Ever wanted a quicker way to sort through old and new photographs? Maybe find duplicates and get rid of them?
Very few people, with the exception of amateur and professional photographers, probably realize just how much storage space we all allocate to our images and video files.
Sometimes you may need to get rid of some of them to make room for the new ones. But sorting through thousands of photos is not something easily done by hand, regardless of your organizing skills.
Well, there's a new USB thumb drive solution packed with features that can pretty much take care of all those tasks for you called ThePhotostick.
ThePhotoStick is a USB stick that’s designed to store image and video files.
At the same time, it is equipped with special software that helps you manage, organize, and back up photo and video files from almost any laptop or computer, Windows or Mac-based.
After you plug in the USB thumb drive, the software will automatically initialize. You then have two ways to run with it. You can click the ‘Go’ button immediately and let the software scan through all folders and all drives for image and video files.
If you want to be more selective, you can open the application and configure it to only scan specific folders or look for specific file extensions. You will receive a notification when everything is done or if the thumb drive reached maximum capacity.
The software uses various algorithms to scan and locate the correct type of files. It can organize them, back them up, and differentiate between original and duplicate files so that no excess storage is used.
After the files have been backed up, you can eject or just take out ThePhotoStick and proceed to deleting photos from your system so that you can free up more space.
With the exception of having to initiate the software, there’s nothing else for you to do with ThePhotoStick but plug it in and eject it when it’s done. All the searching, sorting, and transferring operations are done by the software in the background.
A notification will appear when the device is done and all the photos and videos have been backed up.
Unlike most backup devices and services, ThePhotoStick doesn’t need an active internet connection in order to work.
You can use this on old and new devices, no matter where you are, as long as there’s a working USB port. ThePhotoStick can’t be accessed remotely, via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, for security purposes.
One of the coolest things about ThePhotoStick is its ability to filter all image and video files. The sorting algorithm employed by ThePhotoStick can identify and block out duplicates from getting copied and uploaded to the thumb drive.
Efficiency and convenience are pretty much obvious highlights. Due to how ThePhotoStick works — with a simple one-click operation — you can save hours or even days of sifting through the stored photos and videos on your device.
ThePhotoStick accomplishes the following tasks: scanning, finding, organizing, filtering, copying, and uploading image and video files. Although the actual file transfer time is gated behind USB 2.0 technology, the device still saves the user plenty of time through the automated sorting features.
If you’re the type of person that likes immortalizing all your adventures, then ThePhotoStick is a cheap way to back up your treasured files. Unlike most cloud services, ThePhotoStick is not based on a monthly subscription. It only requires a one-time payment and you can store the files on it indefinitely.
At the same time, it’s easy to find deals on ThePhotoStick, especially if you consider buying in bulk.
Another cool aspect of ThePhotoStick is the obviously superior protection provided when compared to a cloud service. Cloud hack attacks have increased in frequency and efficiency. This means that saving and backing up important data to a piece of hardware may be more important than ever.
With ThePhotoStick you don’t have to worry about hacks. Since the device can operate offline, you could simply disconnect your device from the internet, plug ThePhotoStick in, run it, backup your files, and take out the device.
Just make sure that when you plug it back in to see your files, the computer is not connected to the internet and no one will be able to hack it and steal your files.
In this case, the size obviously means capacity. Because you can choose as many GB as you need, you won’t have to buy more storage capacity than you need. There are three models available, each one suited for a different type of users.
One of the most annoying things about software similar to that found on ThePhotoStick is having to worry about OS compatibility.
Luckily, ThePhotoStick works just as well on any Windows OS from Windows XP up to and including Windows 10. It also works on Apple’s macOS X, versions 10.6 and above are supported.
The transfer speed is gated behind USB 2.0 technology and the physical drives inside the system. This means that the OS you’re running shouldn’t impact file transfer speeds.
However, having an SSD instead of an HDD would obviously give you a considerable speed boost, as would using the device on a better optimized OS.
Although the device is set up in such a way that it could function as plug-n-play software, ThePhotoStick can find more than just .jpg files. If you open the software installed on the stick, you will find that more file extensions are available.
However, keep in mind that adding more file extensions to the default list will likely cause the software to burn through the on-board storage capacity faster.
Customer 1
One customer used ThePhotoStick to back up thousands of photographs scattered across multiple folders and drives. He pointed out that the software does a good job of sorting through duplicates and can also back up files from CDs and DVDs.
Customer 2
Another user mentioned that out of the roughly 60,000 photos (with duplicates included), ThePhotoStick managed to back up around 24,000 original photos after sorting through all drives and folders.
In turn, this meant that ThePhotoStick created plenty of space for newer photos. ThePhotoStick is a cost-free and independent method of safekeeping.
Customer 3
This customer praised the ease of use and speed at which the software installed on ThePhotoStick operates. He went on to say that the amount of time the device saves is really impressive. The fact that the device completes so many tasks simultaneously across multiple drives is commendable.
Customer 4
This buyer mentioned that ease of use was very important to him. Because of this, ThePhotoStick was a good and helpful purchase. The customer also mentioned that the device had no problem performing on an older computer.
Customer 5
Another happy user made it a point to mention how easy the device is to use, especially for someone without any technical skills or extensive experience with computers. The customer pointed out that the main differences between using ThePhotoStick and saving photos manually were the speed and convenience.
It’s important to understand that ThePhotoStick is not the only device of its kind.
That said, given its advanced algorithms and organizing efficiency, it is one of the best out there. It can give any competing software a good run for its money.
With both fully automatic and customizable search modes available, as well as its multiplatform compatibility,
ThePhotoStick is one of the most convenient devices you can use to back up your precious memories.
The fact that it works with CDs, DVDs, most old computers and OS versions, makes it even more valuable.
On top of all that, the drive also offers better security than cloud storage options.
It’s cheaper in the long run, since cloud services have subscription-based payment plans instead of one-time payments.
Not just that, it’s also impossible to hack into a thumb drive without having physical access to it.
The thumb drive protects files in two ways. First of all, it gives them a safe, offline storage space, which no one else can access without a direct access to your ThePhotoStick thumb drive.
Secondly, ThePhotoStick protects files by not giving them any descriptive, specific names. Therefore if someone were to get their hands on your ThePhotoStick, they would have to comb through the files manually.
There’s one more way in which ThePhotoStick can protect files, although this is more of a preservation feature.
ThePhotoStick can help you preserve files from old CDs and DVDs that deteriorate over time. Once these disks degrade, you may begin to lose files stored on them or, at the very least, find it difficult to access them.
In short, the answer is no. However, there is a version of ThePhotoStick, called PhotoStick Mobile, which will work on tablets, smartphones, iPads, etc. That being said, the original version of ThePhotoStick has a much faster algorithm and shorter backup times.
Note that the PhotoStick Mobile will work on Android 5.0 or newer and on iOS version 11.3 and later.
ThePhotoStick will always install under the following path:
Volumes/PHOTOSTICK/My_Files/[Computer Name]
It will install automatically, as soon as you plug it in.
While the backup files are not renamed in any particular way, ThePhotoStick does categorize and sort the backups according to the folders they were copied from. This is so that the user can browse and find the photos they want a lot easier.
ThePhotoStick comes in 8, 64, and 128GB variants. But, which size you need is not that easy to figure out. This depends a lot on the type of photos and videos you have saved. 12-megapixel photos are roughly 36MB each.
For example, a 64GB ThePhotoStick can hold around 1,500 12MP photos but only around 800 22MP photos. If you’re a professional photographer and you only take high resolution photos, you may need more than one device to save everything.
If you want to back up your memories with ThePhotoStick you can buy the USB drive on their official website. There are three available options, each with different storage capacities — 8, 64, and 128GB.
PROMOTION: Currently, they have a special deal going on where if you buy more than one, additional devices come with a 40% discount.