Michel Duar

Michel is a young author from Brittany with a passion for writing, the web and the simple pleasures of everyday life. Based in Brittany, he shares his thoughts, discoveries and favorites on this blog, with an authentic pen and a curious eye for the world around him. Between wilderness, local cafés and seaside strolls, Michel draws his inspiration from everyday life and encounters that make a lasting impression. Through his articles, he invites us to slow down, observe, and take the time to live life to the full.

Bluesky

Articles by Michel

Two premium portable SSDs side by side on a desk

Buying Guides Aug 15, 2026

Samsung T9 vs SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD

Samsung T9 vs SanDisk Extreme PRO portable SSD: both near 2000 MB/s and about $350. Compare speed on real USB links, IP65 ruggedness, software and encryption, and which drive fits desk docks versus field kits.

Michel Duar

8 min read

Best NAS hard drives for home 2026 - WD Red Plus and Seagate IronWolf on a desk next to a NAS enclosure

Buying Guides Aug 14, 2026

Best NAS Hard Drives for Home in 2026 (CMR for Synology and QNAP)

Choosing the right NAS hard drive makes a real difference for reliability and RAID performance. This guide covers the best CMR drives for home Synology and QNAP NAS units in 2026, with a clear SMR warning and a full product comparison table.

Michel Duar

6 min read

Two silver NAS hard drives standing upright on a light shelf

Buying Guides Aug 13, 2026

IronWolf vs WD Red Plus: Which NAS HDD to Buy?

IronWolf 4TB (~$99.99) vs WD Red Plus 4TB (~$114.99): both CMR NAS drives. Workload, Rescue vs NASware, noise, and which to buy by bay count.

Michel Duar

5 min read

Dual-bay hard drive enclosure next to camera and memory cards

Buying Guides Aug 12, 2026

USB Dock vs Dual-Bay DAS for Photographers in 2026

Should photographers use a USB-C dock with a portable SSD or invest in a dedicated dual-bay enclosure for their RAW archive? This guide compares both setups across day-shoot ingestion and long-term home archive workflows to help you choose the right tool.

Michel Duar

5 min read

Compact black four-bay network storage enclosure on a wooden desk beside ethernet cables

Buying Guides Aug 11, 2026

UGREEN NAS as an Alternative to Synology

Considering a Synology alternative? We compare the UGREEN DXP4800 Pro (i3-1315U, 8GB DDR5, 10GbE, 4-bay, about $679.99) to the classic DS224+ path, with clear trade-offs on apps, support, and who should switch.

Michel Duar

8 min read

microSD cards and adapter on a light desk

Buying Guides Aug 10, 2026

Best Reliable microSD Cards in 2026 (Without the Fakes)

Fake microSD cards still flood marketplaces. We pick Samsung PRO Plus and other brand-name cards worth buying for phones, GoPro, drones, and Switch, with Amazon links and red flags to avoid.

Michel Duar

5 min read

WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe SSD on a gaming PC motherboard

Buying Guides Aug 08, 2026

WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB Review: Gaming NVMe Storage

Review of the WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB Gen4 NVMe: up to 7300/6300 MB/s, M.2 2280, street price near $520.78, and ~4.8 stars from thousands of Amazon ratings. Who needs 4TB for gaming libraries, what the specs mean in practice, and when a cheaper drive is enough.

Michel Duar

8 min read

Three 1TB NVMe SSDs on a white surface - Crucial P3 Plus, Kingston NV2, WD Black SN770 side by side

Buying Guides Aug 07, 2026

Best Internal 1TB NVMe SSDs Under $80 in 2026

The 1TB NVMe SSD market offers excellent value under $80 in 2026. Crucial P3 Plus, Kingston NV2, and WD Black SN770 are compared on speed, endurance, and real-world value. Includes DRAM cache explained and installation tips.

Michel Duar

7 min read

Two black M.2 NVMe SSDs side by side on a light desk

Buying Guides Aug 06, 2026

Crucial T500 vs Samsung 990 EVO Plus: Which Wins?

Crucial T500 (~$369.50, up to 7400/7000) vs Samsung 990 EVO Plus (~$379.99, up to 7250/6300). Speed, Adobe vs Magician, and which NVMe fits your workload.

Michel Duar

5 min read

WD Purple surveillance hard drive next to a home NVR device

Buying Guides Aug 05, 2026

Best Hard Drives for Home Surveillance and NVR in 2026

Not all hard drives belong in a surveillance system. Continuous 24/7 recording demands a drive rated for the workload. This guide covers the WD Purple and Seagate SkyHawk lines, how to size storage for your camera count, and why desktop drives fail prematurely in NVR setups.

Michel Duar

5 min read

Close-up of a silver enterprise hard drive on a clean workbench

Buying Guides Aug 04, 2026

Is a Recertified Seagate Exos Drive a Scam?

Recertified Seagate Exos drives look cheap next to new enterprise HDDs. Here is what recertified actually means, the real risks, and when a 16TB Exos listing around $279.99 is worth it.

Michel Duar

5 min read

Tools Aug 03, 2026

TCO of Storage: How to Calculate the Real Cost of Your Drives

The cheapest drive at checkout is rarely the cheapest to own. Learn how to calculate the true five-year cost of a storage drive by adding purchase price, power, replacement, and downtime. Includes a worked HDD vs SSD vs NAS comparison and practical ways to lower your total cost of ownership without raising risk.

Michel Duar

5 min read

About Michel

Michel Duar

@michelduar56

Author Stats

Articles:

Member since: Jul 2025

Back to Blog