Laptop / Tablet / Data Storage Advice Needed

[chasesfish]

Alright, I need some technology advice:

I'm in need of replacing the family's tablet and/or my PC.  I used to have a travel laptop, but after 11 years, it has bit the dust.  I'm trying to decide between a couple of options:

Laptop:  What is my best option for a Laptop that has a good docking station that I can use it as both my laptop and desktop?  I love my dual monitors when working on some of my hobbies.  I can then just finally replace the old iPad 2.

Laptop/Tablet:  The un-mustachian option is to get the Microsoft Surface setup with their docking station setup.  If done right, I'm out $1,300 or so for the right amount of memory

Storage:  Either way, I have about 350gb of data that I need to backup and store, primarily photographs.  The new tablets/laptops tend to go with a 500gb solid state drive.  What is my most cost effective option here?  I've been moving them from computer to computer for 13+ years and that's coming to a head. 

Any help is appreciated.

[DreamFIRE]

No recommendations on a docking station - I personally use separate desktop and laptop computers and use desktop computers the vast majority of the time.

I'm surprised you've amassed that many GB of pictures without having backups to this point.  I actually recommend at least two backups.  An off-site backup or cloud storage also protects against loss in a disaster/theft.  I have my photos on two separate hard drives networked between my main desktop and HTPC as well as burned to DVD-R.

[dang1]

use google photos , save as high quality and you get free unlimited storage

[DreamFIRE]

Just an fyi, Google photos high quality is NOT a file based backup, and it recompresses photos and videos from the original, including those under the 16 MP limit.  Most people would probably be ok with it, especially for photos taken with smartphones, but it's something you should be aware of.

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Google-Photos-High-quality-vs-Original-Whats-the-difference-and-should-you-care_id93938

[chasesfish]

@DreamFIRE - I've had backups of pictures in the past, we've been using digital cameras since 2003.  Two laptops and a former desktop ended up all being consolidated on to this big desktop with a 2TB hard drive.  I had an old Western Digital external drive I used to use for backups, but alas I can't find the power cord for it and its smaller than what I can get on an SD drive or a flash drive at this point.

@dang1 - That's an idea with Google, but if its not a paid service I always have a fear Google will just drop it like they did with google voice.

I have at least another week or more before I pull the trigger either way, I am waiting on the latest rewards card to show up

[sokoloff]

I'd rather lose my tax and financial records than lose our family photos!

Accordingly, I back them up locally to a Synology file server here, then back that up automatically to two different off-site locations, one cloud and one physical (cloud is Amazon S3, which is a paid service and critical to Amazon's financials; the physical location is mine).

IMO, if the backups aren't fully automated, they eventually (and usually quite soon) cease to exist in an up-to-date form.

That aside, many laptops are now equipped with USB3 ports, which are capable of carrying multiple monitors' worth of pixels, charging power, and peripheral connectivity, so the docking station could very well be "plug this cable in" instead of a custom to each model $300 piece of waste. I don't think I'd use that for gaming, but most any other use that needs dual monitors, that should work quite well.

[chasesfish]

@sokoloff Thank you - I was starting to figure out the USB3 stuff, but this provides more clarity.  I'm used to a proprietary dock with my work computer but I can see why this business is moving towards more universal and USB3 driven units.

Probably not gaming, at least not until early retirement.  Its been a while since I did that

[chasesfish]

Update:   I did end up going with a Surface Pro, nice deal from Amazon but not a mustachian purchase.

What do you think about using Amazon Prime Drive in addition to Google Photos?  I may not always be a Prime Member, but it seems the combination of these two will take a bulk of my storage/backups.   I ended up going with the surface because the worst case is I either buy a micro-sd card or I get a small external backup to put into my docking station setup.  Its unbelievable how cheap storage is now.