Add Storage to Your Laptop

It may be easier than you think to add storage to your laptop. There’s one port most people overlook – the SDXC port – which most people use for camera cards. Many cameras now transfer photos via WiFi so there’s no need to swap SD cards. This leaves a port open to put a 32gb, 64gb, 128gb, 256gb, or 512gb SDXC card in for storage.

Here are a few cards:

32GB Sandisk (Lifetime Warranty)

64GB SanDisk (Lifetime Warranty)

128GB SanDisk (Lifetime Warranty)

256GB SanDisk (Lifetime Warranty) (I have this one)

512gb SanDisk (Lifetime Warranty) (I want this one!)

A few cautions:

• You should always back up your SDXC card as there is a possibility of losing the data, although less so if you are not inserting and removing constantly.
• You should make sure the card does not “protrude” (more on that later) because it could cause damage if it gets bumped around in your bag.
• You should make sure the card doesn’t pop out if your slot is “spring loaded”. A simple piece of tape over the slot can ‘catch’ the card if it pops out.

If you are using a MacBook Pro that has an SD Slot, there is a twist to this:

I have always used an SDXC card as a secondary drive on my windows machine. The issue with MBP’s is it sticks out…the ports on MBP’s are shorter and they protrude so you can’t use them for permanent storage.

But they make these adapters…

So you buy a micro SD – the same you would for an android phone or many new cameras, maybe 64gb or 128gb and pop the microsd (not included) into this adapter and boom…secondary drive. Why would you do this? If you’re rendering video even on an SSD you need space. So you put your OTHER files like word docs, graphics, etc on this. It’s good to back it up periodically because it IS flash storage, but otherwise it’s a great way to keep the SSD clean and ready to render video.

The adapters are different by model. Here are a few:

You will also need a MicroSD card. I suggest going to 128gb but your adapter may support 256gb:

You will need to buy an SDXC card separately but this gives you maximum flexibility and scalability.

Hope all is well in the new reality!