External solid state drives were once relegated as travel companions. But now, thanks to their larger capacity and impressive speed, I find myself relying on them more for everyday work. Such has been the case with the Crucial 1TB X8 External USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Solid-State Drive.

A recent example is how it's helped me with a Final Cut X project. I use the X8 during the production phase to house the library and assets for my Digitizing Family Memories video course.

The Crucial SSD relieves disk space from the iMac and is much faster than an external HDD (much faster!). I can blaze through the project with it, then copy the entire bundle to my RAID 1 afterward for archiving. I really noticed a positive difference during activities such as rendering the video out of Final Cut.

Plus, those who work with Final Cut know that it can be temperamental about hard drives used to store its assets. Of all my options, the Crucial X8 has been the most reliable as well. Like I said, these just aren't for travel anymore.

The Crucial X8 is a sleek, solid, handsome drive. It feels like a quality hardware device. It slips easily into my pocket or backpack for transport. And I don't have to baby it since there are no moving parts.

But its performance has been the star of the show. Who would have ever thought that with all the great movie-making hardware that I use, that a $165 pocket-sized SSD would steal the spotlight. And yet is has.

The Crucial 1TB X8 External Solid-State Drive is available now for $165. I highly recommend it.

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