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smileman

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2011
131
19
This would be for Hi-Res music (.dff files) so I think the speed advantage offered by the JetDrive Lite vs. a MicroSD card is not so important, right?

I believe the choice comes down to a cost (JetDrive Lite is about half the price of a Nifty/microSD combo) vs. my question about will the JetDrive Lite not being completely flush drive me bonkers? Unfortunately I do not know anyone with either of these and cannot see it in the flesh.

Looking at the 128gb option for a late-2013 15" MBPr.

Thanks.

P.S. I saw SanDisk announced a prohibitively expensive (for me at least) 200gb microSD for $400. Any news on whether a 256gb JetDrive Lite (or another alternative) is on the horizon?
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,308
The website states the the JetDrive Lite is flush profile. I'd get JetDrive if it were me.
 

enoC

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2009
403
4
Denmark
I have the Nifty Drive for my rMBP mid 2014. It is flush. And I like the fact that it is not so visible as JetDrive Lite is.
 

solo118

macrumors 65816
May 16, 2011
1,316
170
I got the Transcend 64gb disk from Amazon, it works amazingly well! However the only downside is that it is black, and I wish it was silver to match the finish of the macbook.
 

Agent-P

Contributor
Dec 5, 2009
2,502
23
The Tri-State Area
Has anyone moved their iTunes library to one of these full time? If so, how long have you had it that way? Have you experienced any issues with battery drain in sleep mode?

Being able to get my iTunes library off my main drive would save me a nice chunk of space, so if there's no downside to keeping it on something like this I'd be willing to get it.

I've looked at both of these products and I'm leaning toward the JetDrive due to the lower price and higher read/write speeds. So that's the one I'd recommend to the OP just based on information from the internet.
 

adamhenry

macrumors 68000
Jan 1, 2015
1,621
611
On the Beach
I put my iTunes library on my JetDrive a couple of weeks ago. Everything seems fine so far. I have done a couple of backups and syncs to my iPad and my iPhone and added some purchases from the iTunes store.

I haven't noticed any batt. drain during sleep mode.
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
I use a Sandisk media Drive, it`s wireless and I can use it with any WiFi device. I don't use it to extend my iTune library, but for general media files it works perfectly, nor I have I found it overly limiting. Streaming large video (16Gb) files effortlessly. As long as you have an application that can read the data on your device the Media Drive will work. I have the 64Gb version with a 128Gb SD card installed.

Although the SanDisk is a another physical device, the fact that I can use it with other computers and tablets make it well worthwhile to me; it`s very small and has a stellar battery life so perfect for those of who travel frequently.

Q-6
 

smileman

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2011
131
19
I use a Sandisk media Drive, it`s wireless and I can use it with any WiFi device. I don't use it to extend my iTune library, but for general media files it works perfectly, nor I have I found it overly limiting. Streaming large video (16Gb) files effortlessly. As long as you have an application that can read the data on your device the Media Drive will work. I have the 64Gb version with a 128Gb SD card installed.

Although the SanDisk is a another physical device, the fact that I can use it with other computers and tablets make it well worthwhile to me; it`s very small and has a stellar battery life so perfect for those of who travel frequently.

Q-6

Interesting you mention this option.

I had looked at something like this previously but thought that it wouldn't work well for streaming Hi-Res (eg .dff) music files because it would be too slow. Is that no longer true for some of these WiFi wireless drives?

Here's CNET's list of favorites:

http://www.cnet.com/topics/storage/best-hard-drives-and-storage/best-mobile-wireless-drives/
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
Interesting you mention this option.

I had looked at something like this previously but thought that it wouldn't work well for streaming Hi-Res (eg .dff) music files because it would be too slow. Is that no longer true for some of these WiFi wireless drives?

Here's CNET's list of favorites:

http://www.cnet.com/topics/storage/best-hard-drives-and-storage/best-mobile-wireless-drives/

Same initially I was sceptical, equally I needed a solution to expand storage on my Tablet (Samsung Tab S 8.4). I went for the SanDisk 64Gb as it`s tiny, has a long battery life, has no mechanical parts. Most importantly the device has no OS preference and can be expanded as SD card capacity increases.

I picked a larger video file at random a 16Gb m4v full HD 48K AAC Stereo which played back without issue on the Tablet. As with all products it`s not a perfect solution and for the Mac it does have some limitations depending on your file format some it will stream effortlessly, some it will download, so it can be easier just to plug it in.

For the likes of MKV`s they can be easily converted to m4v`s with Subler, however as my main use is with a Tablet I don't bother as it can wirelessly play the MKV`s natively. I believe that with a player that can access the Media Drive directly on OS X as the limitation is not the Media Drive more Safari`s and or OS X.

Q-6
 

Modernape

macrumors regular
Jun 21, 2010
232
42
I have the Jetdrive Lite in my rMBP, and I never notice it's there. Technically it sticks out by about 1mm, but it's really not visible when you're at the keyboard, and I don't feel it when I pick the Mac up and carry it around.

Have you experienced any issues with battery drain in sleep mode?

Transcend have a Toolbox app which unmounts the drive when you close the lid, and remounts it again on wake. No battery drain at all.
 
Last edited:

Sukach

macrumors regular
Oct 9, 2011
206
36
About to get my first rMBP soon. I'm debating this as well. I'm leaning toward the Nifty simply because I can purchase multiple SD cards to use with it. Although, I guess I could purchase multiple JetDrive's if I needed to since it looks like the price between a 128GB microSD and a 128GB JetDrive is similar.
 

enoC

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2009
403
4
Denmark
About to get my first rMBP soon. I'm debating this as well. I'm leaning toward the Nifty simply because I can purchase multiple SD cards to use with it. Although, I guess I could purchase multiple JetDrive's if I needed to since it looks like the price between a 128GB microSD and a 128GB JetDrive is similar.

I chose Nifty for the looks of it. Or well.. The fact that it doesn't look like it's there.
 

chad.petree

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2013
563
256
Germany
P.S. I saw SanDisk announced a prohibitively expensive (for me at least) 200gb microSD for $400. Any news on whether a 256gb JetDrive Lite (or another alternative) is on the horizon?

256 gb would be indeed amazing, have you heard something about it? :p
 

brilliantthings

macrumors 6502a
Feb 13, 2011
819
363
Just found this: 256gb Tar Drive, which looks ideal, but it's expensive:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/968674372/tardisk-256gb-macbook-storage-expansion-module


My TarDisk arrived today. On my 2013 Macbook Air using Blackmagic Disk Speed Test the TarDisk shows speeds of 44MB/s write and 54 MB/s read. Significantly below the advertised speeds. Can others who have bought TarDisks post their speeds so I can find out if it's just mine?

Blackmagic Disk Speed Test is free on the App Store - https://macappsto.re/au/Mwqwz.m
 
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