03-19-2025, 11:25 PM
Berndog,
Multiple options but much depends on how much you want to spend on the drive. The first decision to make is capacity. Since he's outgrown 128GB, I've no doubt he'll do the same with 256GB. My minimum would be 512GB. However, if I was buying the drive, I'd spend the bucks for at least 1TB.
Since your father is an advanced hobbyist photographer, I'd also opt for speed and go for a model that has a Thunderbolt interface. Thunderbolt 3. This then goes to the question of prepackaged or DYI.
I prefer DYI drives because it gives me the option to choose the drive and the enclosure. Although I've been using NVME sticks in OWC Envoy Express enclosures with tremendous success, my preferred Thunderbolt box is the OWC Envoy Pro SX. It's a well designed, high quality beast of a box.
It is the Thunderbolt only version of this model:
Note, I was able to get it as an empty enclosure. At this point, I'm not sure which Thunderbolt enclosure is the model of choice. Dollar for dollar, the 2TB model for $20 more than the 1TB is a no-brainer. Considering it's OWC, fanless wouldn't concern me.
USB 4 is an option, too. There are a large number of them from various brands. IF you go USB 4, I'd opt for a model that includes a cooling fan. nearly all of the USB 3.x NVME enclosures I have in use have fans.
Works nicely. OWC offers a nice USB 4 box that doesn't have a fan. Again, knowing the quality and solid design of OWC models, fanless wouldn't be an issue to me at all.
This is the OWC box:
Prepackaged models are an option, too. OWC, Samsung, Crucial, Orico and others all ave them. Definitely check the speeds of the drive. Some might be Thunderbolt but still only offer the speeds of USB 3.1 Gen 2 or USB 3.2.
The Envoy Pro FX model from OWC offers wicked fast speeds. It's actually the same box I mentioned that I bought as a bare enclosure. Key difference is that it also supprts USB 4 only comes as a complete solution.
As for sticks, I really like Inland NVME sticks. I've got Inland Premium, Inland Performance and Inland Performance Plus sticks in use as boot drives for various machines. Many of the models I have from other brands are older, slower sticks. IF I were to buy another NVME stick - and I just did - I'd opt for an Inland Performance Plus.
An Inland Performance Plus in a nice Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4 enclosure will do the job nicely.
Robert
Multiple options but much depends on how much you want to spend on the drive. The first decision to make is capacity. Since he's outgrown 128GB, I've no doubt he'll do the same with 256GB. My minimum would be 512GB. However, if I was buying the drive, I'd spend the bucks for at least 1TB.
Since your father is an advanced hobbyist photographer, I'd also opt for speed and go for a model that has a Thunderbolt interface. Thunderbolt 3. This then goes to the question of prepackaged or DYI.
I prefer DYI drives because it gives me the option to choose the drive and the enclosure. Although I've been using NVME sticks in OWC Envoy Express enclosures with tremendous success, my preferred Thunderbolt box is the OWC Envoy Pro SX. It's a well designed, high quality beast of a box.
It is the Thunderbolt only version of this model:
Note, I was able to get it as an empty enclosure. At this point, I'm not sure which Thunderbolt enclosure is the model of choice. Dollar for dollar, the 2TB model for $20 more than the 1TB is a no-brainer. Considering it's OWC, fanless wouldn't concern me.
USB 4 is an option, too. There are a large number of them from various brands. IF you go USB 4, I'd opt for a model that includes a cooling fan. nearly all of the USB 3.x NVME enclosures I have in use have fans.
Works nicely. OWC offers a nice USB 4 box that doesn't have a fan. Again, knowing the quality and solid design of OWC models, fanless wouldn't be an issue to me at all.
This is the OWC box:
Prepackaged models are an option, too. OWC, Samsung, Crucial, Orico and others all ave them. Definitely check the speeds of the drive. Some might be Thunderbolt but still only offer the speeds of USB 3.1 Gen 2 or USB 3.2.
The Envoy Pro FX model from OWC offers wicked fast speeds. It's actually the same box I mentioned that I bought as a bare enclosure. Key difference is that it also supprts USB 4 only comes as a complete solution.
As for sticks, I really like Inland NVME sticks. I've got Inland Premium, Inland Performance and Inland Performance Plus sticks in use as boot drives for various machines. Many of the models I have from other brands are older, slower sticks. IF I were to buy another NVME stick - and I just did - I'd opt for an Inland Performance Plus.
An Inland Performance Plus in a nice Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4 enclosure will do the job nicely.
Robert