Netbook for photo storage when travelling

[BlueDevil]

I am looking for some feedback on using netbooks for photo storage when travelling. Up until now I have always travelled with a laptop in order to download my photos to the HDD and backup to an ext HDD. I may also use it for viewing my photos, and occasionally a lit bit of basic editing (but usually wait until I get home to sort and edit).

However I want to save a bit of weight, so am thinking of a netbook. An ultrabook would be nice but can't afford it! I need to get the weight down to around 1.2kg.

My main purpose would be downloading and storing the photos (JPEG and RAW) and video clips. It would be nice also to be able to cull unwanted stuff (especially the RAWs since they take up so much space). From what I have heard editing would be pretty limited on a netbook. Have also heard video playback is pretty ordinary so may limit my ability to cull video clips.

Also, does upgrading to 2 GB of RAM make a big difference in performance over the standard 1GB with most netbooks?

Thanks heaps!

[Mark Derail]

I use one, it's an Atom processor, dual core, 2G ram, Win7, a HD of 160g. Ten inch screen. Paid 200$ a couple of years ago.
Outstanding battery life.

Great for use on the plane, media player on the way in, looking at your vacation photos on the way back. HD videos it has a hard time of the SD card or usb port, once on the HD they usually play fine. I've played 720p MKV files w/Windows Media Player (with the proper plugins).
VLC works - but since it's 100% software driven, it has a harder time rendering on an Atom procesor.

You can put your SD card right in, there's a few USB ports, WiFi with a real keyboard for Facebook/email.

Way better than a tablet for general use. Tablet is cool only for it's large screen.

I'd say 2G ram is a minimum, make sure you have the proper plugins to view RAW files.

[Kilili]

Netbook works fine have been using for 2 years. Second GB is worth adding and costs little.
Two considerations of note. Many Netbooks are 1024x600, and numerous programs, like Photoshop, will not function with smaller screen. Get 1024x768 or larger.
Also, work out how much data you have to store, esp. images, and make sure you have a drive big enough. I pulled the original drive and replaced with 640gb.

[dmoore19]

I used a netbook for about 3 years. I liked it because of its size and weight. I didn't like it because of its moderate performance. I have since changed to a MacBook Air. I like the software iphoto and am learning to use Aperture. I use the USB port and the download cable that came with the camera I use. I don't do much with video so I cannot speak to the possibilities concerning that. I like the MacBook Air a lot, even if it did take some time for the changeover from a windows operating system.

1 GB of Ram isn't much these days, if keeping the netbook, upgrade to 2 or more GB. I still use and like the netbook but really like the speed and the software offerings for the Mac. Either will work just fine though. Good luck!

[LeeParrish]

Check out microsoftstore.com for a good selection of the latest laptops, something like the Samsung series 5 might work, it has a 500 GB hard drive so you won't run out of storage soon, yet still weighs 3 labs, has 4 GB of ram, core i3 processor, and runs $649. Should be able to do almost any photo or video editing job fairly well. As a disclaimer, I do work for Microsoft...

[muzikbiz22]

Macbook Air & Aperture. Light as a feather, thin as a pad of paper, no clunky hard drive or moving parts, and it's fast. Is perfect for dive travel, hotels, vacations & airplanes. It does come with iPhoto out of the box, as well as iMovie. On the plane ride home, start weeding out "the tossers", and start your rough edits/white balancing/RAW edits/video, etc. If you want to go the external HDD, then get an SSD. Again, no moving parts, and very reliable.

[Merlin_AZ]

I'm using an Android tablet to backup my photos/videos to at the end of the day.
No problem with space with a larger microSD card.
Great peace of mind to know a backup exists, and it's nice to show family that's on the trip.

[RonFrank]

About all I got from your specs is less than 3lbs and 2gig RAM. That's not much to go by. Maybe some better requirements as right now you will just get a list of what others use. Rather wide open and not very helpful. Terms like Netbook are rather useless. There is so much out there its rather pointless to ask what others use as the answer is everything!

I recently bought a used laptop. Dell Latitude line professional grade, cheap and rugged, 4GB, 250GB, windows 7, like new, dirt cheap. Used is a great way to purchase equipment but you need to know what you are getting. There are a lot of lemons out there this includes new. The difference between a netbook and a laptop is really nothing. Ultra light laptops are high end, pricy and have a small footprint.

If you do not need a laptop/whatever buy a bunch of storage and download at home. Storage is about a buck a Gig. As phones can surf, and do email the need for a laptop on vacation is becoming nonexistent unless you have work to cover. There are PC's for use at most resorts. When I am on vacation staying connected is very low on the list.

[Tigerman]

I dont like the netbooks because the screens are just silly small and the harddrives often is as well, but if I where to get one it would be the same reason as the OP, to save weight and I would DEFINETLY get more than 1 gb of ram.
Given the ammount of pictures I can take in a couple of weeks and the size of the raw files in addition to wanting to be able to do atleast very basic editing, I would get as much HDD and RAM as I could possibly fit into it and afford..
That being said, I bought a 26" screen for my desktop computer because I hate not having enough screen to work with so the chance of me getting a netbook is pretty neglectable. At the moment I use a 15" laptop as its a compromise of weight and size that I can live with while travelling. 17" and bigger is just too much hassle to lug around imo..

[bvanant]

We travel with a Macbook Air and 3 1TB external drives, one for video, one for pics and one for backing up the other two. A bit pricey but small peanuts compared to the price of a long trip. Make sure whatever you get to calculate how much storage you really need. We come back with more than 400G on the drives so having a single 500 GB drive won't work for us.

Netbooks will also make you crazy if you are trying to do anything with video. If you only want a storage solution there are scads of little drives that you can use.
Bill

[rha600]

I can't stand using it for anything else, but I've used a Dell netbook for this exact thing. 160Gb HDD gives plenty of space, but mine is extremely slow for anything else.

[Damselfish]

A netbook is always a price/weight/size/performance compromise but I think in general they work well enough for your basic travel and photo tasks. Maxing out memory is always good, as is shopping around for ones with better specs. I held off on buying one until they started coming out with some with specs I could live with.

My husband doesn't like to take his notebook on vacation so he used to travel with a CD burner that worked directly from memory cards. 1-2 years ago I got an Acer Aspire One 721 netbook (2G memory), and now he uses that to download pics and do some basic editing. I wouldn't want to run full Photoshop on it, but we had gotten a free copy of Elements with a new photo printer and it works well enough to do basic previewing/pruning/editing. It's not quick as he works with raw files, but he's on vacation in no rush, perfectly happy spending lots of above water time mucking about with his pictures. (He's a belt and suspenders kind of guy when it comes to his pics and still likes to burn DVDs too, so I got a very nice little USB Samsung DVD burner that runs off the USB power. It has a special cable that can draw power from 2 USB ports if needed so no power brick.)

One possible advantage I see in an inexpensive netbook for this as compared to something like an Air - I'd think the netbook is less likely to be a theft target. And it wouldn't suck quite as much if it fell overboard or something.

[ehamill]

Rather than a netbook, I bought a photo storage system. Works great!

Basically, it's a hdd that copies whatever card I put in (has multireaders) or I can plug to my camera direct. I can view images, crop, delete, etc. it is battery operated too.

If you froogle (shopping site of google) "digital photo storage" you get a lot of options. I got a great deal on an Epsom p2000 on eBay. Never leave home without it!!!

[Damselfish]

We had actually been looking at photo storage systems a couple years ago too, but at the time everything seemed to be pretty pricey for what you got and most weren't getting very good reviews. Looks like that situation has improved a lot. (Can't read scubaboard on one though. :)

[dmoore19]

Backing up your photos goes without saying. I have a 1.5 TB portable drive I use for backup. I also store my photos on photobucket, just in case. The size and weight of the MacBook Air makes it just right for me. I do use it to check work emails even when on vacation. Shhhhhhhhh don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm on scubaboard.:D

[rha600]

Just as a side note, depending on the camera you have, the higher end models like the Canon 1D series use two card slots. You can use them to back each other up so then you don't need a netbook or laptop, just use a CF and an SD card.

Of course you're also talking $4000-$5000 for the camera. :(

[flareside]

I use an old Lenovo S10 netbook and it works just fine. While the single core atom processor is a bit sluggish with HD video it works more than adequately with Lightroom 3 for image editing. I would suggest going with a dual core processor and 2GB memory and also replacing the HDD with an SSD. The SSD I installed in mine increases battery life about 10% and makes it noticeably zippier (even though the older model motherboard can't even begin to take full advantage of its potential speed).

[Mike]

I am looking for some feedback on using netbooks for photo storage when travelling. Up until now I have always travelled with a laptop in order to download my photos to the HDD and backup to an ext HDD. I may also use it for viewing my photos, and occasionally a lit bit of basic editing (but usually wait until I get home to sort and edit).

However I want to save a bit of weight, so am thinking of a netbook. An ultrabook would be nice but can't afford it! I need to get the weight down to around 1.2kg.

My main purpose would be downloading and storing the photos (JPEG and RAW) and video clips. It would be nice also to be able to cull unwanted stuff (especially the RAWs since they take up so much space). From what I have heard editing would be pretty limited on a netbook. Have also heard video playback is pretty ordinary so may limit my ability to cull video clips.

Also, does upgrading to 2 GB of RAM make a big difference in performance over the standard 1GB with most netbooks?

Thanks heaps!

If the main purpose is just for photo storage, a netbook is overkill. Just buy a bigger SD card or buy multiple cards and switch them out. Again, if you're worried about space as you said you would want to cull video clips and such, just buy more SD storage. You're never going to beat doing that for cost and weight savings.

However, if you want to view your photos, do some basic editing, and will use it for some basic computing or emailing, then yes, the net book is the way to go.

I shed the laptop this year for a trip to Italy and purchased a new netbook that worked out just fine. It took quite a bit of research to find the best one for the money and we ended up with one which is fast, has good storage and adequate ram, runs a full version of windows 7 instead of the chopped down horrible version that comes with most net books, has excellent battery life etc... and yes, you must get 2 gigs of ram without question. 2 gigs of ram, a dual core processor and a full version of windows is a must.

If you get serious about it you can PM me and I'll give you the details of the one we have to short-cut your shopping.