"Flash drivers or Photo Sticks": I'd like your opinions on which "driver" to buy for my Mac OS X version 10.7.5 which has usb 2 ports. I have read about two of them so far (Sandisk...

ballsafire Loc: Lafayette, Louisiana

I'd like your opinions on which "driver" to buy for my Mac OS X version 10.7.5 which has usb 2 ports. I have read about two of them so far (Sandisk Flair USB 3 Flash Drive, 128GB SDCZ73-128GB-G46, Black. Price $17.49 AND The Photo Stick - 128 GB $80, 64 GB $50, 8 GB $35.). Are these "sticks" a great idea for saving photos or not?? I don't use the "Cloud" on the Mac for saving my photos -- in the past I've used CDs but not lately. Does anyone out there have any experience with these so called Drives or Sticks?? Thanks in advance for your expertise.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

No. They are only for temporary use. Get one or more external hard drives and re-think your aversion towards the cloud. iCloud is good and dropbox is excellent.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Great idea? No.

Get a 4TB external drive like a WD (Western Digital) passport. For storage and backup, get two. Use one as your primary image storage and periodically (weekly / monthly), copy new images from the primary to the secondary backup.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

CHG_CANON wrote:

Great idea? No.

Get a 4TB external drive like a WD (Western Digital) passport. For storage and backup, get two. Use one as your primary image storage and periodically (weekly / monthly), copy new images from the primary to the secondary backup.

CaliforniaDreamer

CHG_CANON wrote:

Great idea? No.

Get a 4TB external drive like a WD (Western Digital) passport. For storage and backup, get two. Use one as your primary image storage and periodically (weekly / monthly), copy new images from the primary to the secondary backup.

Just take care that one of the drives is not corrupted. If your drive is bad the process of copying to your good drive could corrupt it also.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

DavidPine wrote:

No. They are only for temporary use. Get one or more external hard drives and re-think your aversion towards the cloud. iCloud is good and dropbox is excellent.

Plus Carbonite and something blaze.

rebride

They will be just fine. Flash storage. Better than CDs. Nor more temporary than the cloud or external HHDs.
With the Photo Stick you are paying extra for its back up software. I wouldn't bother.
Flash storage is now preferred over standard hard drives (HHD) because of no moving parts. No spinning disk. Still okay though especially if you need a lot of storage space on a budget.
Downside to thumbdrives is they are small, can get lost and not as robust an enclosure as an external drive.
If you don't need a lot of storage space check out an external SSD -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078SWJ3CF/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_9?uh_

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

rebride wrote:

...
Flash storage is now preferred over standard hard drives (HHD) because of no moving parts. No spinning disk. ...

According to whom? By whom? Hoyle?

Magnetic storage data integrity will outlast charge coupled storage data integrity, unless de-magnetized from an external source.

Then, How LONG does one plan on using a particular storage method?
Ten years? A hundred years?

I'll take an HHD.

rebride

Longshadow wrote:

According to whom? By whom? Hoyle?
Magnetic storage data integrity will outlast charge coupled storage data integrity, unless de-magnetized from an external source.
Then, How LONG does one plan on using a particular storage method?
Ten years? A hundred years?
I'll take an HHD.

Don't know Hoyle.
"SSDs can be expected to last as long or longer than HDDs in most general applications." Backblaze
Preferred for reason I stated.
Relying on any storage over 5 years would be a mistake.
Ten years - flip a coin.
Hundred years, perhaps use M-DISC.

BebuLamar

Do not buy the photo stick. You waste your money. Regular thumb drive OK but an SSD external hard drive is better.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

When you say “saving” your photos, do you mean a working copy, a local backup, a disaster recovery copy or an archive? In other words, what are your goals for the storage?

User ID

rebride wrote:

They will be just fine. Flash storage. Better than CDs. Nor more temporary than the cloud or external HHDs.
With the Photo Stick you are paying extra for its back up software. I wouldn't bother.
Flash storage is now preferred over standard hard drives (HHD) because of no moving parts. ...............

Agree. And further note that the OP asks advice between a SanDisk flash and a nonSanDisk flash. On that basis SanDisk is the only option regardless of any extra features in the other brand.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

rebride wrote:

Don't know Hoyle.
"SSDs can be expected to last as long or longer than HDDs in most general applications." Backblaze
Preferred for reason I stated.
Relying on any storage over 5 years would be a mistake.
Ten years - flip a coin.
Hundred years, perhaps use M-DISC.

Depends on the drive?
Who do we believe?
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/205382-ssds-can-lose-data-in-as-little-as-7-days-without-power

User ID

Print your best work using archival paper and ink. Then hope your grandkids don’t just throw them out.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

User ID wrote:

Print your best work using archival paper and ink. Then hope your grandkids don’t just throw them out.

I'm basically only concerned with storage while I'm alive. I'll keep current with storage media.
My kids & grandkids may or may not want my pictures. That's their decision, and their decision on how to store them.
After I'm gone, I'll have no need to worry about how long the images or media will last.