External Hard Drives

[TracyMN]

Hello Tekkies:

If I ever come here with a question that doesn't have a question within it (i.e.meaning I actually know what I'm asking), can we have a party?

This is a simple question, and the question within is just what the thing i'm asking about is really called...

If a guy had a bunch of stories, and i'm guessing 30,000KB on the outside (and if that translates into some other number, don't laugh!) and wanted to put them on a____________ drive, and make an identical copy that could be sent by mail somewhere else, what would he need, a flash or external drive (what's the difference other than size and size, as long as i'm here) and who's everybody's favorite?

Thanks, even if you're rolling your eyes, I can count on your best answer. You guys are swell that way.

Tracy

[Trab]

That only works out to 30 Mbytes doesn't it? Even the smallest SD memory card could hold that, and it is flat enough to be sent in a regular envelope through the mail. As far as I know, all that would be needed is a card reader. You could do the same thing on a USB memory stick (more easily) but it would jam in the mail sorting equipment as it is too thick.

[colinian]

What Trab said.

Colin

[Camy]

Yep, what Colin and Trab said.

Personally, I like SD cards. They're small at standard size and tiny if you get the micro SD that fits in a phone. And a lot of laptops/netbooks now come with an SD card reader built in.

I also like DropBox (www.dropbox.com). This is a cloud service that gives you 2gb of storage free. A dropbox can be synced across multiple computers, and you can also access it from a browser. It's very easy to set up and oh so useful.

Camy

[TracyMN]

Ummmm, oke, but what's memory card and where do I stick it? And I said mail, not letter, silly...

My kid has an "external hard drive" so I know it's square and has a cord type plug and it's own power cord, but that isn't saying I know where to stick that either.

I'm thinking a flash drive is your USB Memory stick, Trab, because that's what they look like in the store, and I do know what a USB port is, and that there's a 50/50 chance i'll stick it in the right way the first time.

Thanks both of you for playing along. No product endorsements, and I think I get that.

I'll just spin around and point.

[JamesSavik]

Both flash drives and external drives use USB connections

[Cole Parker]

And it doesn't have to be a 50/50 proposition when you're sticking in the plug if you actually look at the plug and then look at the socket first.

It can be fun, looking closely at what goes where, handling them to be sure you got it right.

Oh, wait. I thought I was writing to Des.

C

[TracyMN]

Thanks Camy, we must have been typing at the same time, because you weren't there when I hit "reply".

OMG, I don't even have a picture phone.

If dropbox is like "off-site storage" then that sounds useful. The free part, that's what I don't get.

We're using PC's and probably will for the rest of days, so I'm thinking flash drives will do the trick.

Thanks everybody.

And of course, you're right, James, but I had to go look.

Tracy

[Camy]

If dropbox is like "off-site storage" then that sounds useful. The free part, that's what I don't get.

Tracy,

The basic 2gb version is free because they're hoping you'll find it so useful you'll want to upgrade to a paid account (more storage). However, 2gb is actually a lot of space, especially if you're only using it for documents. You can also have private and public folders.

These are their prices: https://www.dropbox.com/pricing

Camy

[Trab]

That dropbox pricing is just too high for me to consider. What a huge jump, from 2Gbyte for free to 50Gbytes for $120 per year. They need to have one for $12 per year and they'd likely have millions of subscribers.

[Camy]

That dropbox pricing is just too high for me to consider. What a huge jump, from 2Gbyte for free to 50Gbytes for $120 per year. They need to have one for $12 per year and they'd likely have millions of subscribers.

I agree, it's a big jump. Luckily I'm happy with the 2gb for free!

[TracyMN]

I love FREE. And 2gb would mean my stuff would have a lot of grazing room.

I finally got to tell my daughter something she didn't know. It's been years!

Thanks Camy.

Tracy

[Hoskins]

I love FREE. And 2gb would mean my stuff would have a lot of grazing room.

I finally got to tell my daughter something she didn't know. It's been years!

Thanks Camy.

Tracy

I've been using dropbox for about 6 months now. Its so useful that I use it to share files across the three PCs and a Mac at my desk. It integrates right into Windows and the Mac, so you see a dropbox folder in Explorer and in the Finder. I have, on many occasions, opened, edited and saved files from and to dropbox instead of the PC. Not that I recommend doing that, but that's how seamless it is.

TLDR version: dropbox is cool.