What would you do: 2TB SSD vs Hidden Portable HDD

[Traverse]

I plan to buy a new iMac at some point this year whenever they are released. I was (and still am) super excited since the MacBook Pro can now have up to a 2TB SSD that means the iMac will have the same (I would assume). That was my dream, but then I started thinking: I have 700GB of data currently and the vast majority of my current and future data will be made up of media (TV shows, movies, and pictures). 2TB will be good for a few years, but even then fill up.

I'm wondering if it would be more sensical to get a 1TB SSD and then get a 2TB+ portable hard drive and hide it behind the iMac using something like this from 12 South. Still, it's nice to have everything on one central drive and maybe by the time 2TB fills up there will be options with 3TB. What would you do if it was your iMac?

Just curious. Thanks!

 

[BlueTide]

I can't speak for your usage as this depends at least on how much you're projecting to need and to some extent, for what kind of use. For me, the internal storage in that scope is hardly making a difference to a 512GB storage - it's going to be filled anyway with already existing data. And on the other hand, smaller internal drive still has enough to host the apps I need and less data intensive files. Like taxes. YMMV.

 

[hfg]

I have a 27" iMac with the 1TB SSD internal, and then have a 4TB Seagate RAID-0 external bus-powered drive attached to the stand with velcro. It is working great for me and I store my photo, music, video library on the external drive, as well as a partition with a daily bootable clone of the internal SSD. I backup everything over the network to a Mini Server.

 

[danielwsmithee]

I'd go with 512GB SSD and OWC Thunderbay Mini. That will allow you to expand as you grow.

 

[steveOooo]

A 2-3 meter cable would also put your drive out of site, maybe under the desk in a corner