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Anyone using the ext T3&T5 USB-C SSDs with your MBP? Are they worth it?
- Thread starter Aomin3
- Start date
I bought the 500GB T5 for $99. It was a good sale and still on sale. I like that it came with both USB C to USB C and USB C to USB A. When I am out in the field and need to transfer large files to another person computer I have both cables needed. Also I can use it on my 2015 iMac that is not USB-C. MBP gets read write over 500mbs and even the iMac using USB A cable gets over 400 mbs
I have T3 & T5s. they seem to work fine with both Mac and windows systems. They are slower than the 2018 MacBook Pros internal drive at around 450 MB/sec depending on if your files are large or small, large is faster. But for an external drive that is fast enough.
I also have a T3 and a T5. Great drives, work very well with both Windows and MacOS
Edit: Use them primarily for archiving photos libraries and video.
Edit: Use them primarily for archiving photos libraries and video.
That's a good price for the 500GB. The $227 for the 1TB is a good deal as well. I paid $265 for the 1TB back in early August.
I have both the T3 and the T5 and they are terrific! Right now I am still using 2015 MBPs with the USB-A ports, and the supplied cables are perfect for this. Eventually I will be purchasing a 2018 MBP and the transition will be so easy because I've got the files stashed in the drives and it will be a simple matter of swapping cables when I need to put files into the new machine, both at the time of initial setup and later on. I use my T3's and T5's for current backup and also what I call "supplementary drives" so that I do not need to keep a lot of files on my internal 512 GB SSD. This system has worked out well for me. On a monthly basis I sort through files that have been added during a particular month and shift anything I don't need immediate/instant access to off to the supplementary drive. It only takes a couple of minutes to plug in the external SSD and retrieve whatever file it is that I need. These drives, especially the T5, are very fast and are really small, making them quite useful for taking along when traveling, too.
Just bought the 500GB T5 at Best Buy today for $99. Using it as a Time Machine of my 2016 rMB hooked to the LG 4K. I have to say it's very fast. Doing the first backup and in 5 minutes already over 10GB backed up, compared to maybe less than 2GB on my older HDD that I used to use. So definitely worth for any use. Might even buy another one for personal use.
Thank you so much for the reply guys! Question for those of you using it for backup (especially Time Machine) - isnt it a waste or even bad for the drive to use it for backups (read somewhere that SSDs have limited number of data it can go through).
They work well and they are rather affordable. They will also be fine for backups, but a regular old HDD is a more economical option.
I use Samsung T5 2 TB with my MacBook Pro and Dell XPS. I also use Samsung T3 1 TB with PS4 Pro.
T3 with PS4 Pro definitely improves loading times on games like Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight.
T5 keeps my Steam Library (both MacOS and Windows), Logic Pro X Sound Library, aircraft maintenance database of a work software and some ISO & setup files I keep with me for IT support. I also plan to use it as a cache drive with Final Cut Pro. Before, when I used mechanical hard drives, these processes were nigh impossible. Now, it provides a quite smooth experience which was not possible on the mechanical drives I used to have.
They are also quite small and easy to move around even when on use due to having no moving parts inside. I recommend these devices to anyone who could use similar to my use cases. For regular storage of documents, music, photos and videos, a compact 2.5" mechanical hard drive will do just fine as a much budget friendly price.
T3 with PS4 Pro definitely improves loading times on games like Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight.
T5 keeps my Steam Library (both MacOS and Windows), Logic Pro X Sound Library, aircraft maintenance database of a work software and some ISO & setup files I keep with me for IT support. I also plan to use it as a cache drive with Final Cut Pro. Before, when I used mechanical hard drives, these processes were nigh impossible. Now, it provides a quite smooth experience which was not possible on the mechanical drives I used to have.
They are also quite small and easy to move around even when on use due to having no moving parts inside. I recommend these devices to anyone who could use similar to my use cases. For regular storage of documents, music, photos and videos, a compact 2.5" mechanical hard drive will do just fine as a much budget friendly price.
B&H in New York also has the 512GB T5 on sale for $99, free shipping and no tax for out of state sales. Amazon will charge you sales tax.
For anyone who has a Microcenter store in their area, that is another good source for purchasing the T5.....
Another vote for the T5. I got the 500GB for about $115. Totally been worth it. I use it extensively for managing photos while editing/culling photos from photography sessions. It’s really fast and been reliable since I’ve had it.
I don’t use the T5 though for Time Machine, I have a separate, older drive for backup.
I don’t use the T5 though for Time Machine, I have a separate, older drive for backup.
Agreed. Time Machine itself operates too slowly to appreciate the speed of the external SSD. I, too, use a mechanical drive for that.
What is your workflow/process for culling photos on the T5?
Do you have the drive formatted as HFS+, APFS or some other format?
Time Machine throttles to a slow speed to keep the load on system resources low, befitting of a background task. If you want TM to run at full speed, say for a full backup, you can turn the throttle off on a temporary basis. If you always want TM to run fast then you can set it to do so.
