One of the primary issues with today's consoles is storage. Games continue to increase in installation size, making the seemingly immense 500 GB storage too small, as that leaves room for only a few titles. For Xbox One owners, there are a few options to increase storage such as Western Digital's My Passport X external hard drive with 2 TB of storage or (if you didn't get an Xbox One yet) the recently announced 1 TB version of the console.
PlayStation 4 owners don't have this luxury, because it only allows transfers of saved data files, not the actual game itself. Other than replacing the internal 2.5-inch drive with a bigger capacity, we briefly mentioned another solution in the past: Nyko's Data Bank for PlayStation 4. First revealed six months ago at CES, the storage expansion device is finally on sale for $39.99.
The purpose of the Data Bank is to replace the 2.5-inch drive inside the console with a 3.5-inch drive. To do this, the Data Bank replaces the top plate of the PS4. You will have to take out the internal drive because the Data Bank needs that slot for a SATA connector. Once it's in place, you insert the 3.5-inch drive at the top of the device, and you're ready to go. A small LED light also illuminates to indicate that data is being processed onto the drive.
The switch to 3.5-inch drives is a logical one. The bigger drives are more commonly used in many devices, not to mention that it's also a cheaper storage solution. Furthermore, the 2.5-inch drive in the PS4 has a speed of only 5400 RPM, and with a 3.5-inch drive not only can you get a wider range of capacities but also better performance.
As for the Data Bank itself, its selling price is rather cheap. Combine that with an additional purchase of a 3.5-inch drive of your choosing, and you can easily double or even triple your storage for around $100.
Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.