Is space storage on a computer really necessary anymore ?

[Woody!Pix]

Thank you all for your feedbacks and advises. I have finally chosen the i5 with 128Go !

I recently realized that I have worked for 5 years with a desktop computer with 2 small HDD. One of them is 34Go (from which 22Go are for windows 7) and the other one is 70Go for some personal files and games. Since all that time, I managed to live confortably with this setup. I thought 64Go should be enough.

However, although I think 4gb RAM is enough to last 4 to 5 years... Maybe an i3 proc and 64Go will not fully survive 4 or 5 years hence, adding €150 now probably worth to keep it maybe 1 or 2 more years. I also hesitate with the 8Gb RAM but... well, €300 more to last 2 or 3 more years ? By that time, technology will probably have completely change again and I will have a job (hope so) to allow me to buy something new.

For storage capacity, it really seems to depend on one's lifestyle. I live in Paris for 5 years as a student and never I have been in trouble to find available WiFi. Even when I went to Shanghai I managed to access my files on Cloud. Besides, portable HDD now are really, really small to be honest. The one I have (http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backu...8&qid=1418049106&sr=8-6&keywords=seagate+slim) really works like a charm and fit in the pocket

Anyway, thanks again all of you for your insight and glad to be (soon) part of this Surface community !

 

[hughlle]

With regards to using Cloud Storage, it is whether or not it will work in your circumstance, no one solution will work. I use an N-Tiered Solution, I have personal data that I want with me on my Micro SD Card (which I back up to my OneDrive), I use OneDrive Consumer and OneDrive for Business synching local files for current projects or interests, leaving the rest as Cloud Only.

I've traveled globally and have made use of the "Cloud" longer than most, I was part of the first small external beta group testing Mesh (which was the test bed for the foundation of Azure and OneDrive Consumer) back in 2006.

I've had good connectivity in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, but I select my lodging based on Internet Connectivity.

Exactly my original point. It's user specific. To some onboard storage might be redundant these days, but to others, not at all. I'd certainly make use of onedrive and google drive etc if i had a stable and fast connection, alas in most of the UK, for anything other than documents, even download speeds aren't enough, let alone upload. Sure some folk can get "super fast" broadband (30-50mbps), but most folk are lucky to get 10, a huge number lucky to get 2-5. Uploading is a whole different issue. Takes me about 30 minutes to upload a couple of minutes of video from my phone when at my parents house, and they're not even in the real countryside.

 

[Woody!Pix]

I did not take the connectivity issues into account. I took for granted that everyone in the world had a Optical Fiber connection up to 200 Mb/s. Completely wrong...

 

[dstrauss]

You can NEVER have too much storage. If you need the i5 (and it looks like you do), then you need to go 8gb RAM and 256GB. That is the true sweet spot for this device. I would love the i7 with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD, but the premium, and the severe throttling of the i7, makes that a tough proposal. I just don't understand anyone relying on the cloud (even OneDrive unlimited) for actual production documents. Sure, store everything you've got up there - I've got scads of old USB drives sitting around with years of "I don't want to deal with culling" detritus - but the things you work on routinely NEED TO BE ON DEVICE. The Internet's not always there, the lag on anything but a high speed wireless network is insufferable, and sometimes the net's just down. Then where are you?

 

[Woody!Pix]

It's not about having too much storage but having the device that best fits your needs.

8Gb is too much for me. I lived with 36Go for 5 years so 256Go storage seems way beyond my real needs.

I don't want to have a €1300 device from which I will only use 50% :/

 

[bluegrass]

microSD card = infinite storage and they are no bigger than a finger nail.

I'm surprised that more people don't think about this are realize this a very legitimate plan B for when plan A (cloud storage) can't be accessed. It seems that you can never have too much local storage. I have an 17 with 512 gig of SSD and I've about got it filled up. Time to archive some to an external SSD for speed and regular 2.5 inch USB 3 terabyte storage drives for normal archive. Like someone else mentioned, you really should establish a storage plan and prioritize your files.

 

[ptrkhh]

Personally, i would say that the cloud is anything but reliable. There are countless files that got 'modified', somehow, by syncing it with more than one computer. There are too many things unpredictable when using the cloud. Sync sometimes fails, files got duplicated, newer files replaced by older files, etc, etc.
Make no mistake, I also use OneDrive, but only as a backup measure. I still store 40 GB worth frequently used files in the device, backed up to OneDrive (looking to buy a microSD card too, does SP3 support UHS1 or UHS2?), and about 300 GB worth of rarely used files in my external HDD. The cloud can replace none of them

 

[lhauser]

Don't presume that your requirements re universal.

If not for onboard storage, i'd be royally stuffed. I don't have any ability to use cloud services (and even when i have broadband, upload speeds in the UK are so abysmal for the vast majority that we still don't bother with cloud storage) and this is a mobile device. where is the sense in me spending money on something mobile if i have to cart around a bag of external harddrives in order to use it as i wish?

This. I have fairly good Internet speeds at home. Getting reliable wifi in every place I want to go with my Surface (including my mother's house) is problematic. I keep a LOT of stuff in the cloud, but the most important stuff I also keep locally.

I have the i5/4GB/128. I also have a 128GB SD card, and a 256GB USB 3.0 flash drive (used for backups), as well as a few miscellaneous USB3 and USB2 flash drives. I have lots of music, lots of photos, some video, and I wish I'd spent the money on a bigger SSD model of i5, but overall I'm happy.

 

[lhauser]

I've an excuse for everything sorry, it's infinately useful having a card in the device, but i've a hard enough time keeping track of various usb sticks, let alone finger nail size bits of plastic. I'll stick to fixed local storage thanks. Always worked in the past, why try and change it now

Yes, I just leave my 128GB SD in the slot. I think I've taken it out of the SP3 once since I bought it. I don't have much difficulty hanging on to flash drives, but microSDs are waaaay too tiny.

 

[B'midbar]

You can NEVER have too much storage. If you need the i5 (and it looks like you do), then you need to go 8gb RAM and 256GB. That is the true sweet spot for this device. I would love the i7 with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD, but the premium, and the severe throttling of the i7, makes that a tough proposal. I just don't understand anyone relying on the cloud (even OneDrive unlimited) for actual production documents. Sure, store everything you've got up there - I've got scads of old USB drives sitting around with years of "I don't want to deal with culling" detritus - but the things you work on routinely NEED TO BE ON DEVICE. The Internet's not always there, the lag on anything but a high speed wireless network is insufferable, and sometimes the net's just down. Then where are you?

Agreed, I've got a 64GB SanDisk microSDHC on the SP3, a 256GB PNY Attache looped on my nifty-difty little Cocoon Grid-It, a 1TB Samsung 840 EVO mSATA in a small USB 3.0 enclosure in a pouch in my bag, 15GB each on Google Drive spanning four accounts, 40GB on One Drive, 60GB on Dropbox, 60GB on SugarSync and 500GB on Sync.com, and I use them all.

Basically, 2TB of mobile storage beyond the on-board 256GB SSD of my SP3. [woot]

 

[kwright]

One Drive has been absolutely reliable for me. I'm one all Windows 8.1 devices. That may have something to do with others problems with file type conversions. I've thought about keeping a copy of my files on a hard drive but haven't done so. I'm thinking I could just select one drive and target a copy to a hard drive.

 

[kristalsoldier]

One question about replacing the MicroSD card. CUrrently, I have a 64GB card in the SP3, which I want to replace with a 128GB card. I have my OneDrive files associated with it. When I remove the 64GB card, I will lose that. What is it that I am supposed to be doing when I insert a new card in the SP3 such that I have the same set up as before. I also think I moved the libraries to the SD card. Thanks inn advance.