External drive suggestions for MBP

[Tapiture]

I got a 2018 15" MacBook Pro this year (first time Mac user) and I'd like to get some kind of external drive to use with Time Machine for backups and also just for storing big, bloated files. I'm looking for something solid state in the 500GB to 1TB range that's relatively inexpensive, maybe even one with a good Black Friday discount. Which drives are the best for this?

 

[James_C]

Not got one myself but I have heard good things (Small, Light, Rugged) and good performance for the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. You will want a USB C drive. Link

 

[matreya]

I've got a couple of these, they are excellent and very compact

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-T5-Portable-SSD-MU-PA1T0B/dp/B073H552FJ/

 

[mikzn]

I have several Samsung Evo 850's in an enclosure that work well for fast cloning and external booting - great for testing a new beta or doing a complete new install etc - very fast and also very quick boot time for an external drive

But for a cheap drive for contunous / incremental back ups I still use a spinning drive WD 1TB "My Passport" backing up with CCC ( Carbon Copy Cloner) works well and is fast - plus it is small and compact - a great back up drive for the $$$

I use several WD 1TB "My Passport" for backing up music and pictures and on another WD 1TB "My Passport" - movies

The Samsung EVO 850's are great for cloning my working drive - without any music, pictures or movies.

 

[HenryAZ]

Get yourself and Oyen Digital usb-c enclosure (sold as enclosure only, without drives), for $29, and put in any SATA SSD you want. I have several. The are small and light, all aluminum. I have been using this line of enclosures since I used the Firewire version with an older Mac, where the only USB available was 2.0.

https://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U31M-C25-BK.html


Oyen sells it on Amazon with free shipping if you have Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-...4933&sr=8-1&keywords=oyen+digital+U31M-C25-BK

 

[Tapiture]

Get yourself and Oyen Digital usb-c enclosure (sold as enclosure only, without drives), for $29, and put in any SATA SSD you want. I have several. The are small and light, all aluminum. I have been using this line of enclosures since I used the Firewire version with an older Mac, where the only USB available was 2.0.

https://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U31M-C25-BK.html


Oyen sells it on Amazon with free shipping if you have Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-...4933&sr=8-1&keywords=oyen+digital+U31M-C25-BK

Not got one myself but I have heard good things (Small, Light, Rugged) and good performance for the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD. You will want a USB C drive. Link

So some of you have recommended external enclosures for SATAs and others portable SSD drives. What are the main pros/cons for these types of setups?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP asked:
"So some of you have recommended external enclosures for SATAs and others portable SSD drives. What are the main pros/cons for these types of setups?"

Well, the advantage of "pre-packaged" is you just take it out of the package, plug it in, and use it.
But be careful -- sometimes pre-packaged drives come with factory-installed software that can "muck things up" with the Mac OS. It's better to REMOVE this software first, and then ERASE the drive using Disk Utility before you begin using it.

The advantage of buying an enclosure and a "bare drive", and then assembling it yourself, is -- YOU put it together, so you know what's inside, and YOU can take it back apart again if you ever need to. I usually do this myself.

The cost "is a wash" either way.

I have one of the Oyen Digital enclosures, and it's built like a tank.
Goes together easily with only a few screws.
Highly recommended if that's the way you decide to go.

Either way, I think you'll do fine.