Honestly I’d like 512gb or more or even 1Tb so that I won’t need to worry about storage and be able to store my iTunes library, iPhone backups etc without having to worry about space,
Also, why did you say “No” about the external SSD drive and “Yes” for the SSD external stick? Are SSD drives no good?
Do you velcro the external drive to the back of the MacBook’s screen to integrate it with the MacBook better on the desk or do you just place the external drive on the desk next to the MacBook?
My apologies. I was being a tad silly with my 'yes no maybe' meaning to imply you had not really given us enough data to make an informed recommendation. You have since given us what we need, your size requirement.
I have read the thread so will comment not just on what you are saying but others...
SSD's are really good. You will love them. I don't really recommend the DIY recommendations for anyone but hobbyists for a couple of reasons 1) if there is a problem which vendor do you complain to? And occasionally there are problems with ANY piece of electronics. 2) In all these devices heat dissipation is a thing, you will find numerous references to slow down in speeds with long file transfers due to heat. heat can also shorten the lifetime. The heat dissipation characteristics of the Samsung drives is well know. Off the shelf tom and harry DIY components? Not so well known. See reason 1. This negates any potential speed boosts of the NVMe. There is a reason they sell heat sinks for NVMe's. 3) just not as sturdy as the Samsung's. By default, its a board in a housing. at the very least it could come loose. But the Samsung's enclosure is built for the task and really really sturdy.
I am not aware of any professional reviews that make the case T5's are better than T7's (except for price). I own both, I like both, and in day to day operation I see no difference in them. The T7 is theoretically faster but I find that to be true only for short transfer times. Then the cache gets filled and they slow down closer to a T5. I like them both though. Sturdy construction. Aluminum housing. They take a beating and keep working.
Either way you can't go wrong.
As for aesthetics, the velcro behind the screen thing. That's a matter of personal taste. To me I would never put tape on my computer, sounds ficking ugly. The Samsung drives are tiny, and will fit almost anywhere.
EDIT: Oh, the backup debate. You should always back up any data, period. Unless you can afford to lose your data. These things are reliable, but can get lost/stolen/be in a house that burns down, etc. Even if its a small chance, I dont want to risk it. I back up all my drives to one central drive and store that off site, and update that once a week.
As for the speed debate, benchmark numbers really only tell part of the story and really should not be the guiding factor. Published values are always under ideal conditions and rarely reflect real life working conditions. And how often do you need to transfer 500 gb's of data? Sure in those cases it can make a difference. but in transferring a couple of GBs of pictures at a time, eh, the few seconds in difference doesn't change my life.
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