Netbook for photo storage when travelling

[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.

 

[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.