Has anybody heard of this program? - http://www.marxio-tools.net/en/marxio-fcv.php

I saw an article about it here and was wondering if it was worthy of consideraton -
http://dottech.org/freewaresr/8504 .

--Ken

Hi Mike,

I have a Samsung NC10 that I use for casual use, and will use for upcoming travel.  Rather than install LR, which I use on my ThinkPad, I have FastStone viewer installed, and you could easily install ImageIngester to give you a lightweight set of tools, albeit without any serious image editing functions.  You could install LR, but you will probably find the screen too small for extended use.

Regarding netbooks in general.  It comes down to price, size, keyboard, battery, screen and HD:

Price: What is your budget?

Size:  How small does the unit have to be?  Smaller is better for travel, but you seriously lose the use of a fully functioning keyboard.  For example, the littlest Asus EEE PC's are extremely small, but canyou live with a 7" screen and a very tiny keyboard?

Keyboard:  If typing is important, you will want a units that has at least a 10" screen and no less than a 92% of ful size keyboard.  The NC10 is about as small as I would want for any length of typing.

Battery:  How much battery life willyou need between charges?  Some units give 2.5 hours, and others offer 10 hours.

Screen:  Can you live with a glossy screen, or does it have to be matte?  What size and resolution will work for your needs?  The standard 10" screen has 1024x600 resolution.  Soem of the higher end units are now offering higher resolution screens.

HD:  Do you want a small capacity SSD that can handle a bit more jostling?  Or, do you want a 160GB drive for the storage?

The choices are yours.

Good luck!

--Ken

Hi Dawn,

There are a variety of programs that may meet your needs.  A lot will depend on how detailed a comparison you are looking for.  One basic program that comes to mind is Free Commander.  It has a portable version you can try if you do not want to install it.  I do not know if they make a Mac version.

--Ken

Welcome Luc,

I, too, use IIP and LR for managing my photos.  Regarding folders, I rely strictly on dates.  I have a top level folder that holds all of my sub-folders (easy to move the images to another drive if need be).  These sub-folders are arranged by year, and thier sub-folders are by date that the image was taken.  I stopped using folder names with descriptions when I started using LR.  I let LR organize my photos, and primarily rely on the folder structure for backing up (and restoring if need be).  Also, LR will bring the folder structure into my catalog, so it is always available to me (I am very date oriented).  Folders do not work well for images that fall into many different categories (i.e. is the shot of your family in France a "family" photo or a "France" photo?).  I let LR do "the heavy lifting" of organizing.  Others will offer solutions that are different, but work for them.  In the end, you will need to decide what works for you.

Good luck,

--Ken

Marc,

It will work for me on my Samsung NC10's screen.

Thanks,

--Ken

Terence,

I believe that that answer will greatly depend on your needs, work style and budget.  The number of possible hosting sites is far too large to list.  FWIW, I use Smug Mug.  I am reasonably with them, but my needs from the site are minimal at this time.  As they change, I may re-evaluate which site, or sites, will best address them.

--Ken

Hi Richard,

Welcome!  A simple, free and lightweight (in terms of CPU resources) program that might meet your needs is FastStone Image Viewer.  I use it for quickly browsing before they are imported into my Lightroom catalogs.  It has a basic tagging feature, and its move and copy features are very convenient.  Best of all, it comes in a portable, "no install" version so you can put it on a USB hard drive or flash drive.    There are other programs, but if its simple that you want, this may be your ticket.  I always have a copy with me.  Its kind of like the Swiss Army Knife of my photo software collection.

--Ken

Welcome John!

Unfortunately iVMP is no longer.  Microsoft bought it up a few years ago.  Its new incarnation is Expression Media.  You can consider it, but there are other programs for consideration as well.  I would suggest browsing through the forum to see what others think about the programs they use.  There are many out there, but a few seem to meet the needs of many poseters here at the forum.  As my cataloging needs are light, I have been using Lightroom because it also serves as a RAW processor.  But, everybody's needs are different and you should take your time and find what works best for you.

Good luck,

--Ken

Hugh,

I would strongly suggest that you upgrade to v.2.3.  There were a few bugs in 2.2 that could possibly cause you some grief that were supposed to have been fixed in 2.3.

--Ken

Bill,

I have this problem every so often.  Sometimes if I wait a bit longer, it will eject the drive.  I believe there is a setting that alters data caching with respect to external USB storage devices that can be changed, and that may solve this problem.  I am at work right now and I do not have administrative rights on my machine so I cannot look for where the setting is located.  Try searching the web with this term,'Optimize for quick removal', and you will find many articles and even some products that address this issue.

Good luck,

--Ken

David,

This is a little bit out of the DAM "box", but have you considered something like this: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.asp ?

--Ken

It appears that the final versions of LR 2.3 and Camera Raw 5.3 have been released today.

--Ken

Bill,

I would seriously recommend that you consider an external monitor.  While you can calibrate a laptop screen, many, IIRC, are actually 6-bit screens with the last two bits dithered.  Thus, you will have a tough time doing any color or detail critical work.  If you can afford a nice external monitor, like an NEC monitor with an IPS panel, when you are "docked", then your laptop screen will not be as critical.  And, a good screen should outlast your laptop's useful life.  Its something you may want to consider.

--Ken

Peter,

Words well spoken!  Sometimes I think that the time devoted to maintaining PC's far exceeds the time spent using them for productive purposes.  I am trying to simplify my set-up at home, but that seems to require more funds than I can currently dedicate to the matter.

--Ken

Bill,

While speed/performance are certainly issues, size/mobility are often important as well.  If I am going to bring a computer with me when I am mobile, I will take the smallest unit that gets the job done.  These days, that would be my Samsung NC10 netbook.  I could use an older laptop, but weight and battery life are important to me.  But if weight and size are not an issue, I could see using an older laptop.

--Ken