Hello,
Installed Armory - going thru initial setup. It's downloading the bitcoin database which, of course, is huge.
Can anyone give me an idea just how huge I should expect. It's 60GB so far!
The blockchain is ~110 GB now. Bitcoin Core will build its own databases (Bitcoin Core is the full node behind Armory) and Armory also has its own databases. In total, there will be an additional ~5 GB of databases with the blockchain.
Secondly, I'm only interested in doing just one transaction - no interest in mining, etc. Do I really need to download
all these bitcoin transactions? Or can I just use a "standalone" like Electrum's?
Yes, you will need to download the entire blockchain. Armory and Bitcoin Core are full node wallets, they require the entire blockchain. This provides the best security and privacy. SPV wallets like Electrum severely risk your privacy, and potentially the security of your Bitcoin.