Opinions about Evernote

[aspsit 0]

Hi there.

I am thinking on subscribing to Evernote Personal to archive all my documentation, accessible from anywhere on Mac and smartphone or tablet.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on whether it's really worth paying for Evernote or exploring other cloud options like Google Drive.
I am interested in the privacy of my documents and also in knowing if it is possible to have a local backup of these documents in my house.

Thanks for your opinions.

[PinkElephant 8,279]

Working for me - GDrive is no comparison, because EN is a complete package, doing a lot more than simply storing a file.

I switched to EN some years ago when I went paperless. I have not regretted it since - I often surprise other people by being able to produce exactly the content needed, wherever I am, by a fast search. You get used to have everything you need available.

EN is my information platform since. For feeding it I use an ix500 office scanner, a scanning app for my iPhone and the build in scanner of the app, depending on what I need. Scanner and scanning app produce already OCRed content, for example. Other important means to get content where needed are web clipper and forwarding e-mails. What is important for me: I can then annotate the information - this makes it dynamic, enriching the information copied by my own meaning.

Different from others I use another app (Things 3) as my GTD hub. I will probably reconsider this when EN introduces recurring reminders - a feature I need for my GTD setup. 

[asole70 0]

Thanks @PinkElephant for answer.

My intention would be to be able to create a permanent archive of captures with Web Clipper, scan clippings, email store, etc. I do not know if the application is exactly for that.

Another question is whether the application works well on iPhone or iPad, if you use any of them.

Can my files be backed up locally?

All the best!

 

[dbvirago 509]

I like Google Drive. If I were starting from today, it would be a contender. The main problem with moving out of Evernote after 10+ years, is I have been using it for 10+ years. 

 

[gazumped 11,766]

...What they said.  I've been (mostly) paperless for over 10 years,  including digitising a couple of work libraries (references on Insurance and IT) most of which still lives on my desk in an external HD.  Evernote is good,  but so is Google - if you're just starting out I'd say it boils down to whichever works best for you.  Why not try Evernote's Free option for a month in parallel with GDrive and decide that way?

(Beware only that Free accounts have limits on note size and uploads per month so you'll need to tread lightly to start out...) 

[Frki2 77]

14 hours ago, aspsit said:

Hi there.

I am thinking on subscribing to Evernote Personal to archive all my documentation, accessible from anywhere on Mac and smartphone or tablet.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on whether it's really worth paying for Evernote or exploring other cloud options like Google Drive.
I am interested in the privacy of my documents and also in knowing if it is possible to have a local backup of these documents in my house.

Thanks for your opinions.

+1 from me also. Tried other, always come back to EN. Its worth paying as you get central hub for all your documents, easy search options for them and OCR ( best in class ). Solid iPhone app, web access and desktop app. So yeah, def good purchase.

Additionaly I have backup of all of my documents on NAS.

 

[asole70 0]

hace 5 minutos, Frki2 dijo:

+1 from me also. Tried other, always come back to EN. Its worth paying as you get central hub for all your documents, easy search options for them and OCR ( best in class ). Solid iPhone app, web access and desktop app. So yeah, def good purchase.

Additionaly I have backup of all of my documents on NAS.

 

@Frki2Your backups are the .enex files from EN or originals files?

Thanks so much.

[enjoybangkok 8]

Without EN I would be lost. Organizing all stuff with e.g. google drive is not possible in a similar effective way. I can create audio notes, also notes showing documents by taking photos within the app easily. everything around the document is cut away and the picture enhanced. with ifttt screenshots I take with my smartphone are turned into a note. on windows I take area screenshots with CTRL+ALT+S and they are turned into a note automatically. with a time stamp. It is just great organizer.

[DTLow 5,738]

20 hours ago, aspsit said:

knowing if it is possible to have a local backup of these documents in my house.

Yes, it's a good idea to backup your data

Evernote has an export feature.  
If you chose the html option, your backup notes are read-able by any browser app

For backups, I recommend Evernote's Legacy product   
The v10 product has issues

>>I'd like to hear your thoughts on whether it's really worth paying for Evernote or exploring other cloud options like Google Drive.

I choose to pay for Evernote (or other app/service)   
It's worth the cost to have the organization/search/sync features

[Frki2 77]

On 10/19/2021 at 12:43 AM, asole70 said:

@Frki2Your backups are the .enex files from EN or originals files?

Thanks so much.

Yup, @asole70 .enex backup of important notes, but also mainly all my documents/files are on my NAS and than I link them to EN.

It also helps privacy of my documents and replaces lost function of local EN notebooks.

Thats why was important for me linking to local files from EN. Only problem I have now is that link to devonthink still doesn't work normally so I cannot connect all files on the mobile version.

[asole70 0]

hace 26 minutos, Frki2 dijo:

Yup, @asole70 .enex backup of important notes, but also mainly all my documents/files are on my NAS and than I link them to EN.

It also helps privacy of my documents and replaces lost function of local EN notebooks.

Thats why was important for me linking to local files from EN. Only problem I have now is that link to devonthink still doesn't work normally so I cannot connect all files on the mobile version.

@Frki2: 

Thanks for answering.
I understand that your files are stored in two places: 1) on the local NAS 2) in Evernote.
I was thinking that maybe just saving your files on the NAS would be enough, although your working method may be interesting and I think I will do the same.
Saving the files in EN can have the advantage of not having to give external access to the NAS (only for your local network) and if you need a document, you have it in EN and the NAS protected from any attack or external ransomware. Tell me if you do it like this.

Do you have many notes/documents in EN or NAS?

All the best.

[Frki2 77]

1 hour ago, asole70 said:

@Frki2: 

Thanks for answering.
I understand that your files are stored in two places: 1) on the local NAS 2) in Evernote.
I was thinking that maybe just saving your files on the NAS would be enough, although your working method may be interesting and I think I will do the same.
Saving the files in EN can have the advantage of not having to give external access to the NAS (only for your local network) and if you need a document, you have it in EN and the NAS protected from any attack or external ransomware. Tell me if you do it like this.

Do you have many notes/documents in EN or NAS?

All the best.

Some files - that I need quick, or on the go,  or files for review, or captured files are in EN, the rest are on NAS.

Link to files on NAS are added to EN notes and than I just open that file when I need it.

All my business documents and private are in EN and NAS. 

[mcarrara 6]

I am a huge Google Fanboy.  I use the different parts of the suite of tools almost constantly all day.  I also use Evernote all day and into the evening.  For native Google and MS Office documents, I think Google Drive is the best choice.  For web clips, random notes then Evernote is by far the better choice.  My opinion on PDFs is fluid.  I haven't decided yet the ideal solution. I think it depends on what you want to do with the PDFs. I don't think the free version can handle PDFs very well.

Mark

[DTLow 5,738]

6 minutes ago, mcarrara said:

MS Office documents, I think Google Drive is the best choice.

Personally, I prefer to use a single storage location for all my notes, documents, web clippings, ...
This includes MS Office documents   
If not the actual document, I store a link to the document

Evernote supports superior organization features than Google Drive