SAMSUNG Portable SSD T7 1TB USB 3.2 External - Indigo Blue (MU-PC1T0H/AM)

[Marrk]

This drive was recommended in this thread.

I like this very much. Smaller is better.

 

[RadDave]

This drive was recommended in this thread.

I like this very much. Smaller is better.


View attachment 39525

Hi Marrk - do you have a point to make? But agree, I'm using mainly Samsung and Crucial 1 TB SSDs for my M2 Air and M3 iMac backups (TM and CCC x 2 for both) - loving the small size and the speed - reviews have been good so expecting no major problems in the near future (but the reason I do duplicate backups). Dave

 

[Marrk]

.

 

[Marrk]

@RadDave My point is that, so far, I am very impressed with the size, speed and build quality of the drive. My post was intended to follow up on @Randy B. Singer's recommendation in the other thread. I would also recommend this drive to anyone who is looking for one.

 

[RadDave]

@RadDave My point is that, so far, I am very impressed with the size, speed and build quality of the drive. My post was intended to follow up on @Randy B. Singer's recommendation in the other thread. I would also recommend this drive to anyone who is looking for one.

In total agreement, the size of these SSDs have wonderfully miniaturized and now take up little space! Dave

 

[nickyr]

my entire digital "life" is stored on Samsung T5 and T7 SSDs.
current year raw photo files on one, current year raw video files on another, ongoing and completed photo and video projects on a third and all my music and movies on a 4th! I love their speed, portability and (touch wood) rock solid reliability.

I then keep my archived (previous years) raw media on two 8TB hard drives (one for photos, one for video again) as I don't need the faster access the SSDs afford.

Of course, all this is cloned and backed up to hard driives. I'd love to have everything on SSDs and one day, after I win the lottery (yeah right !!) I will

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I just want to point out that an inexpensive external Samsung SSD isn't a panacea. To my knowledge, not a single Samsung SSD includes any over-provisioning whatsoever. This is partially how they keep costs down. What does this mean? It means that while a brand new Samsung external SSD is inexpensive, and fast, it will slow down earlier in its life than many other external SSD's, and its life will be over sooner than with many other SSD's.

See:
https://blog.seagate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FMS-2012-Tutorial-E-21-Understanding-SSD-Overprovisioning-Kent-Smith.pdf

So, while Samsung external SSD's seem extremely attractive, you should know that you are sacrificing performance and reliability on the tail end of the device's life in exchange. You should know this going in.

 

[nickyr]

I just want to point out that an inexpensive external Samsung SSD isn't a panacea. To my knowledge, not a single Samsung SSD includes any over-provisioning whatsoever. This is partially how they keep costs down. What does this mean? It means that while a brand new Samsung external SSD is inexpensive, and fast, it will slow down earlier in its life than many other external SSD's, and its life will be over sooner than with many other SSD's.

See:
https://blog.seagate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FMS-2012-Tutorial-E-21-Understanding-SSD-Overprovisioning-Kent-Smith.pdf

So, while Samsung external SSD's seem extremely attractive, you should know that you are sacrificing performance and reliability on the tail end of the device's life in exchange. You should know this going in.

excellent advice Randy

what I've done in the short space of time I've been using these SSDs is to buy a new one from time to time and then relegate the older ones to either back-up or less critical duties. hopefully this'll see the read / write speeds retained. not that I really need lightning fast storage. I only use iMovie for my video editing and I doubt that relies on a super-fast transfer rate

 

[RadDave]

I just want to point out that an inexpensive external Samsung SSD isn't a panacea. To my knowledge, not a single Samsung SSD includes any over-provisioning whatsoever. This is partially how they keep costs down. What does this mean? It means that while a brand new Samsung external SSD is inexpensive, and fast, it will slow down earlier in its life than many other external SSD's, and its life will be over sooner than with many other SSD's.

See:
https://blog.seagate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/FMS-2012-Tutorial-E-21-Understanding-SSD-Overprovisioning-Kent-Smith.pdf

So, while Samsung external SSD's seem extremely attractive, you should know that you are sacrificing performance and reliability on the tail end of the device's life in exchange. You should know this going in.

Hi Randy - thanks for the info and link on OP - looked at the article and googled some others - hard to find out what these SSD makers do with this feature, i.e. very secretive; but seems that the proportion of reading and/or writing to the device plus of course how often these events are being done will make a difference in the reliability and longevity of these drives.

I'm using 4 SSDs per each of my 2 computers (i.e. doing duplicate CCC and TM backups but plugged them in about once a week (Backblaze is constantly backing up our personal files so I feel comfortable w/ this practice), plus probably not stressing the SSDs as much. BUT, are there brands of SSDs that are of higher quality NAND and use OP methods well that you are using and recommending? Thanks as always. Dave

 

[Randy B. Singer]

...are there brands of SSDs that are of higher quality NAND and use OP methods well that you are using and recommending?

I recommend the Samsung SSD's because they perform well (at least for a good while) and they are in a price range that users are comfortable with.

It's possible to get yourself an SSD that's many times faster (assuming that you have a recent Mac to support it), and wildly more reliable. But you are going to pay for it. When I've recommended such external SSD's in the past, folks got mad at me because of the prices.

So, instead, let me suggest that you have a look at these resources:

Here is a spreadsheet will all the hard-to-find specs on SSD's:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...pJKHkOf-Oi1DbuuQva2gT4/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

https://eclecticlight.co/2024/02/20/shopping-for-a-faster-external-ssd/

https://talk.tidbits.com/t/how-to-choose-a-fast-external-ssd-for-your-mac/26845/1

Which external drives have Trim and SMART support?
https://eclecticlight.co/2024/04/09/which-external-drives-have-trim-and-smart-support/

https://www.anandtech.com/show/21170/best-portable-ssds

The very best external SSD is probably one that you put together yourself using a fan-cooled case kit.

Intel makes amazing SSD's, but you will pay for their quality.

No SSD is going to give you everything that you might want. Ideally you would like:
- a good amount of DRAM
- a significant amount of over-provisioning
- support for Apple's TRIM
- support for SMART
- support for USB 4 or, even better, Thunderbolt 3 or 4
- SLC (single-layer cell) NAND memory
- positive cooling to avoid thermal throttling

 

[RadDave]

I recommend the Samsung SSD's because they perform well (at least for a good while) and they are in a price range that users are comfortable with.

It's possible to get yourself an SSD that's many times faster (assuming that you have a recent Mac to support it), and wildly more reliable. But you are going to pay for it. When I've recommended such external SSD's in the past, folks got mad at me because of the prices..............................

No SSD is going to give you everything that you might want. Ideally you would like:
- a good amount of DRAM
- a significant amount of over-provisioning
- support for Apple's TRIM
- support for SMART
- support for USB 4 or, even better, Thunderbolt 3 or 4
- SLC (single-layer cell) NAND memory
- positive cooling to avoid thermal throttling

Thanks Randy for the info and links - that spreadsheet is indeed impressive, just too many to think about - and looking at your list on features of a SSD, not easy to figure out TRIM, SMART, and OP even despite reading several of Howard Oakley's articles.

Today I was looking at some of the offerings at OWC, particularly the Envoy vs. the Envoy Pro shown below along w/ a comparative list of their features - a hundred dollars difference in the 1 TB size - data transfer rate (USB vs. TB), probably chip quality, and the Pro has TRIM - not sure about OP - but I already have nearly $800 invested in my current SSDs so will wait until I need a replacement - just wish there were an app(s) that can test better for these features? Howard's descriptions seem to work but somewhat circuitous for me at least to use - Dave
.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

....too many to think about - and looking at your list on features of a SSD, not easy to figure out TRIM, SMART, and OP...

If you have an Apple Silicon Mac (and thus Thunderbolt 3 or better), and you want the fastest, best, most reliable external SSD, I'd consider getting this external case kit, and putting one together myself:

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Built-in Cooling Fan, Tool-Free External Hard Drive Enclosure, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280(M Key), Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0-TCM2U4
$90
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQWXD2QT/?th=1

Pair it, ideally, with a Samsung 990 Pro:

SAMSUNG 990 Pro 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD 7450MB/s 6900MB/s R/W
$130
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9C3ZVHR/?tag=macforums0e4-20

This, of course, will be more than twice the price of a Samsung T7. However, it will be about FOUR TIMES AS FAST, and always run cool.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Built-in Cooling Fan, Tool-Free External Hard Drive Enclosure, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280(M Key), Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0-TCM2U4
$90
Amazon.com

WOW! As soon as I recommend that case kit, Amazon discontinued it!!!

You can still get it from NewEgg (at an ever better price) though:

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Built-in Cooling Fan, Tool-Free External Hard Drive Enclosure, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280(M Key), Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0-TCM2U4
$70
Are you a human?

 

[Jimmysb]

WOW! As soon as I recommend that case kit, Amazon discontinued it!!!

You can still get it from NewEgg (at an ever better price) though:

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Built-in Cooling Fan, Tool-Free External Hard Drive Enclosure, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280(M Key), Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0-TCM2U4
$70
Are you a human?

Followed the link to the case (Amazon USA), and it is in stock!

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Followed the link to the case (Amazon USA), and it is in stock!

NO! I recommended a 40Gbps case going for $90. What you found was a 10Gbps case going for $25. Amazon no longer lists the caset that I recommended.

I am intrigued by this one, though:

MAIWO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure USB4 Type-C Built-in Turbo Fan Support Thunderbolt4/USB4/3.0/2.0 Tool Free 8TB Capacity Aluminum Alloy for NVMe Size 2280MM
$70 ($60 on checkout with coupon)
https://www.amazon.com/MAIWO-40Gbps-NVMe-Enclosure-Fan/dp/B0CZ767YH6/ref=sr_1_6

 

[RadDave]

WOW! As soon as I recommend that case kit, Amazon discontinued it!!!

You can still get it from NewEgg (at an ever better price) though:

ORICO 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure with Built-in Cooling Fan, Tool-Free External Hard Drive Enclosure, Support 2230 2242 2260 2280(M Key), Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4 USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0-TCM2U4
$70
Are you a human?

Thanks Randy - looked on Amazon for '40 Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures' and there are a slew of choices! Not sure all will handle size-wise the Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB you suggested above? Question on a fan - seems that half of these choices have a fan and the others not - my assumption is that a fan would be most useful if the SSD was being used for super fast reads-writes, like gaming or or viewing 4K/8K action films, and probably not necessary for routine backups (which would be my purpose) - might just pick a combo to see what it can do? Dave

BTW - I use a M2 MBAir and wife a M3 iMac, and System Information shows support for USB 4 and TB 3/4.

​

 

[MacBiter]

Of course, all this is cloned and backed up to hard driives. I'd love to have everything on SSDs and one day, after I win the lottery (yeah right !!) I will

Don't. Yes, SSDs are preferable for many reasons, but unlike HDDs which USUALLY exhibit warning signs before failure giving you a chance to copy your data elsewhere, an SSD can fail without any warning whatever; of course this is not common, but for that reason I'm not ready to abandon all my HDDs just yet.

 

[RadDave]

Don't. Yes, SSDs are preferable for many reasons, but unlike HDDs which USUALLY exhibit warning signs before failure giving you a chance to copy your data elsewhere, an SSD can fail without any warning whatever; of course this is not common, but for that reason I'm not ready to abandon all my HDDs just yet.

Well, the price of SSDs has come down so much in recent years, esp. in the 1 TB range (my needs) that they are much more price competitive w/ HDDs (of course, still cheaper for the same capacity). However, when I upgraded my computers to Apple silicon on the APFS, I also switched over to all SSDs for my backups - on the SSDs those backups to TM & CCC x 2 for both, i.e. 4 SSDs for each of my Mx computers are so fast that I can almost just sit there to wait for a disk swap. Now there are concerns about 'how much' to fill the SSDs (seems less that w/ HDDs) and the other issues brought up in this thread - BUT I now have no external HDDs in the house and am not looking back. Dave

 

[Randy B. Singer]

... unlike HDDs which USUALLY exhibit warning signs before failure giving you a chance to copy your data elsewhere, an SSD can fail without any warning whatever;

That's why it's important to only purchase an external SSD that supports SMART status, or, even better, just get DriveDX, which does very advanced reporting and failure prediction:

DriveDX
$20
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx

There is a fully functional free demo version of DriveDX, if you want to try it out.

 

[MacBiter]

That's why it's important to only purchase an external SSD that supports SMART status, or, even better, just get DriveDX, which does very advanced reporting and failure prediction:

DriveDX
$20
DriveDx - the most advanced drive health diagnostics and monitoring utility

There is a fully functional free demo version of DriveDX, if you want to try it out.

It's also important to install the TRIM app, which evens out the map of SSD usage, rather than finding that some sectors get overused and wearing out. (I expect you already know that deleting files from an SSD doesn't delete all traces of the files, especially where changes have been made to them? That's why Apple discontinued the Secure Empty Trash option from El Capitan).