Portable SSD storage options: Would like to hear from you regarding your choices of portable SSD storage. Looking to add both a travel unit and a back up unit for my laptop. Not...

PLT Loc: Seattle

Would like to hear from you regarding your choices of portable SSD storage. Looking to add both a travel unit and a back up unit for my laptop. Not looking for a RAID drive or anything super expensive. See lots of nice looking options from Seagate but found lots of negative stuff regarding failures. That however was dated back in 2023. Have their issues been solved yet?
Thanks,

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Ive been using two Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1TB USB drives for a few years now with no problems.

Sorry, I don't follow "drives".

PLT Loc: Seattle

Thanks for the feedback.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

For backup, I have a pair of 8TB Western Digital My Book drives that need their own power brick. I alternate backups to them because I plan on them failing. But, no they do not seem to be failure prone.

To extend the capacity of my laptop I have a 5TB Wester Digital Elements drive that uses USB power. I think the current version is called a My Passport. With the 1TB SSD in my computer added to the 5TB external, the backups to the My Books fit well with a little spare space.

My system is not fast but with the alternating backups it feels like my images and documents are safe enough.

radiojohn

Just watch out for colorful Chinese drives not much bigger than a stick of gum and no name. Faked sizes abound.

tcthome Loc: NJ

PLT wrote:

Would like to hear from you regarding your choices of portable SSD storage. Looking to add both a travel unit and a back up unit for my laptop. Not looking for a RAID drive or anything super expensive. See lots of nice looking options from Seagate but found lots of negative stuff regarding failures. That however was dated back in 2023. Have their issues been solved yet?
Thanks,

The Western Digital - WD My Passport external drives are good for general backups. I have two for a couple of years now with no problem. I haven't used them bu for travel, the Samsung t5/t7 drives seem to be pretty popular & are compact in size.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

I have several (3 or 4) Sanyo 2tb SSD drives.
1 for system backup and some for off laptop storage to work on files.
They have different versions depending on transfer speed you need.
Very compact, reliable so far.
Buy them on Amazon.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

PLT wrote:

Would like to hear from you regarding your choices of portable SSD storage. Looking to add both a travel unit and a back up unit for my laptop. Not looking for a RAID drive or anything super expensive. See lots of nice looking options from Seagate but found lots of negative stuff regarding failures. That however was dated back in 2023. Have their issues been solved yet?
Thanks,

First, why are you specifically thinking of SSD drives and not the old spinners?

If you're thinking portable because you're going to carry them around a lot, SSD is probably good because the spinners can be damaged by shock if you drop them. Spinners are cheaper so you can get larger ones or more for duplication (field backup).

I don't do a lot of field work any more so I use spinners and find them quite reliable. Since I don't use many SSDs (except the ones that are built into my machines) I can't offer advice on specific brands/models.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

I have a box full of “spinners” that are not spinning any longer.
And they were stationary.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I have two Samsung SSD drives, 2T and 4T. They both work well and no set up process. Just plug it in and go! BtW, I have a MacBook Pro. And they’re smaller than a deck of cards.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

PLT wrote:

Would like to hear from you regarding your choices of portable SSD storage. Looking to add both a travel unit and a back up unit for my laptop. Not looking for a RAID drive or anything super expensive. See lots of nice looking options from Seagate but found lots of negative stuff regarding failures. That however was dated back in 2023. Have their issues been solved yet?
Thanks,

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1742972-REG/samsung_mu_pe4t0s_am_4tb_t7_shield_portable.html

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

billnikon wrote:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1742972-REG/samsung_mu_pe4t0s_am_4tb_t7_shield_portable.html

That would be WAY overkill for me! I'd never even come close to using a quarter of that space.
Price wise ($70-85), the 1TB Passport Ultra drives are QUITE ample for my needs.
My laptop has a 512GB drive in it.
I only use the Passport for travel backup for the laptop.
I will never need 4TB for images when traveling. Never.

At home, stuff on the laptop that I want backed up is copied to the desktop, which is backed up.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Longshadow wrote:

...I will never need 4TB for images when traveling. Never...

Never say.................

BebuLamar

Longshadow wrote:

I will never need 4TB for images when traveling. Never.

At home, stuff on the laptop that I want backed up is copied to the desktop, which is backed up.

I travelled for 2 weeks and I barely need more than 32GB. I have 2 32GB cards and I didn't even got 1 1/2 of them full. And yeah that's for RAW+JPEG.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

BebuLamar wrote:

I travelled for 2 weeks and I barely need more than 32GB. I have 2 32GB cards and I didn't even got 1 1/2 of them full. And yeah that's for RAW+JPEG.