32 GB SD card

[markopolo]

http://www.lexar.com/products/lexar-...city-sdhc-card

Picked up a couple of these SDHC cards on sale at Staples for $27.99 each tonight
(Saw them at $109.99 at Walmart )

It is an easy and inexpensive way to backup some important computer data quickly.

[Davydd]

$27.99 for a 32GB SD card is a decent price. I just checked. Target online is sold out right now so they must be a popular item since the other sizes are still available. However, for backup of selected items I prefer the smallest card no bigger than what I want to backup. My iPhoto library is well in excess of 80GB so would not backup to an SD card any longer.

For general backup you can get 500GB hard disk drives now for well under $100. They are big enough to back up your whole computer.

[markopolo]

You're right. I didn't realize the large backup drives were so inexpensive.

Staple.ca online shows a HP 500GB for $69.94 and a WD 500GB for $69.99 - both are USB drives and both are out of stock at the moment though. Lots available just over $100 like you said.

Note: Due to production constraints many Hard Drive Factories have suspended operations. As a result, Staples has limited Hard Drive sales to 1 per person.

Might see a temporary spike in prices.

[Mike]

Thailand flooding the cause of production interruptions, perhaps?

[markopolo]

Yes, that is what I've read online.

[Mike]

Good idea about the external hard drive for bulk backups, or you could use Mozy or Carbonite or one of
the other cloud type services, but they aren't free as far as I know.
I still like higher capacity USB thumb/flash drives because they're easily portable, you can back up your
important stuff and carry it with you, and they can be locked, in case of damage or loss, either with built
in software, or there are some freeware USB drive encrypters out there, like USBsafeguard.
My concerns go beyond a possible hard drive crash or accidental deletion of files. I also worry about what
happens if the whole place gets flooded, or gets broken into, or burns down. An external drive isn't much
good if it was sitting next to the laptop when the fire started.