It has been a bit since I have purchased an external drive so I am looking for recommendations of an external bus-powered solid-state device that I'm wanting to present as a gift to a student filmmaker. He has an Intel Mac (2019 edition) with Thunderbolt/USB-C and uses Adobe products in his program (but also has access to Apple's professional audio and video apps). I was thinking of purchasing a 1 to 4 terabyte drive but I am on a budget so I don't have hundreds of dollars for the project. I am aware that read/write speed is useful for a drive working with audio and video. I welcome any ideas for this drive and will try to answer any questions that I can. I don't think he will be producing long audio, video, and After Effects projects but the complexity of what he is required to produce is ramping up with his advancement in the program. Thanks for any help or suggestions you can give!
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Recommended Solid State Drive for Student Filmmaker
- Thread starter wncmacs
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Whatever you choose, working on a single SSD (or HD) for a video editor is a recipe for future catastrophe.
Especially if education grades depend on it.
An everyday working copy is essential, and a further up to date long term storage ‘backup’ for peace of mind.
So it’s a complicated answer to your question.
Assuming an existing backup drive, and a good existing internal working drive, then probably a USB-C SSD would be sufficient. Thunderbolt 3 is much better/compatible but more expensive.
Buy the best you can afford from a manufacturer who has a working relationship with Apple to ensure better compatibility.
WD SSDs have a reputation of working well with Apple, especially NVMe ones.
Samsung T7/T9 USB-C as well.
Especially if education grades depend on it.
An everyday working copy is essential, and a further up to date long term storage ‘backup’ for peace of mind.
So it’s a complicated answer to your question.
Assuming an existing backup drive, and a good existing internal working drive, then probably a USB-C SSD would be sufficient. Thunderbolt 3 is much better/compatible but more expensive.
Buy the best you can afford from a manufacturer who has a working relationship with Apple to ensure better compatibility.
WD SSDs have a reputation of working well with Apple, especially NVMe ones.
Samsung T7/T9 USB-C as well.
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This drive is more a "working" drive for his projects to be used in the Mac lab at the school, with archives in the cloud and on a stand-alone external hard drive that he already owns. I just want to get something that will serve him well that is easy to carry and reliable.Whatever you choose, working on a single SSD (or HD) for a video editor is a recipe for future catastrophe.
Especially if education grades depend on it.
An everyday working copy is essential, and a further up to date long term storage ‘backup’ for peace of mind.
So it’s a complicated answer to your question.
Assuming an existing backup drive, and a good existing internal working drive, then probably a USB-C SSD would be sufficient. Thunderbolt 3 is much better but more expensive.
Buy the best you can afford from a manufacturer who has a working relationship with Apple to ensure better compatibility.
WD SSDs have a reputation of working well with Apple.
Samsung T7 Shield provides significant value.A Samsung T* Shield is a good option.
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