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External SSD drives - how long do they last?
- Thread starter eroxx
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Unless you drop them a couple floors or otherwise destroy them, or lose them, portable SSD drives last just as long as internal SSDs, which depends on the drive you get. Samsung gives you a 10 year warranty on some SSDs. Look for SSDs with a good warranty.
The trouble with SSDs in USB enclosures is they lack TRIM support. Probably not an issue for you, but that depends on how you use the SSD. Looks up TRIM here and you will find quite a bit of discussion.
The trouble with SSDs in USB enclosures is they lack TRIM support. Probably not an issue for you, but that depends on how you use the SSD. Looks up TRIM here and you will find quite a bit of discussion.
This is the 10 year warranty model Samsung make:
http://smile.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-7KE1T0BW/dp/B00LF10KTE/
According to an answer on Amazon, the Shadow Mini (the regular shadow drive has a mechanical hard drive in it) has a Samsung 840 EVO, which only has a 3 year warranty.
The other consideration is that the 840 EVO has a firmware bug where speeds drop off dramatically over time (to around 20MB/sec), and you might get one of those buggy 840 EVO drives in the Shadow Mini if they're being sold at a discount... also because it's connected via USB3, you won't be able to update the firmware.. just be warned
Personally, I'd pay the extra for the 850 Pro and put it in a regular enclosure for 2.5" drives. That way you can always replace the enclosure should you break the mini USB3 port at the back of these enclosures...
All the extra speed and $$$ spent for an SSD, will pretty much be wasted if it's to be used for photo and music storage.
You'd do as well speed-wise (and FAR better money-wise) to just buy a 2tb (or larger) platter based HDD.
My opinion only.
i have multiple ST500LM0 drivss they are the seagate 500 gb + 8 gig ssd drives
they say they are 5 v .7 amps and usb 2 should be .5 and usb 3 should be .9
but they randomly disconnect, and they beep on me. its not the click of death its a weird beeping noise the drives make when it no longer spins.
its hard to find enclosures with external power supplies now
even though i have these drives using 2 usb ports ( for extra power ) plus i have it connected to a powered usb hub, they still stop spinning on me and disconnect and i get constant notifications on the mac that they ejected improperly.
i know that SSD drives are less then .3a @ 5v but i wanted to warn people about hybrid drives being connected to usb
one of the best features about the macs is they have special usb ports. and they can supply up to 5v @ 2100ma but first the device has to ask for the extra current. and the only thing that asks for the extra power supplied by apple are all iOS devices
i also have a seagate Momentus st9500423as in a externaly powered rocketfish enclosure. if it wasn't for the external power supply, the drive wouldn't even spin up
since 3 out of 4 hard drives are SSD hybrids, i think this post was semi relevant
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They fixed the problem with a new firmware version so the only valid part of your argument would be the "you can't upgrade the firmware due to it having USB3". Also a good thing to know: other Samsung drivers (entire 840 and 850 series) might suffer from the same thing. It's still under investigation.The other consideration is that the 840 EVO has a firmware bug where speeds drop off dramatically over time (to around 20MB/sec), and you might get one of those buggy 840 EVO drives in the Shadow Mini if they're being sold at a discount... also because it's connected via USB3, you won't be able to update the firmware.. just be warned
I'd second that. The micro-usb3 connector is one of the worst inventions ever unless the "break quickly" is intentional.
Luckily there are more advantages to an ssd than sheer speed.
There is no relevancy to your post at all because you are talking about hdd and sshd. Those are completely different from an ssd. For one an ssd doesn't make clicking sounds, only spinning drives (hdd and sshd) do that. You are also probably talking about those large 3.5" drives. Those hdd/sshd drives draw a lot more power than the any 2.5" hdd and ssd. Those drives are easily powered by usb3, most even easily by usb2 which delivers less power than usb3 (500mA instead of 900mA) so your conclusion is incorrect.
Absolutely. I use one of these drives in this dock for music and photos and have no performance issues whatsoever.
No, actually mine too.
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Whether is worth it is a bit subjective, but if you need low power to extend your laptop batteries, a drive you can use in a freezing vehicle, or blazing hot sun, or one you carry and bounce around while using, or drop on the floor occasionally, the SSD will save you big bucks in the long run... as one will replace dozens of rotational drives before the SSD fails.
But if thats not your use case, the extra $$$ may not be worth it, but SSD prices have dropped like a rock in recent months. $300 for a 512GB Samsung 850 pro, $50 for a 240GB PNY... Yikes. If you need more than 1TB of storage, the SSD proce pill may be hard to swallow.