DianaT
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Baja Photos and Computers
OK, this only relates to saving and storing pictures of Baja
I am still a PC person---not ready to convert yet. But, I really need some external hard drives for storing my pictures---both my desktop and my
laptop are screaming as overloaded!
1. Any recommendations as to external hard drives?
2. Are they easy to set-up for the computer challenged person?
3. Do they die as easily as I have read?
Thanks
Diane
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Natalie Ann
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Diane.... Why you don't store the images to cd or dvd?
I do that along with paid online storage at pbase.com for the important stuff.
And no, I do not have a recommendation for an external hard drive.
nena
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
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stimbo
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Hi Diane --
If you value your photos, you should do both, hard drive backup and a redundant backup onto DVD's or CD's.
As for hard drives, there are so many, and getting cheaper by the giga-byte. At least with a Mac system, the hard drives are "Plug and Play." An icon
shows up on your desktop, all you need to do is drag your folders to the new hard drive..... pretty easy.
Organizing your files, now THAT is the crux. Good luck.
jim
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DianaT
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| Quote: | Originally posted by stimbo
Hi Diane --
If you value your photos, you should do both, hard drive backup and a redundant backup onto DVD's or CD's.
As for hard drives, there are so many, and getting cheaper by the giga-byte. At least with a Mac system, the hard drives are "Plug and Play." An icon
shows up on your desktop, all you need to do is drag your folders to the new hard drive..... pretty easy.
Organizing your files, now THAT is the crux. Good luck.
jim |
Hey, you have been looking at my computers! Yikes, organization, not my strong suit.
Besides, I really suffer from the I can't use the delete button---someday, I just might like that picture. OK, I am getting better----I am starting
to delete many before I convert them, but I also need to convince myself that not every snapshot needs to be saved in raw along with the jpeg. 
Jim,
I do want to save them to both cd and an external hard drive. And someday, I do plan on going the Mac route---can't do it yet.
Nena,
I have one of those online back-up services, Carbonite, but they don't back up any external drives. I just don't trust the CD/DVD route alone. I
have had too many cds go bad.
Kate,
Thanks---wish I could afford a Mac right now---two Macs, desktop and laptop.
Thanks
Diane
[Edited on 11-30-2008 by jdtrotter]
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EMAM
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Diane, what we have found easiest is to back up everthing to one externial hard drive, we use a 500 gig Western Digital (I think you can even buy them
at Wal-Mart) and keep another one that we then back it up to again just for redundency.
If I'm putting together a specific gallery, once I finish the gallery, I then burn that gallery to DVD or CD depending on what size it is. I know
this is a tedious process, but once you get the habit of it, you'll find that the whol process sort of just becomes second nature and it quite easy.
I also store one of the hard drives and all the DVD/CD's in a fireproof safe. If on the road, I mail the DVD's home to my parents where the safe is
stored where she just puts them away for me incase the camper is stolen or burns.
The prices of these hard drives keep going down so fast that you can probably get a 1000 gig or terabyte of storage for the same price that I paid 5
months ago for that 500gig
Best thing is to get a USB powered harddrive so you dont need to worry about finding extra cords or extra outlets as it runs off the computers power.
This way if you do move up to a laptop, you can just carry the small hard drive in the laptop bag and have it with you at all times.
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Ken Bondy
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Diane the Western Digital hard drives are excellent and are getting to be very inexpensive. They are easy to use with USB plug and play connections,
and I think you can get 250GB for less than $100 now. Costco usually has excellent prices and lots of availability.
carpe diem!
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DianaT
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Pat and Ken,
Thanks! I will check those out. It sounds like I can just plug them in a USB port like I do the flash media or photo card reader and then unplug
them at will??
Diane
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bajalou
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I use Western Digital Passport external hard drives. They are USB powered wo work great with a laptop. I have one with most of my mapping programs
and data on it that I move from the computer in the house (used for upgrading and downloading more data) to the computer in my Bronco (used to track
movement in the back country). Very reasonably priced these days - Oh yes, I use a PC as Mac's won't run some of the programs I use the most. - I
know, I know, I can run Windows on some Macs but that really seams like a waste to me.
And yes, the just plug in and show up as a drive and you can unplug whenever you want.
[Edited on 11-30-2008 by bajalou]
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
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And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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Ken Bondy
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jdtrotter
Pat and Ken,
Thanks! I will check those out. It sounds like I can just plug them in a USB port like I do the flash media or photo card reader and then unplug
them at will??
Diane |
Correct Diane. They are really easy to use.
carpe diem!
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BajaGringo
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Diane,
You should find that the external drives you buy today are plug and play. My advice is to keep two external drives for data you don't want to lose.
The salt air here on the Baja coast does eat these things up over time and I lost a lot of data at one time for that reason. the other option is
online storage which is becoming cheaper all the time...
[Edited on 11-30-2008 by BajaGringo]
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DianaT
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Thanks---boy do we need to get back to Baja soon so I quit spending money!
BajaGringo,
Living by the sea does have its price. We swear that even plastic rusts. 
Diane
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BajaGringo
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| Quote: | Originally posted by jdtrotter
Thanks---boy do we need to get back to Baja soon so I quit spending money!
BajaGringo,
Living by the sea does have its price. We swear that even plastic rusts.
Diane |
I know Diane. Here in Rosarito we are right on the beach but at the new place we are building a few hundred feet back with some sand dunes in front.
Not sure if that will help at all but figured it was worth a try.
Still figure it's a small price to pay...
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stimbo
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Hi Diane -- A further note on CD's and DVD's. They have a finite life span, they deteriorate over time, even when stored carefully. However, you can
pay extra for archival quality CD's and DVD's. Light Impressions sells them....
Then store these disks in a bank vault. BUT, most importantly, get religious about backing up your data.
jim
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Iflyfish
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I have purchased a number of the blue external hard drives from Costco like Ken mentions. They are incredibly easy to use, plug and play. I back up on
a regular basis and rest easy now. I have a program called Windows Live OneCare that monitors my computer and tells me when I need to back it up. They
automatically update my computer with the latest virus protection, Windows patches and fixes, tunes up the computer etc. It works great for me.
Iflyfish
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DianaT
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| Quote: | Originally posted by stimbo
Hi Diane -- A further note on CD's and DVD's. They have a finite life span, they deteriorate over time, even when stored carefully. However, you can
pay extra for archival quality CD's and DVD's. Light Impressions sells them....
Then store these disks in a bank vault. BUT, most importantly, get religious about backing up your data.
jim |
Thanks Jim---I have had CDs die on me and when that happens, I tend to give them a proper burial, after I rip the poop out of them with my bear hand.
I will check that company out.
IFLYFISH, I have that Carbonite automatic back up on my computer because I really need it to be automatic.
I was hoping they would also back up an external drive, but they do not and I need the storage. I probably also need two new computers, but cannot do
that yet. What seemed like a HUGE hard drive, and HUGE amount of RAM a few years ago is now very obsolete. 
I really thank everyone for the names and ideas. I think I am too old to ever become a really organized person, but I can keep trying.
Diane
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stimbo
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Diane | Quote: |
I have had CDs die on me and when that happens, I tend to give them a proper burial, after I rip the poop out of them with my bear hand.
Diane |
Seems like you could stream a few of your old CD's together and make one heck of fishing lure.....
jim
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