portable hard disk v cheaper branded memory cards

higgers07

I'm thinking of buying a portable Hard Disk Drive to back up my photos etc. You can buy them for around £40-£50.
But, alternatively, you can buy 2GB branded Micro SD cards (or similar products) for a fraction of the price - ie around £3.00. I don't have massess to store/back-up - mainly family photos etc. but I want to make sure they are 'secure'. In terms of robustness, which is the better option? I have backed them up onto DVD, but wanted to be doubly sure.
Are memory cards more/less likely to crash, than hard disks contained within a portable hard drive - or are they just as reliable/robust??

thanks

Ian

gingerscot

It is very unlikely that either will crash and lose data but in theory solid state (i.e memory cards) should hold data longer as they have no mechanical parts that will break/go wrong. Drop a external harddisk on a hard surface and good luck getting it working! SD cards have a higher chance of data errors it seems be we're still talking tiny risks. Do be careful when buying really cheap memory SD cards as you can get some dodgy ones. I would get ones be well-known companies such as sandisk, kingston, transcend and get them from amazon, play etc and be careful with ebay. The main problem I have is losing SD cards after a year as they are so small!

You will fill up 2gb of photos fairly quickly. The best option as always is too have multiple backups which is quick easily and not much more expensive. Backup on SD cd (£5-10), dvd (£1), online storage (gmail=free). Add in an external harddisk (£30+) and you have four backups at very little cost and hassle. Even then if you house burns down you still have it online.....

Dave

tight-git

ginger is 100% correct , burn 1 , 2 , 3 copies on DVD if you want , also save them online is a CHEAP ,secure option:j --i use 123 , its FREE http://drive.123-reg.co.uk/pages/en/about-online-file-storage

Traveller1981

I agree with the above.

Also you can BT Digital Vault - they give some free storage for photos etc as well.

Donnie

Try this or this.

Cheap and convenient.

higgers07

Thanks everyone for your help.

Ian