USB Storage Help Please

Lou05

I've been looking on the internet for ages but am not getting very far!
Someone has ask me to buy them a USB stick to store photos etc on (their computer has just basically died, lost all photos and files and are now regretting now having bought one before!)
Can anyone plese let me know if I buy a USB stick if it hold many photos? That is mainly what they want it for but I'm unsure what size memory they would need. Can anyone please give me any ideas if it would be a stick or one of those box type things (no idea on the name!) they'd need to hold everything?

Thank you so much in advance for any help/advice.

fatnbald

It depends on the file size of the pictures they take and the quantity involved, the basic rule of thumb is to go for the biggest one you can afford, if it is a few pounds more to get one double the capacity you will regret if if you do not buy it initially.

If they are using a higher spec camera then the files are going to be much bigger.

You need to decide either your budget or the size you need.

basmic

I would suggest a minimum of 4gb for photo storage, and 8gb would be ideal.

Airwolf1

Take alook here: http://www.memorybits.co.uk/categories/usb-flash-drives/764. As mentioned, go for the largest size you can afford, also ensure they're compatible with the operating system that is being used.

Poppycat

Play.com are selling a 16gb pendrive form £16.99 out of stock at mo but you can order nonetheless

samhale

If you're going for USB, buy it from eBay as they're incredibly cheap, but take a while from china.

basmic

loaner wrote: »

Although better than nothing, usb sticks are the worst possibly medium for important backups. Use DVD's or CD's, they are cheaper and more robust.

The data on the hard disk may be recoverable, unless the disk is not spinning, depends what you mean by died.

I assume you've never heard of disc rot, then? I'd feel much happier about my photos being on a USB stick, than a disc which is liable to both rot and scratches. :eek::eek:

samhale wrote: »

If you're going for USB, buy it from eBay as they're incredibly cheap, but take a while from china.

Indeed, but buy from a reputable seller. When you do get the USB stick, make sure you fill it full to it's formatted capacity, and read the files back again.

You see, some USB sticks from abroad are fakes. They tell Windows they can hold, for example, 8gb - but when it comes to stuffing it full with 8gb of data and you want to read it back, sometimes the data is corrupted - because the memory chip inside the stick is a smaller one than the shown capacity.

bookduck

as samhale suggest, ebay may not be the best place to buy usb sticks - even if the shop is UK based. I have bought 2*8g + 2*16G sticks from ebay shops andbut were really only 2g maximum

Loner said it is possibly the worst medium, well usb is not the best medium. I too would trust a hard disk compared to an usb stick, but have no evidence except the failure rate of many hdds are 5 years and although recovery is not cheap, it is possible.

USB sticks tend to corrupt more often than other types and often the corruption is in such a way you get nothing back, or you pull it out at the wrong moment and the stick dies, or a memory cell dies. The figure bounded around is that each cell has a write capability of around 100 000 times and then it dies. If your usb port on you pc goes faulty it may scramble your data on the usb drive (personal experience)

End of the day it is multiple copies across different media types and a few storage locations is your best bet.

unrich

As you can see all the media have their problems.

1. keep them on the hard disk.
2. copy them to your USB key (4gb or 8Gb from Play or 7dayshop or keep an eye out at the supermarket, tesco had some deals a while back).
3. Write them to CD/DVD (ignore disk rot, just buy as good quality disks as you can) Do this 3 or 4 times a year or more often if you take loads of photos.

4. Print your favourite photos out and put them into an album. Print them as well as you can.

IT still has obsolescence built in so what you were using a decade ago probably isn't around now. Until there is more long term stability PRINT OUT YOUR BEST PHOTOS. You can still look at al those pics from over 100 years ago.

bookduck

unrich wrote: »

Until there is more long term stability PRINT OUT YOUR BEST PHOTOS. You can still look at al those pics from over 100 years ago.

And it does not stop there either: Apparently you should use photo pigment ink as other dye ink loose more colour over time. Good ink has approx 100 year lifespan in a lab, which apparently will relates to 7,11,16 year (pick one, but know it was definitely under 20, i'm sure you can google it) left on display in bright natural light (not direct sunlight).

I've got no idea what photo booths use to do printouts.

fatnbald

You can get "gallery quality" ink for some inkjet photoprinters, I know Hewlett Packard produce them, these are guranteed to give the ultimate life available for special prints, for example those displayed by proffessionals in galleries - hence the name.

There are some specialist manufacturers of inks as well which give guarantees of longevity, Lyson being just one, obviously the prices rise accordingly.