MBA and 2tb key

[one1]

The ever pressing storage issue with the MBA with the need to carry it around without an external duct taped to it or hanging off it has made me venture out into the USB flash world to find an efficient design solution like many of us. After looking at everything the best thing I can find for ease of use (involving it's non hindrance of portability) seems to be these 2tb metal key usb flash drives. They are small, inexpensive, and did I mention 2tb?

I was wondering who all had one and has experience with it that could give me some insight as to it's real world speed, stability (I have a 64gb metal that unmounts when the wind blows), and longevity.

It will only be used for large storage access, not streaming videos from it nor any intensive purposes.

I am interested in and looking specifically at this one in particular: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2TB-2000GB-...087276?hash=item25c46a3f2c:g:rboAAOSw3YNXcLdt

 

[Pugly]

I haven't used that 2tb key. It looks suspect though. I fully expect that to have viruses on it or something...

I have used two external drives on my MBA. This kingston one for my keychain, 64GB. And this SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB. I use the SanDisk to install games on. And the kingston for just general backup of files I'm not currently working on. I have about 70GB of usable space after installing all the programs I'm using (Logic Pro X and other audio plugins.) So I need some external drives to extend what I can do.

The kingston is really slow. Transferring anything more than a couple 100MB or so isn't really advisable as a daily use thing. Which kind of makes the high capacity less usable. I kind of see that drive as an archive, to declutter and keep me focused on current projects. It works fine enough if you ignore how slow it is.

The SanDisk is much faster. And the storage is pretty nice. I was able to install all my Steam and Blizzard games on it. I ran into some issues with a couple games, but for the most part it works well. Again, it's still kind of slow, especially writing files. But reading it isn't too bad. Loading games is not unbearably slow. The size is great. I'm a bit worried about it's long term reliability though. The thing gets super hot. That combined with the heat the MBA makes playing games, makes me a bit worried for the whole system.

But it works. This is probably the best option for portable external storage. I don't keep it in the system all the time though, because I get eject warnings overtime I put the system in sleep mode.

These are better options than always carrying around a hard drive. Those are just too bulky for a system that's supposed to be portable.

I've read that this is the one to get for speed.

 

[MarvinHC]

That looks terribly fake to me (I live in China, maybe I am oversuspicous). Best 'memory expansion' you can do for an Air is one of these super small USB drives, I think the biggest size available for the moment is 256GB, for example from Sandisk, the Ultrafit:
https://www.sandisk.com/home/usb-flash/ultra-fit-usb

 

[Orizence]

I have been meaning to get one of those MicroSD adapters that sit flush in the SD card slot. They are the most appealing option IMHO

 

[MarvinHC]

I have been meaning to get one of those MicroSD adapters that sit flush in the SD card slot. They are the most appealing option IMHO

Agree, forgot about these since my 11" Air doesn't have an SD slot (and that is the only think I don't like about it)

 

[Mlrollin91]

I keep the SanDisk Ultra Fit plugged into my 11" Air 24/7. I keep my photo library and iTunes library on it. It hardly sticks out, so it doesn't get caught on anything.

 

[Left4DeadBoy]

hi I dont recommend a flash drive instead of an external drive! Think of when you want to watch a Disney movie and you cant; the flash drive doesnt let you do it; only an external drive does!

 

[Mlrollin91]

hi I dont recommend a flash drive instead of an external drive! Think of when you want to watch a Disney movie and you cant; the flash drive doesnt let you do it; only an external drive does!

What do you mean a flash drive doesn't let you? I have my entire iTunes movie collection stored on my flash drive.

 

[marioman38]

That ebay link is a scam. Do a quick search for "fake usb flash drive" on google. They don't make 2TB usb keys. They do make smaller ones that can be hacked to trick your computer into saying it is 2TB but after you reach the actual size, say 64GB, your data gets permanently corrupted.