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General discussion

laptop/tablet that becomes hard drive when connected via USB

Feb 5, 2015 8:24AM PST

Does it exist a laptop/tablet that becomes hard drive when connected to a desktop machine via USB?

I was looking for something with the following capabilities

1. you modify some files on the internal hard drive C: of the
laptop/tablet.
2. you switch off the laptop and connect it to a
desktop via USB cable
3. from the desktop you automatically see the C: drive
of the laptop and you can modify its files, just like a normal external hard
drive.
4. unplug the laptop, power it on and you can see the files
that have been modified by the desktop.
I have a similar machine called [Pomera by Kim Jim][1] , that is able to perform all the previous 4 steps but ONLY for text files.
I found it very convenient because, for example, you can copy on it a cpp file you were working on, you can modified it on the train, add some ideas, then when you arrive home, you plug the Pomera to the desktop and you can continue to work on the same file, since the gadget, once powered off behaves like a simple hard drive. But it can process only text files and you can't install any external software on it.

Discussion is locked

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I didn't solve it like that.
Feb 5, 2015 9:47AM PST

I used Dropbox to sync my files. But no laptop I know does what you asked. There are many reasons why. Why not Dropbox or a network share and sync?
Bob

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good suggestion but I have no internet at home
Feb 5, 2015 11:26AM PST

Hi Bob,
Yes that would be a good solution but you need an internet connection.
I currently use 3 machines:
1) the desktop computer at work that has internet connection [the machine I am writing to you now]
2) the desktop computer at home [no internet]
3) and the little Pomera Text processor [no internet] -> the one I would like to substitute with the tablet/hard-drive device.
Your solution is clever but unfortunately needs internet on all devices.

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Actually I don't
Feb 5, 2015 2:04PM PST

Since I can setup adhoc and sync or other connections I can skip dropbox. USB so far on PCs doesn't do this.
Bob

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Let's be sure to note the PC USB Sync cable.
Feb 5, 2015 2:07PM PST
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sure
Feb 7, 2015 7:25AM PST

you can create a share for the entire C drive if you wanted to.