Consider this a public service announcement.
Samsung’s portable SSDs are some of my favourite tech devices ever but they are not cheap. So when I see they are on special, I act. And so should you! They are fast, light, small, tough and more reliable than cheaper spinning disk drives. I’ve bought all versions since they started and I could not be happier with their performance and longevity.
But after launching for A$599 back in November 2023, the largest capacity version of Samsung’s T-series – the T9 4TB – blew out to almost a thousand dollars RRP. I note with great excitement that the T9 is significantly cheaper at the moment and I’m here to spread the word.
The T9 4TB version is selling for A$629 at JB HI-FI. That’s $270 off the sticker price, more if you go by Samsung’s official site where it’s listed for a staggering RRP of A$969.
The T9 2TB is unchanged at $509 at JB HI-FI but for an extra $120 you’ll get 4TB of portable SSD storage.
The T9 1TB model is $199 at JB HI-FI thanks to a reduction of $80.
I’m not sure how long these drives have been on special but on Samsung’s site it says the offer ends 4 September 2024. In fact, the prices are all over the place when you have a look around. So I’d go for the prices I found at JB HI-FI. Let me know if you found cheaper prices elsewhere.
As I say in the segment with Tim Gilbert on Sky News Weekend Edition above, the T9, T7 and T5 portable SSD drives are essential for my work. Spinning drives are far cheaper but dangerously fragile. I had a horror story on the way back from Mobile World Congress a few years ago when a spinning drive failed on me while going through transit. It cost me A$2,000 to get some, not all of the data back.
Unless you have a rugged drive, the best option is an SSD. So when you spot a deal, you need to act. That’s what I’ll be doing.