee - I couldn't find any Asus on Amazon.ca so I guess not. I figure it'll be easier getting one through Costco if I have any problems although I did hear the Asus was really good. Thanks for your suggestion.

[SheilaNC]

Just an FYI, Amazon has the Asus for $341 today with free shipping. Also before you decide which one to buy (they each have their best points that the other doesn't have) be sure to try the keyboards and read the screens to see which is more comfortable to you. Also battery life may be different. They are both good machines and it took me days to make up my mind...

[vegs1]

I went to my local Costco to pick up the Acer netbook I mentioned in previous posts. When I got there...they had NONE left. I was disappointed but was told they would probably have something better in a day or two. Went in today and they had upgraded from the 8.9" to the 10.1 inch for the same price so I picked one up.

 

Thanks for everyone's help on here. I now have 90 days to decide if it's right for me. :)

[SheilaNC]

Good for you! I think you'll like having a little bigger keyboard...do post your experiences here.

[Jade13]

 

Picasa offers about a gigabyte of free online album space, but that is for display and sharing. Picasa's value is as an organizer and it is also a great utility for loading your images to the computer (you can put Picasa on the netbook and use it to load your images from the camera on the road). It has a growing set of simple editing tools that can perform a wide range of non-destructive corrections, effects and enhancements (it records the changes in it's database and only applies them when you export to print or upload to the web, never changing the original) to photos with little training needed.

 

Happy shooting!

 

Dave

Dave,

I finally downloaded Picaso and it has already organized my photos that were on the "FujiFilm" organizer (which over ran the Nikon D60 one - I hope I don't have a problem downloading the photos).

 

The icon is sitting on my Desk top so it is easy to find.

 

Two questions:

 

1. Should I delete the Picasa set-up execution file icon? It is sitting on my desktop along with the program icon.

 

2. Which basic editing/correction tool should I use? I just got back from the Antarctic. I think I did ok with the light balance but this software does not have the histogram that I finally learned to use (the reason that the photo coach on board our ship - with A&K-recommended Photoshop Elements).

 

What on Picasa will adjust to more of what I actually photographed? I am trying to do the basic adjustments for now (so I can print some photos) and I can learn more later.

 

Thanks!

[pierces]

 

Two questions:

 

1. Should I delete the Picasa set-up execution file icon? It is sitting on my desktop along with the program icon.

 

You can. It won't matter if it's there or not.

 

2. Which basic editing/correction tool should I use? I just got back from the Antarctic. I think I did ok with the light balance but this software does not have the histogram that I finally learned to use (the reason that the photo coach on board our ship - with A&K-recommended Photoshop Elements).

 

In the edit view, click on the little beanie hat in the lower right-hand corner and it will give you a histogram and basic exposure settings. Press <Alt> + <Enter> (at the same time) and it wll pop up all of the EXIF properties for the image.

 

Elements is great. I use Picasa to organize and right-click, "open with" Elements to do serious editing.

 

What on Picasa will adjust to more of what I actually photographed? I am trying to do the basic adjustments for now (so I can print some photos) and I can learn more later.

 

Thanks!

 

Fill light is a good starter or auto-contrast. Try all of them...you can always "UNDO"! Even if you save the changes, it will make a copy and move the original to a sub-folder.

 

Dave

[Jade13]

You can. It won't matter if it's there or not.

 

 

 

In the edit view, click on the little beanie hat in the lower right-hand corner and it will give you a histogram and basic exposure settings. Press <Alt> + <Enter> (at the same time) and it wll pop up all of the EXIF properties for the image.

 

Elements is great. I use Picasa to organize and right-click, "open with" Elements to do serious editing.

 

 

 

Fill light is a good starter or auto-contrast. Try all of them...you can always "UNDO"! Even if you save the changes, it will make a copy and move the original to a sub-folder.

 

Dave

 

Dave,

 

Thanks!

 

Now I am totally frustrated downloading using Picasa and I have been at it all day :(

 

The first download from my D60 worked fine (accept my battery died and had to be replaced).

 

I downloaded a 4GB Extreme III with over 1,600 jpegs and named the Folder Travel - Antarctica Nikon Disk 1

 

Downloading with Picasa appears to be a 4 step process (well 3, the forth is a back-up).

 

1-Load

2-Copy

3-Import

4 - Back-up to DVD (I don't have an extra hard drive)

 

However, I've been trying to do the second 4GB for the past 4 hours or so. Because the "copying" appeared to stop and computer not responding multiple times I have been unable to do one download and keep starting over. I finally deleted all of the photos from this download, started over because they were broken into 1,004 and about 200. I can't seem to get the entire 4GB. And again, it looked like all photos were loading but now the folder only has 200 or so. What am I doing wrong? This program it too complicated but the back-up feature is great.

 

Btw, I am just plugging my USB cable from the camera to the computer and than I click on Picasa vs FujiFilm, Kodak (my daughter must be using), NikonD60, RitzPix etc).

[FritzG]

We just bought the 8.9" Acer yesterday. We had a hard time finding one in NE Ohio, but finally one of the Office Max stores had 2 left and saved one for us. We have other laptops and are primarily Mac users, and we weren't going to drap a laptop on our TA, but when we saw the size and weight of the Acer we couldn't pass it up. We'll primarily be using it for photo downloads and emails so it should be just what we need. It also has a slot for the xd card our cameras use so that was a real plus.