Internal SSD as External Storage?

[SanJoseSharks]

Hi I'm planning on getting a late 2013 13.3 inch Macbook Pro Retina, but it only has 256gb of SSD storage on it. I want to get some extra storage to accompany the 256 GB. But Apple removed the optical bay from their new macbooks so I cant replace it with a 2.5" enclosure so I've decided to go with an external SSD. To get an external drive with thunderbolt is expensive and to get one with a thunderbolt and a SSD is friggin' ridiculously expensive. So I am making my own external drive. I thought I'd post my idea here In case anyone can tell me if it'll work or use it themselves.

 

Anyway, I'm going to be using a thunderbolt to sata adapter and Seagate makes a very good one for about 70 bucks.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HQCARY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2L77EE7U53NWQ

 

Then I'm using a 512 GB Crucial MX100 SSD for around 200 dollars.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFAGCUM/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

And finally I'll need a thunderbolt cable because the adapter does NOT come with one

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B3Y4U4E/ref=gno_cart_title_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1QVMECZ877ESV

 

Total Price=300.13

Or you can save 40 bucks or so on the adapter and grab a USB 3.0 hard drive enclosure to put your SSD in. It's a cheaper slightly less powerful alternative.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Anker%C2%AE-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404151549&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+3.0+to+sata

 

To get an external SSD with Thunderbolt interface with the same storage costs 500 dollars. So I think I'm saving 200 dollars with my idea. Again if anyone sees any compatibility issues with this current set-up PLEASE let me know.

[aricleather]

This looks pretty cool.

 

Personally I would get a 2.5" USB 3.0 enclosure, because the new Macbook Pros have USB 3 ports. USB 3 supports 5Gbps, which is 625MBps. Most SSDs cap out at around 500-550-ish MBps read/write speeds, so it should work just fine.

[SanJoseSharks]

This looks pretty cool.

 

Personally I would get a 2.5" USB 3.0 enclosure, because the new Macbook Pros have USB 3 ports. USB 3 supports 5Gbps, which is 625MBps. Most SSDs cap out at around 500-550-ish MBps read/write speeds, so it should work just fine.

I did some research and it seems you're right! Thunderbolt is faster than USB 3.0 for SSD's but isn't that much faster unless its being used with several drives or a RAID 0 configuration. Thanks for the advice! (Made changes in the OP.)