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Tech Reviews: Upgrading My External Hard Drives to SSD

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

I tend to keep my files (documents, photos, music & video) on WD external hard drives. I don’t use cloud storage, as I dislike subscription services and their ever increasing prices. Plus, I have a lot of files, so it gets expensive and relies too much on the internet. One of the pluses of external hard drives are that they are portable, so I can physically share larger files with family/friend easily.

But there are minuses with my current system. First transfers for larger files can be slow, second that there’s always a chance of hard drive failure – particularly with external hard drives that have moving parts, like the ones I’m currently using. So I decided that it was time to upgrade to SSD (solid state drives), which boast faster transfer speeds and no moving parts. Think of them as large capacity pen drives.

I opted for two different branded 4TB models, one a Samsung T7 Shield (4TB) and the other SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (4TB). The reason I opted for the Samsung drive is trust in the brand. The reason I opted for SanDisk was because of the colour.

It may sound odd, but different colours enable me to identify my drives more easily. I did try to get a Samsung T7 Shield in blue (in desperation I even considered beige) but both blue and beige 4TB models were out of stock everywhere.

Here’s my first impression of each model:

Samsung T7 Shield (4TB) first impressions:

  • It’s tiny. It literally fits in the palm of my hand, see image above.
  • It has this soft, ridged feel which makes it really nice to hold.
  • It feels like a quality product.
  • It comes with x2 USB cables. One is USB C to C and the other is USB C to B.
  • It gets warm, but nowhere near as hot as the Scan Disk.
  • It was easy to set up and use. It’s literally plug and play.
  • Its copy speed really varied. I can’t be sure if this is the new drive or due to my old one.
  • Had a cool blue blinking light to indicate that the drive is in use.
  • Good for multitasking.
  • I have complete confidence in the Samsung brand.
  • There are a range of cases you can purchase to keep it in.

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (4TB) first impressions:

  • It’s tiny. It literally fits in the palm of my hand, see image above.
  • Its firmware was up-to-date. This was a nightmare to check, SanDisk’s website is easy enough to find to check. But seeing the tiny serial number on the back of the device I found difficult.
  • It feels nice in the hand and has a hole for attaching to backpacks, not that I’ll ever use this feature.
  • It was easy to set up.
  • It gets very hot during use.
  • It is much faster than my previous hard drive.
  • I am concerned about failure or data loss as I found this video online when looking for reviews of the product, after I bought the product and was waiting delivery. I probably wouldn’t have bought this product had I have known this information prior to purchase:

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Open "Storaxa Kickstarter NAS August Update – Case Revealed, Testing, SD Card Issues Continue, Sample Unit" directly
  • I decided based on this video to use this drive up as a back up one, rather than a main drive as originally intended.
  • It is USB C but comes with a USB B adapter for those that might require it.
  • Practically silent operation.
  • Very good when multitasking.
  • There are a range of cases you purchase to keep the device in.

Blog soon,

Antony

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The Issue All Authors Have

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

The issue all authors have is reaching their audience. I believe every book has an audience and it is the authors job to find the audience for their book(s). There’s a lot written about using social media to help an author find their book’s audience, but I have come to feel that this is really only good for family and friends.

My latest two books haven’t done well sales wise, despite being great books, each in the own way.

So I have decided to run an advertising campaign on Amazon for 1 month for my health-related books: Ways The Human Body Can Go Wrong, The Alcohol Therapy Workbook and Mental Health Wisdom.

I’m also looking into another project with My Royal Navy Friend, but I can’t share details about this right now.

My Best Wishes,

Antony

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My Royal Navy Friend: Week 12 – How to Fight a Shark “This chapter is Hilarious!”

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

From my recent book: My Royal Navy Friend, another friend insisted this was hilarious and that I share it with you. So here goes:

Hey Roy,

Picture the scene, you’re on a ship but forced to jump into the cold ocean waters as it’s sinking. It isn’t long before you attract some unwanted attention. Sharks. They begin circling you and you know it won’t be long before you have to fight for your life.

Here’s my survival guide to this scenario:

  1. Identify the type of sharks circling you. I’m sad to say that most sharks are carnivorous and would seek to gobble you up. However bonnethead sharks are vegetarian for 62% of the time, eating seagrass.
  2. Don’t play dead. Sharks are smart and will know you are faking it. They’re also not opposed to eating dead humans.
  3. Remain calm, keep eyes on them at all times and make sudden sporadic movements in an attempt to scare the sharks.
  4. Look around for any weapons or things that could be used as weapons. Use whatever you find in your battle with the sharks.
  5. If it’s hand to fin battle, focus your attention on the vulnerable parts of the sharks: their eyes, noses and gills. Avoid the mouth at all costs due to the sharp teeth.
  6. I once heard a story of a man who was attacked by a shark and successfully fended it off by punching it in the nose. I don’t know how true this story is. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so definitely worth a try.
  7. If you see a dolphin or a pod of dolphins call on them for help. They generally like humans and sharks are apparently afraid of them.
  8. Don’t under any circumstances try to swim away. Sharks will see this as a sign of weakness and besides which, they can swim quicker than you. So trying to swim away would be a pointless waste of energy.
  9. If all else fails, try to reason with the sharks. Explain to them the reasons they shouldn’t eat you. You could even tell them jokes or sing them a song in exchange for sparing your life.

That’s it for this week.

Big Hugs,

Antony

Royal Navy Fact:
The Royal Navy is responsible for the Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD). The CASD is also known as the nuclear deterrent. This is a series of submarines equipped with nuclear Trident II missiles.

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