I'm a college student in Germany and need to store more than 100 hours of lecture recordings from two semesters. I'm considering a 256 GB SanDisk Ultra Luxe USB drive advertised at up to 400 MB/s, but I'm unsure whether that will be enough or whether I should choose 512 GB instead. How can I estimate the required capacity, and does the advertised transfer speed or USB 3.0 versus USB 3.2 make much difference for this use?
3 Answers
For a large video collection, I’d choose an external SSD instead of a thumb drive. It’s generally faster, more practical for repeated transfers, and less awkward for storing a lot of data. An external hard drive can also work if you mainly want inexpensive bulk storage and don’t need high speed.
The 400 MB/s figure is a maximum sequential speed, not a guarantee. Your computer, USB port, source drive, and the actual drive controller can all limit the transfer rate. USB 3.0 and USB 3.2 can be perfectly adequate for copying lecture videos, but capacity and reliability matter more than chasing the highest advertised speed.
The best first step is to check the total size of the video files you already have, or look at the file size and duration of a typical lecture and estimate from that. Video quality and compression make a huge difference, so 100 hours alone isn’t enough to determine whether 256 GB will fit. Leave some spare space rather than buying a drive that will be nearly full.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload