Why Store Files in EN?

[TechBarber 100]

If you google "Dropbox vs Evernote" the consensus seems to be that both are useful, and that using both on a regular basis makes the most sense. Most people cite the fact that Evernote is for notes while Dropbox is for files. Okay..but Evernote offers the ability to put files into notes. For the first time today I put an Excel file into my notebook and it works great.

My question is, all these claims seem to support the use of both. Well if Evernote supports all file types (premium acct), then why not store all Excel, Word, PDF etc files in EN??

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Well if Evernote supports all file types (premium acct), then why not store all Excel, Word, PDF etc files in EN??

For one reason, you have to have a premium EN account to store all file types. Not true with Dropbox.

For another reason, EN is an accumulation of upload. If you have 10 gigs of docs you want in the cloud, even with a premium EN account, it would take you at least 10 months to get them all in the cloud. If you have a paid Dropbox account, it only takes as long as it takes to upload those 10 gigs.

Yet another reason (for me), is that on my iPhone 4G, often, retrieving a file from Dropbox is faster than pulling it from the iPhone app. If I'm adding a note such as info about upcoming appointments, I'll add it to both EN & Dropbox, just to cover my bases. But I'll normally pull it from Dropbox first, simply b/c the response time is faster.

[TechBarber 100]

That makes sense - never thought of that.

For me though - I think my entire Dropbox account is about 500MB. I'll have to think this through a bit more....

[RicD 10]

Hi,

Though I enjoy using EN, moving my documents to EN will take many months to accomplish. Some of the files on EN I have needed to share so EN is good for that. Many of those files are for my reference only. As for Dropbox holding files, my Pogoplug device took over all my Dropbox duties, thus I do not have need for my Dropbox account.

My local drive Document folder is mirrored to a external HDD connected to my Pogoplug device. When I need to share a large file I do not need to wait until I get to my computer to upload it to DropBox. From my iPhone I can grant access to that file located at the Pogoplug device; yep, my personal cloud.

DropBox, EN, Pogoplug have their advantages, for me Evernote and Pogoplug are a perfect fit.

YMMV

Cordially,

RicD

[TechBarber 100]

I still haven't reached the point where I have a fine line that divides what I put into Evernote vs what goes in to Dropbox.

I just switched to a premium Evernote account so I now have the ability to store all file types. So - all the instruction manuals I have in PDF....where do I put them? In EN? In DB?

What are some of the rules you guys/gals have in place. Let's say you have a Word, Excel, or PDF file that you want to save. What rules do you have in place that says "that goes to EN" or "that's a Dropbox file".

I'm almost thinking now that EN should be strictly for notes i.e. web clips, text notes, to-do-lists and Dropbox should be the repository for any and all files (PDF, Office).

Thoughts?

[Metrodon 2,184]

I tend to use Evernote because I can use useful tags and this makes it easier to find stuff.

[logandb 227]

I still haven't reached the point where I have a fine line that divides what I put into Evernote vs what goes in to Dropbox.

My loose divisions are:

Dropbox

Files (mainly spreadsheets) used every day that do not need to be the subject of a detailed search (running/cycling logs, etc.)

Files that need to be accessed by folder rather than as individual files (e.g. Google Earth 'my places' folder)

Stuff that I store temporarily for which I don't anticipate needing EN's elephantine memory (downloaded software, etc.)

EN

Everything else!

[Owyn 457]

Stuff that I store temporarily for which I don't anticipate needing EN's elephantine memory (downloaded software, etc.)

I keep these files strictly local.

e.g. Downloads -> Staging(To Install) -> Archive(Installed...) -> Local External drive backups

Moving them to Dropbox adds extra uplink load to your system.

I do keep individual journal notes in Evernote for any software update/install. But, at most, they will have a link to download source for the installer. No files.

[Owyn 457]

I use Evernote, Dropbox, Google Docs, and desktop search for searchable & offsite files.

My current procedures probably need a review as they were initially developed as a free user and before the file type in notes restriction for free users was removed.

Google Docs:

Default document editor. More than good enough for most documents. Export to e.g. docx when I need to use something not supported by Google Docs.

Automatically offsite, use anywhere.

Version history to recover old versions.

Document search integrated with Gmail and Google search.

Dropbox:

Offsite backups (e.g. zipped copy of Evernote Windows user.exb).

Use anywhere files that:

- Are easier to work with directly or

- Need to maintain relative folder structure

Temporary publish of files that are needed elsewhere.

Dropbox folders included in desktop search.

Evernote:

Lots and lots of notes. Not so many files, however:

PDF user guides. Once I find the pesky things, store them in Evernote.

Scans of critical documents. Some are in local unsynced notebooks. Keywords in note title or note body make these searchable.

Screenshot images. I now author most notes that require this type of documentation in Evernote. The screenshots just get there as part of the process.

[Dedalus77 0]

I use Dropbox for working documents that I am making changes to, once something goes final, I load it into EN for archiving and remove it from Dropbox. That way it's not taking up space in my Dropbox and it's easily searchable 6 months from now when I only vaguely remember the details but need the file for something.

[Fog Frog 0]

If you google "Dropbox vs Evernote" the consensus seems to be that both are useful, and that using both on a regular basis makes the most sense. Most people cite the fact that Evernote is for notes while Dropbox is for files. Okay..but Evernote offers the ability to put files into notes. For the first time today I put an Excel file into my notebook and it works great.

My question is, all these claims seem to support the use of both. Well if Evernote supports all file types (premium acct), then why not store all Excel, Word, PDF etc files in EN??

One thing I would bring up to the table is, for EN, the attached document will have to be downloaded/uploaded every time you make any change.

One major advantage of Dropbox is, it only uploads the changed piece to the server which results in less traffic and makes the process more fast.

So far, I am not a premium user yet. Once, I attached a PDF file, 15MB from IBM Redbook, into EN. Later, I did highlighting, comments on the PDF as I was "reading". What happened is, every time, I saved my modifications to PDF, it results in an upload of the whole file to EN. Just for 3 times of saving, I used up all my quota for the month. (EN provides 60MB uploads for free).

So EverNote is for taking notes, which is supposed small, and less structured. Or we may call it as "document fragment". For complete files, like docs, excels, or PDFs, Dropbox is a better choice for storing complete files.

Of course, it would be nice if we can have all documents, complete documents as well as fragment, in one location. I think, if EN can provide "incremental uploading" I will put everything in EN without hesitate to pay for it. Or if dropbox could provides full-text-indexing, I would put everything in DB.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I use both. There are a couple of reasons I put files in Evernote. I often design cards. I put my font files in Evernote with a sample. Also, after printing my card(s), I scan it & put it in Evernote with notes about what font I used. Later, I can look at a card & know what the font is & easily get the font file & install it, should I want to use it for another card.

Another thing is in the event of a major computer melt down. If my house were to be totally destroyed along with all my computers & hard drives (a la Katrina), I have backups of the important stuff in Evernote as well as Amazon S3 servers (my true cloud backup.) I also use a password manager for my passwords. BUT...if I don't remember my login/password and my encryption password for Amazon S3, I'm SOL. since the Amazon backup has copies of all my programs & other stuff that's not in Evernote. And since they are pretty secure passwords, they are difficult to remember. But wait, my passwords are in my password manager...but the backups of my password manager are on the Amazon S3 servers... (Catch 22.) So I keep a current copy of my Windows password manager program AND a backup of the file in Evernote. That way, as long as I can get into Evernote (it's a password I remember), I can download the password manager program & data & install that on a new computer. BTW, I do also have my passwords in a password manager on my phone, but my "scorched earth" total loss scenario also assumes my phone got destroyed & I have to start from square one with nothing but my Amazon & Evernote clouds.

[peterfmartin 221]

Another reason: Since Evernote doesn't index the contents of all file types, files of unindexed types that you store only in Evernote will not be searchable on your computer. If I store a Word document anywhere on my hard drive, including in my Dropbox folder, Spotlight will find it when I search for text in that document. If I store a Word document only in Evernote, Evernote will not read its contents, so Spotlight will not find it when I search for text in that document. (The computer can find it when I search for the title of the note that contains the document, since that is data that Evernote does collect, store, and search.)

(I have only tested this on Mac, so I guess it could be different on Windows, but I don't know how/why it would be.)

[garychenc00l 13]

I use both but for general documents, I use google docs. I use evernote for notes and it loads faster than a word doc in quickoffice pro or officesuite.

I find evernote easier and faster.

[boloughlin 0]

I use Evernote for everything...