Solid State Drives (SSD) for consumer and photographer use are both more reliable and significantly faster than their Hard Disk Drive (HDD) predecessors. SSD’s consist of fewer movable parts which helps to prevent misaligning and equipment failure. These drives, found in many new computers, including my Mac Book Pro, are also more resilient in the case of accidental drops and extreme temperature changes. New products are coming onto the market and recently I’ve been doing research to replace my portable HDD with a more dependable SSD. Here are the top three I’m considering:
1. LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt
Adding to their line of rugged hard drives in the same rubber padded orange design, LaCie offers both 250GB and 500GB options for their SSD drives. They boast 387MB/s, providing blinding fast speed to process your images. LaCie drives come with a three-year limited warranty and is shock, dust and water resistant. 250GB for $299
2. Aegis Portable 3.0
The Aegis Portable is virtually shock and vibration immune and completely silent when working. With its integrated USB 3.0 cable, there’s no need to pack and remember cords. Included is a padded travel pouch to protect the drive when moving between locations. Read-write speeds of 360MB/s and a three-year warranty provide quick and worry free usage. 256GB for $279
3. Samsung Portable SSD T1
Samsung has taken the powerful performance of an internal SSD and added security using a password and encryption technology to secure valuable data. This SSD is, amazingly, the size of a business card and the perfect pocket portfolio to tote anywhere. With read-write speeds of up to 450 MB/s, your data can be transferred and loaded with ease. The sleek design consists of laser patterning and black chrome metal finishing. 500GB for $299
