Storage Capacity in external devices
“How much can I fit on a USB?” is a general question asked by our customers.
In today’s market there are quite a few different external storage devices you can buy to store/copy your data. We thought it would be helpful if we provided an info sheet in regards to the options available. These are the main devices you can opt to buy to store your data:
-
External Hard Disk Drive (HDD) – This is a device with moving components inside which records your data to a spinning disk, a bit like a record. These vary in size and storage capacity. If you want to store or transfer a large volume of data these devices would be the best option.
-
USB Pen Drive – This is a device which has fixed components inside a very small stick, usually rectangular in size. This is the most common device used today to transfer data from one computer to another; these are limited in storage capacity due to its compact size. Again these can vary in size and storage capacity.
-
CD/DVD – Everyone would be familiar with these devices. They are still quite popular and we recommend that you use these to store precious photos & documents on over the long term. Due to their price they are a cheap way to ensure you never lose your data.
Now each of these devices listed above have different levels of storage capacity, the following details shows the average for each device based on standard file type, however this will fluctuate depending on the quality of the file you wish to store on the desired device.
|
USB Device |
2GB |
4GB |
8GB |
16GB |
32GB |
|
Photos (8MP) |
800 |
1,600 |
2,400 |
4,800 |
5,600 |
|
Video 12 (Mbps p.min) |
20 |
40 |
80 |
160 |
3,20 |
|
Music .MP3 (4 min song) |
519 |
1,038 |
2,076 |
4,151 |
8,302 |
|
Documents |
51,200 |
102,400 |
204,800 |
409,600 |
819,200 |
|
Ext HDD |
500GB |
1TB |
2TB |
|
|
|
Music |
125,000 |
250,000 |
500,000 |
|
|
|
Movies |
500 |
1,000 |
2,000 |
|
|
|
CD/DVD |
4.7GBs |
|
|
|
|
|
Music |
1,020 |
|
|
|
|
|
Documents |
90,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Photos |
1,500 |
|
|
|
|
*Approximate number of files, videos, or pictures is based on average file sizes and will vary depending on complexity of hardware or camera used.
1MB = 1,000,000 bytes/1GB= 1,000,000,000 bytes
So the next time you go to copy your files you will hopefully have a better understanding of which device is the best option to copy your files, photos or movies to.
We still recommend that you burn your most valuable data to a CD/DVD and store in a box safely somewhere. That way you can also help keep the clutter down as the data keeps accumulating.
Remember you can always speak to your local computer store to get any other advice on your computing needs.