Backing up photo & video while on the move - what tech?
Discussion
Hi all...
So on my most recent holiday (couple of weeks in the US on a roadtrip), I took a lot of photos, and even more video via a GoPro.
Now the GoPro footage in particular churns throug the Gbs at an alarming rate, so to back it all up, I took my decrepit old netbook, and an external HDD...
This was fine, in so much that it allowed me to copy GoPro footage onto the HDD, but this thing is pretty old, and doesn't have the grunt to actually play the GoPro videos, the screen is pretty low-res meaning any quick photo edits are very tedious and slow, and it's a bit on the bulky side when you factor in the power supply etc etc....
So, what's the alternative!?
I don't want to spend loads on a full-featured laptop, as it would get so little use the rest of the year (I have a tablet that does everything else). The netbook only cost ~£250 brand new, years ago.
This also makes those dedicated HDD-with-a-card-reader-and-screen things that cost £350 seem WAY overpriced to me.
As far as I know, you can't power an external HDD off a Nexus7, otherwise I could use that (I have the app/cable to allow plugging in of SD cards etc). It would at least be compact.
What do you all use for backups of video & photos on long trips?
So on my most recent holiday (couple of weeks in the US on a roadtrip), I took a lot of photos, and even more video via a GoPro.
Now the GoPro footage in particular churns throug the Gbs at an alarming rate, so to back it all up, I took my decrepit old netbook, and an external HDD...
This was fine, in so much that it allowed me to copy GoPro footage onto the HDD, but this thing is pretty old, and doesn't have the grunt to actually play the GoPro videos, the screen is pretty low-res meaning any quick photo edits are very tedious and slow, and it's a bit on the bulky side when you factor in the power supply etc etc....
So, what's the alternative!?
I don't want to spend loads on a full-featured laptop, as it would get so little use the rest of the year (I have a tablet that does everything else). The netbook only cost ~£250 brand new, years ago.
This also makes those dedicated HDD-with-a-card-reader-and-screen things that cost £350 seem WAY overpriced to me.
As far as I know, you can't power an external HDD off a Nexus7, otherwise I could use that (I have the app/cable to allow plugging in of SD cards etc). It would at least be compact.
What do you all use for backups of video & photos on long trips?
14-7 said:
For me I still take a laptop and external drive to do all my backing up. Yes it's bulky but my last trip abroad I went through 50gb of storage (so a bit of time lapse as well so that churns through it storage space).
Seriously considering a surface pro 3 when they are out then using that with an external drive.
Hmm.. not looked into the Surface tablets... mega bucks though aren't they?Seriously considering a surface pro 3 when they are out then using that with an external drive.
As for ipad, they don't have enough storage by themselves (50Gb of GoPro footage alone)... and would presumably have the same issues as a Nexus re attaching an external drive?
Looks like the old netbook is still the way to go (could upgrade it a bit I suppose, get a thin 13" laptop or similar)
Craikeybaby said:
These days I just use my iPad, but I before I used one of those portable harddrives with card readers built in. It was a homebrew one, using a spare drive I had knocking about at home, I think the case cost about £25. All it did was clone the cards, but with the iPad I can view the images and work on the metadata before importing them into Lightroom, so I prefer that.
I know there are wireless harddrives that link with the iPad (not sure about Android) which could be an option - hopefully without the photographer tax.
How much storage on an iPad? thought they were ~32Gb?I know there are wireless harddrives that link with the iPad (not sure about Android) which could be an option - hopefully without the photographer tax.
Will look into the wireless HDD thing, as that might do it!
RizzoTheRat said:
I bought a small laptop second hand, £100ish for a Dell D430 I think. About A4 sized so it fits in the tank bag on my motorbike, but more powerful than a netbook so I can watch HD video on it. I can charge it from the bike during the day
I like the sound of this setup! 
I might just upgrade the netbook... there are a few 13" thin laptops around now for not too much now.
Cards are probably the best bet as many have said. I guess I'm just paranoid about actually backing up (i.e. having more than one copy of a given file).
That cloud NAS thing also seems good, but is dependant on good wifi... which I don't always find.
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