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Is this a viable long-term idea?

S

ShaneBunting

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
161
0
United Kingdom
Hello, I've complained multiple times about the 128GB in my MB Air (although it's my own fault for not waiting and ordering a larger capacity one..) but I think I've finally come up with a somewhat decent storage solution?!


The Sandisk Cruzer Fit, 64GB flash drive.

Always mounted, and plugged into one of the USB ports. With things like my iPhoto library on it..

1) Are there any known problems with using a USB drive like this?

2) Would it get worn out or does it have very limited read/write capacity for this kind of use..

3) Also, is it possible to run Windows on it?

Thanks!
 
It could work, but have you considered an SD card? Best Buy had a 64 GB PNY Edge on sale recently. More compact and does the same thing with similar read/write speeds, I'd assume.
 
This:

ShaneBunting said:
MacBook Air 2013, 128, 4.
iPhone 5 Black, 16GB, Giffgaff.
Think different.
Click to expand...

made me laugh.


1. The only problem I see with it is that you are giving up a precious USB port. The 2 ports on that thing is already terribly limiting and one of my major pains with the MBA (although I knew what I was getting into). If you can give the port up then do. It's pretty much the only option you have if you want more storage on the MBA (I understand you're not looking for a cloud solution).

2. People are getting very decent transfer rates from the PNY products and they are fast enough for this kind of use (from what I've seen they are a little faster than traditional 5400 rpm HDDs mounted in laptops). I really doubt it would get worn out before you get tired of it for any other reason (like them coming out with triple the storage for a third of the price).

3. I'm pretty sure you can, but I'm not speaking from experience so let someone more knowledgeable answer this one.
 
One issue you will gave by leaving a USB key plugged in all the time is when asleep on battery power your Air will not enter deep sleep, so the battery will not last nearly as long when sleeping.
 
ShaneBunting said:
Can you find me somewhere selling 2013 MBA SSDs with a manufacturer warranty? ..OWC haven't even made one yet :/
Click to expand...

There are none. I have seen some used OEM ones on eBay pulled from MBAs, presumably because the owner bought a larger replacement from Apple.
 
I doubt Apple would sell a larger replacement.. Their view, at least on changing a White MacBook Black was 'it has to leave this store according to the specification of its serial number'..

Those ones on eBay could fail or anything!! Certainly wouldn't risk it. I need guarantees for the kind of money I'd spend on it.
 
I used a Cruzer Fit on my air when I had one earlier.

It worked ok but you will find the read and write speeds to be abysmally slow, specially compared to the internal ssd.

If you can live with this, then its a good combo. I made it work, although I only kept files I was accessing infrequently. If you plan to put iPhoto there or any other files which require fast access, you will regret it.
 
ShaneBunting said:
I doubt Apple would sell a larger replacement.. Their view, at least on changing a White MacBook Black was 'it has to leave this store according to the specification of its serial number'..

Those ones on eBay could fail or anything!! Certainly wouldn't risk it. I need guarantees for the kind of money I'd spend on it.
Click to expand...

I was not advocating buying one from eBay. I am just saying they are out there.
 
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