@@ChrisBanda it's not about that, it's about having only 1 drive to have everything is too much risk for that use case I would like to have at least 3 or 4 copies of my photos and when you take into consideration how much time you end up wasting on the set-up and troubleshooting plus losing on the convenience the wiser choice becomes clear and that's paying for Google photos 😅
Agree, but nowadays privacy and data ownership is a major concern. It's good to keep an offline copy of our precious memories anyways just in case :), doesn't have to use a fancy solution.
@@holybom23 agree with privacy, but if somebody care about their online privacy must live in forest. On the other hand, thousands of companies store their data in the cloud and it's totally OK.
lessons I learned the last 20 years... - Always sort out bad photos/videos within minutes or at least hours. so many people have a billion photos,which they never watch again. At the end of a year there are usually only like 100 very precious moments that are really worth it. - each perspective deserves maximum 2 perfect photos. - never rely only on one option to safe data, two are good , three are gold - explain to your wife&kids how to access photos of them
@@edwardcheadle936 I myself don't even own a classic film camera anymore. But fun fact: My oldest daughter found her grandpas old film camera and took it with her on vacation this summer with her student friends. They obviously really appreciate the unique retro look of those 32 photos (in addition to the approx 500 shots on their phones)
if you aren't worried about the privacy factor, you can try what I do - Step 1 - Let Google Photos fill up with original quality images from 1st Jan - 31st Dec, the entire year's worth Step 2 - Use Google Takeout and essentially you can download a zip folder of that entire year's worth of photos Step 3 - Save 2 copies of said zip file (1 Primary and 1 Backup) since you usually usually think about/want to see your photos of the past year or so, this works out perfectly as the photos you want, you have on demand also, during this process, the start of a new year is usually accompanied by everything that happened last year, and I am able to see a recap of sorts while I do all this, with both the good and bad bits this way, you only have to invest in 2 hard disks, and you'll be set for life
I'm not sure if the Beestation can replicate it's data to another NAS, but having 2 copies should be minimum if you care about the photos. It's all fun and games until you lose your files.
I used to have a 200gb monthly plan, but recently I got 4 2tb 7200 seagate hdds (condition is excellent) from my college for free, as they recently upgraded their office computers, and slapped it into my old pc. Bought 10gb network card, setup smb and nextcloud, headless access on Linux, did port forwarding and done. Now I have peace of mind. This is the best thing i have done so far this year!
Enjoyed the video but not for me. With Google Photos I've got my full collection stored off site and I can share my 2TB subscription (£80 per year) with my family group so that's a real bonus. Every month I download a copy of the current photos and store locally on my PC with a further copy on an external HDD. Much simpler if Big Brother doesn't bother you.
Why do you have two offline copies? I understand having one as a backup to the cloud storage, but what is the purpose of the other offline copy? Just another backup to be extra safe?
@@minimalisthealth If your only offline copy is on your PC or one external drive then this could be lost due to theft, fire, software corruption, hardware failure, or malware . The latter would be even worse if you your online account was also compromised by the same malware as you may not be able to restore at all!
I've bought Pixel 1 and made a configuration to automatically copy photos from my new phone to a pixel 1 and then it uploads photos for free in original quality. Cost 50-60$
I also want to do the same. Can you tell me what will happen to the photos you uploaded through Pixel 1? Will they count towards the 15GB quota provided by Google Photos? Are photos uploading in their original quality or in storage saver mode?
@@Ram-KrIt won't count against your storage and you can upload in original quality too. This facility is available till Pixel 4a 4G. However on 4a, only express quality is free but for prior version original quality is also free. Pro tip: If you use custom roms you can install Pixel experience ROM in any phone and it will spoof your phone as a Pixel phone and you can enjoy free uploads. But hey let's make it not look likes big deal because we don't Google Killin it off like it did with Vanced. Although we got Revanced, we don't if we'll get any alternative in case of photos
@@sandman_rides I'm using an app called SyncThing. There's a few tutorials here on RU-vid about how to set up sync of the Camera folder between two devices using SyncThing.
Very dangerous solution for the mums & dads of the world. A single hard drive that WILL eventually fail with no built in backup. Can you imagine the heartache when years of family photos are lost ? Its only half a solution.
@@mightyskull It's fine. not very fast as it has a really shitty processor but for what I use it for it works just fine. I don't really know about power consumption as I don't have the tools to test it but I don't think it's affecting the electricity pill that much.
I used the Amazon link and they also have a 2TB unit that has a solid state storage drive in it. Which I think might be more useful and be able to put it in a laptop bag. As a amature photographer the smaller drive might be easier to use.
Never back up to a motorised hard drive. Use an SSD. I have had three ext HD die on me including two from Seagate. Samsung SSD seems to be the most reliable.
My only issue with this idea is that Google is in the cloud and it is easy for anyone. Local storage means that you can lose connection due to power outage and could lose your photos if you do not use a quality NAS. The other issue is if something happens to you, the geek. Not everyone knows how to manage a NAS.
I use Google Photos - - - ALONG WITH my own Synology NAS. 3-2-1 backup solution. On Device (256GB phones + SD card), On NAS (DS220+ w/ 2x 2TB IronWolf drives), On the cloud. A family of 6, this is seamless & automatic for all of us. Both Google Photos & Synology Photos backs-up when on WIFI & the phone is charging. And if my house burns down, I still have the cloud backup. Same for if Google gets hacked, I have my own local copy. And Google Photos has a usage/trend projection - at our current rate, our 2TB plan won't fill up for another 4 years. And in that time, I can go through & trim out any duplicates or unneeded media.
google totally fucked up my photos when I switched to a new phone and I temporarily paid for the extra storage during a vacation. Lost so many photos! The shit started when google decided to take control over your phone too. Before you could just delete photos from google photo and could keep them on your phone, since years google also deletes the photo from your phone when removing it from google photo.
FYI when you export photos via Google takeout you lose all metadata in the JST files and it’s very complicated to restore the metadata via 3rd party apps
No you don't. It does include a separate JSON file of changes made within Google Photos but as long as the photo was uploaded to Google Photos with metadata, the same photo with metadata is given back to you through Google Takeout
Hi Damien, Really interesting video. Though I myself don't care too much about photos and videos my wife does and I am trying to find a solution for her. She isn't a tech person so I am working through to find something that gives her access to her photos when ever she wants. Not sure this is the solution but I appreciate the idea and will look into this.
Personally moved everything to Proton. ITs good in of itself, just a bit behind with the search and “smart” features. However, it is certainty getting there and being regularly updated.
"I've been exploring digital storage alternatives because paying a monthly subscription to store my photos is frustrating. Thank you for this video-it has made my life so much easier!" 13:10 13:10
Now a days, I'd would only use a local backup as like a 2nd backup. Google photos will be primary. And in the the prices for plans are cheaper too with bundling it with Google Wireless
I backup not so important or everyday photos in express quality in google photos at express quality! And only keep offline copies of important and which i am emotionally connected with.
Even with this unit, I would create a batch file to robocopy everything to another external drive and put that 2nd drive in a fireproof safe (you can get ones that are rated for 2 hours at a hardware store). This will protect you against loss from a hard drive failure, physical theft or damage. RoboCopy, once initially run, is quick as it will only copy new/modified files and delete removed files. Currently I move my photos off my phone once a month to my PC, roboCopy (all files, not just video and pictures) to a NAS and a portable hard drive and the hard drive is stored in my safe. In regards to this product, I agree that it should allow drive replacement or even offer a shell (with no hard drive) which you can put a drive of your choice.
@@volodymyrliashenko1024 Cause I would have to go with a 3rd party storage and who can say if they will disappear one night or not. Pulling the disk out of the safe once a month is not that big of a task. RoboCopy only copies files that have changed, so it's just a few minutes work, unplug and back in the safe. My NAS storage is available to me anywhere I go, so I have remote access. No monthly fees required.
Hopefully we see something with Intel's Lunar Lake or Qualcomm's X Elite. Then we could have the ultimate NAS+Plex+backup server, while being efficient & compact
My Scandisk Ibi just announced they are killing the android app, basically making my home storge device a brick. It actually worked well and was very simple although it was slow. I do have my own plex server, so I think I'll be utilizing that for backup moving forward.
this would be a good video if this wasn't such a blatant sponsor, and it's closed source anyway so it might as well be pointless. If the video is sponsored you should say so
How can I check to see how much storage i'll need? I've been using google photos since 2015 and have 1000's of photos. I'm not sure 4tb would be sufficient??
Ya but how do you select all the pictures at once to save them. So I thought I had to psychically buy an external hardrive to save all my Google photos. Instead of having to save them on the phone external hardrive or computer The whole point is that I wanna save all my Google photos offline to an external hardrive to access them whenever I want so then I can delete them from Google photos and make room for more photos since they now have a storage limit So do I need to psychically buy an external hardrive then What are the best brands of external hardrives to get
Having Synology NAS for decades, I have a lot of respect for the company, but I am fairly disgusted that this is a sealed unit (and a poor drive). This is the type of approach I would expect from 'throw away and buy a new one' Apple Inc. Also, with cloud from Google or Microsoft (or even the rotten core) you are expecting 100% reliability and accessibility. You seem to be thinking of this as a backup, but I would think as these services as the primary storage. I certainly wouldn't rely on a mechanical, or solid state for that matter, local drive. Images and Video do not compress well, but your takeout was only 442.4MB, surely that doesn't equate to years? Also, you mention a one off 'fee'. Is this just poor wording, and it is just a one off purchase price ... strange that you use the word hopefully, which implies that there is a service fee (but perhaps you perceive there may be a service fee applied in the future, perhaps for 'over the air' sync).
Only an idiot would store their important files on ONE storage drive. You're supposed to keep your important files on at least 3 storage drives: 2 on-site and 1 stored away from your Home or Office.
Honestly One Drive is better then Google photos. And it's a lot cheaper with a lot more features. I have physical hard drives but it's a hassle to find pictures and videos plus you run the risk of the hard drive malfunctioning and corrupting files.
1. I don't use cloud storage for my important files. 2. $220 for a 4TB hard drive is CRIMINAL! 🤣🤣🤣 That = $55 per Terabyte. I can get a 8TB external hard drive for $170 at Best Buy right now.
@@Likithrocks bro I'm using it since a year n a half, no issues. In Sept 2022 I consumed all my 15gb usage, I reuploaded it once I rooted my device, n now my Google photos storage count fix at 48mb. I've more than 50k photos/videos for more than 20years of data. I couldn't afford to loose it or allow Google to dictate me for it's subscription.
@@syedhasanjilani Well I wont deny the fact I stopped messing with roms since 22 and i think the last time i had that where it didnt work was 21 so my milage did vary. But Im glad it still works. Should get back into the rooting game
@@Likithrocks I didn't change the ROM, I'm still on my stock rom, running android 8.1. I'm not fan of custom roms, did tried in 2013-14, since then I always use stock rom which comes with the mobile, even didn't update it.
