[u3aavcuss] Re: Photo Storage
- From: Michael Sanders <m.a.sanders.hp23@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: u3aavcuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2009 09:36:28 +0000
Hi Pat,
Following on from Jim's comments. 1GB of storage would be sufficient to
store 200 fairly high resolution pictures, a lot more if the resolution is
more average. The External USB Hard Disk now costs between £50 and £60 for
a 500GB version, which would allow the storage of over 100,000 pictures
which would seem to be adequate using external Hard Disk than using CD, DVD
or Memory Sticks.
One point of caution. No storage device is 100% reliable. From this it
follows that you should keep at least two copies of really important
pictures, on different media.
Hard Disks are extremely reliable, theoretically lasting over 100,000 hours
of operation, however this life is usually considerably less, for drives
that are repeatedly handled and repeatedly stopped and started. One thing
that can absolutely relied on is that when they do fail, it will be at the
most inopportune moment and any data stored on them will be gone for ever,
unless you are going to engage in extremely expensive data recovery
measures.
Writable CDs and DVDs use the heat from a Laser beam to deform the plastic
layer of the disk. With the passage of time this storage layer can 'flow'
back to its original state, making the stored images unreadable. Some cheap
'own brand' CDs and DVDs have been shown to fail in this way after just a
few months. If you are going to use CDs or DVDs it is worth the extra
expense of buying 'Big Name' products and hopefully getting increased
reliability. Again, make a couple of copies of really important data,
ideally on media from different manufactures.
I hope these comments are of some interest.
Regards,
Mike Sanders
2009/2/3 James McKay <james.mckay90@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Pat
>
> Any storage method is generally ok. Main difference is capacity and cost.
> CD smallest & cheapest
> DVD standard has 4.7 gb more expensive than a Cd
> Memory stick can be got with capacity of 32 Gb but are progressively more
> expensive
> External drive capacity is almost unlimited, I believe now in Terrabite
> (spelling??) territory, certainly 250 Gb or 500 are quite common and
> relatively not too expensive (relatively)
> I personally use CD's, DVD's and Memory sticks (largest one which I use is
> 8Gb.
> I do not bother to erase once I have saved to disc, However you should be
> able to although unless you use rewritables you will not gain anything by
> doing so. The temptation, I find, is to save photos which really should have
> been scrapped !
> Jim
>
>
> Pat Baker wrote:
>
>> I am now accumulating many photos on my computer, which I have copied to a
>> DVD and then deleted.
>> Although I can add to the DVD I cannot delete any photos aready there.
>> I am now thinking to buy either a memory stick/flash drive or an external
>> hard drive.
>> Can anybody tell me the pros and cons of each of these and which one they
>> would recommend?
>> Thanks for your input
>> Pat Baker
>>
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