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I’m a creative professional – here’s why the SanDisk Desk Drive is the centerpiece of my desk setup

Harry November 12, 2024

“You never know when you’ll need it again.” This is the siren song for your typical data hoarder—a title I’ll wear as a badge of honor, as I have many years of photos, invoices, my life manager, A-roll and B-roll captures, and more on my site. my fingertips.

So what is the best driver you can get for this? While I use the SanDisk Extreme Portable for my outdoor adventures, I also chose the same brand for my desk setup and chose the SanDisk Desk Drive.

Packing superior speeds and impressive reliability into a small disk size, this is best for data hoarders who like a clean look on the desk. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, because its list price of $379 is too high. But think of it as choosing between buying a cheap, used station wagon that will break down after a few hours on the road, or a supercar.

You can always choose the value option, but this is the zero regret option. And you’ll never find a $100 discount on a supercar!

Manual or Automatic? It’s not important!

SanDisk Desktop Drive

(Image credit: Future)

Before we get into the real part of why I love this ride, let’s give a brief introduction. You’re probably used to software that comes with an SSD that feels like an afterthought and that you quickly delete and start using your drive. Don’t worry, I’m the same!

But thanks to the fluidity and pure automation power of Acronis True Image, you’ll have to rethink this decision. Simply put, it has the ability to backup literally everything on your computer and clone internal drives on a scheduled basis. This provides a way to recover files you may have lost.

Note that there is a major limitation that may be an example to some; If you’re a hybrid data hoarder between your SSD and cloud drive like Google Drive, you can’t make that the primary home of all your information. The software cannot pull this data into an offline backup. But for those who need a quick and easy way to back up and recover the information they have, Acronis is a great option on this drive.

Stylish speed demon

SanDisk Desktop Drive

(Image credit: Future)

So for context, I have the 8TB model because I have about 6 years of YouTube footage, Twitch stream recordings, RAW photos, and over a decade of documents, music, and (most importantly of course) memes in my offline vault. Whether it’s a photo of the Toyota Celica rally car I took at Goodwood, a B-roll snippet from Gadget Show Live 2011, or even a motivational Doge meme, I have it all at my fingertips.

And it has proven its worth far more than I expected. Honestly, I believed the driver would give me a look that would bring back some memories. But when you’re struggling to find a file from over 10 years ago, you never realize how many important memories you have until you experience the convenience of tons of storage on a drive like Desk Drive.

SanDisk Desktop Drive

(Image credit: Future)

On top of that, it’s pretty fast for what you get. Of course, since this is an external drive, adjust your expectations accordingly; I will never achieve the same incredible speeds as mine. M3 Pro MacBook Prointernal SSD.

However, with speeds of around 880 MB/s read and 900 MB/s write when the USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface is under constant pressure, the Desk Drive is ready to handle large files with ease. In fact, running a Final Cut Pro library file entirely from the drive provides nearly the same fast experience as when I use the MacBook Pro’s internal drive; Instant playback of 4K timeline without frame skipping.

hiding in a glitch

So let’s address the little elephant in the room. Yes, this is technically a bit big for an external SSD. But when I compare it to older desk hard drives I’ve owned, I find that the SanDisk Desk Drive is very small at 3.9 x 3.9 x 1.6 inches—plus its 0.6-pound weight makes it easy to move and store around your setup (where previously paste it below (as I did).

Even if you don’t have the option to hide it, there’s no shame in showing it off, because this award-winning design is a pretty utilitarian stunner in my opinion (I love the dynamic red glow in the middle).

SanDisk Desktop Drive

(Image credit: Future)

However, there are a few things you need to know regarding this design and purpose. Not a deal breaker by any means, just some caveats. First of all, this is a desk drive, so you need to use a power outlet.

I know this might be a bit of an “aha” moment, but honestly, given the speeds you can get from other much smaller drives without a power cord, it boggles my mind. I can get 200 MB/s faster read and write speeds than SanDisk’s own Extreme Portable drive, and I’m not adding any additional power to it. What does this trend actually do?

Secondly, although there is nothing to worry about with long-term use (the 3-year warranty will help in this regard too), but with long-term use the drive gets a little warm. Speeds don’t drop, but you can feel it getting warmer, which understandably worried me at first.

Appearance

If the above two issues aren’t a deal-breaker for you, here’s one of the best desktop SSDs money can buy for Black Friday at an even cheaper price!

SanDisk’s Desk Drive is an attractive top-to-bottom drive with storage capacity to handle even the biggest hoarders. Whether you’re a remote worker who wants to keep more data offline or a home user who wants the security of keeping things backed up, this is a long-term investment that will last you a long time.

P.S. Desk Drive has no Black Friday deals in the UK yetbut given the price cuts I’ve seen in the US, it’s fair to assume there will be savings coming to my British friends too.

Semainede4jours

Semainede4jours

I’m a creative professional – here’s why the SanDisk Desk Drive is the centerpiece of my desk setup

Harry

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I’m a creative professional – here’s why the SanDisk Desk Drive is the centerpiece of my desk setup

Harry

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