External hard drive buying drive advice

[JAMSHOP]

I plan to buy a new iMac with a 256k SSD internal hard drive and move pix/videos/media to external hard drive. I don't need large size external... 1TB would be fine. I am torn between getting Samsung T5 SSD which uses USB-3.1 and any other manufacturer SATA HDD connecting with Thunderbolt 3... unfortunately the combination of SSD and Thunderbolt 3 is cost prohibitive. So what is more important in terms of speed/performance... SSD drive or Thunderbolt 3 connectivity?

 

[campyguy]

The T5 is a beast, love the 500GB demo unit one of my vendors seems to have "forgotten" at my main office, but…

I'll pass on what my two storage vendors have shared with me - wait until after the turn of the new year, when Intel's TB royalties drop to $0. Lots of new TB-related storage hardware will be shown at CES, pretty much shipping the same day. My royalty-free advice… Cheers!

 

[matreya]

The T5 is an awesome little unit. I have a 500GB one I use to mirror my MBP's main system drive with Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[ZapNZs]

I plan to buy a new iMac with a 256k SSD internal hard drive and move pix/videos/media to external hard drive. I don't need large size external... 1TB would be fine. I am torn between getting Samsung T5 SSD which uses USB-3.1 and any other manufacturer SATA HDD connecting with Thunderbolt 3... unfortunately the combination of SSD and Thunderbolt 3 is cost prohibitive. So what is more important in terms of speed/performance... SSD drive or Thunderbolt 3 connectivity?

The T5 makes the most sense for anyone not needing extreme speeds - it's USB 3.1 gen 2 interface (w/ the iMac this only applies to USB-C, as the USB-A ports are gen 1) + fast single SATA SSD = some of the best working speeds for the money. Alternatively, a Samsung 850 EVO in a USB 3.1 gen 2 enclosure will give essentially identical performance (upwards of 500-ish MB/s read & write) for a few bucks less. If you want to leverage the true capability of Thunderbolt 3, expect to spend 3-5 times that of the Samsung T5 per GB.

Obviously, you will want to backup both the iMac's internal SSD and the Samsung T5 with at least one (and, preferably 2) copies of important files. Time Machine is capable of doing this with an additional external HDD (it does not need to be a SSD)

 

[Fishrrman]

You could also buy a "bare" SATA 2.5" SSD (1tb or perhaps 500gb) and a good enclosure, such as this one:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-...ords=oyen+digital+minipro+3.1+usb-c+enclosure

I have the previous version of the MiniPro enclosure (USB3), and it's as good a piece of hardware as I've ever bought, worth spending a few dollars more on.