Lifehack: Internal SSD Drives - cheap alternative?

[captain lysergicacid]

Hi!

As everybody knows, libraries need a lot of disk space, and SSD's are also superior to hard drives in terms of speed.

At Amazon, I can find an internal SSD drive 512GB for 25 EUR (~25$) and an USB adapter for 7 EUR (~7$).
Links:
https://www.amazon.de/Verbatim-SSD-Lauf ... 112&sr=8-8
https://www.amazon.de/BENFEI-SATA-USB-K ... r=8-4&th=1

An external 512GB SSD is listed at 50 EUR (~50$), so basically double the price.

Would it be possible to just buy an internal drive with an adapter to save 50% on money, or am I missing something? Is my basic cheap charlie setup fine to use, or do the drives need anything special, a case, do they heat up, need air circulation, etc. ?

Thanks in advance

[Ah_Dziz]

You can put together your own external drive with an enclosure. I've always just "made" my own external drives when I needed them and it does generally save you close to 50%. You'll want to check all the connectors and compatibility before you do this though. This is posted in "mobile apps/ hardware". Not every phone or tablet will support full usb 3.2 bandwidth from every drive enclosure.

[mindnoise]

If you want to use that BENFEI with your iPad / Tablet or what ever, you might run into power problems.
But nothing a selfpowered USB 3 hub can't fix.

With laptops etc power is ok with SSDs.

[sin night]

I have a cable like that by Sabrent, but I bought it for "occasional tasks" (like cloning a drive when replacing an internal hdd with a ssd); I prefer a proper enclosure for something like an actual external drive, so the ssd is more protected (especially when it comes to the sata connector, I want a solid connection - the sata connector is just an edge with two plastic clips at the end, I wouldn't want to put stress on it, as it would happen by using as an external drive with a cable like that)... maybe I worry too much, but data (and peace of mind) is more precious than a few euros in my opinion.

A metal box will cost about double in comparison to a usb to sata cable (about 15€), but it's still cheaper than purchasing a ready-made external ssd.
Of course the connector on the box will see some stress (connect / disconnect the cable), but at least it's not on the sata connector of the ssd drive. Just my preference, of course.


We are at the end of September, though. I'm already in BF mode when it comes to computer hardware, unless I need the storage right now, I would try to wait to see if there's any discount.