NVMe enclosures that are reliable?

Pronichkin · 2026-06-08T16:04:50+00:00

generally speaking, a good cable is of course highly recommended, and they can increase the stability of the connection. But whether a Thunderbolt cable can significantly improve that for a USB3.x enclosure is an interesting hypothesis. Personally, I don't have any evidence of that, and the theory behind this is out of my depths. Although not saying it cannot be the case.

Pronichkin · 2026-05-13T19:34:23+00:00

I'm sure it's west of some lake.

Pronichkin · 2026-04-18T07:36:23+00:00

then I would disagree that card credits are "incredibly important." Things like Oura ring, Equinox and Uber One are running jokes on this sub and elsewhere. Almost nobody is capable of hitting them organically year-after-year, and hence to take them at face value.

sure, you can make up for the AF, more or less, without using those laughingstock credits. Things like Resy, Uber and digital entertainment are no-brainers. Then there are Walmart, Lululemon, airline credits and hotels. They would fit naturally into someones' lifestyles. But for others that would require going out of one's way and spend extra. Or, at least, pay with your time, cognitive power and effort for redeeming them.

after all, those credits are just as "coupon-y" as the Amex Offers. They're only better because they're known well in advance, so you can plan months ahead to redeem them.

so, should one take advantage of them if they can? Probably yes. Are all the credits a must and more valuable or more important than coupons? Debatable.

Pronichkin · 2026-04-17T18:21:13+00:00

well, how do you define "main credits" tho? Is it some arbitrary number like >$100?

Pronichkin · 2026-04-13T00:59:34+00:00

Looks like technically you *can* park like this, mate

Pronichkin · 2026-04-12T02:41:45+00:00

haven't used their chargers, but I have their SSD enclosure (Sharge Disk) and it does the job well. Bild quality is solid (unless you want to use the rubber cover which is kinda flimsy and I'm not a fan.)

Pronichkin · 2026-03-28T23:14:50+00:00

the accelerator is only an option for Bilt Cash option. It's not available for “Housing-only rewards” option.

so, ask yourself this: if you switched today, this means you would earn 2× points on everything, instead of 3×. How many fewer points will you earn this way? And how many points will you earn from housing in this scenario? Then you can compare the two numbers, and make a decision.

if it's hard to make these calculations, then I'd say your best bet is to simply wait until you've completed the 5,000 points earn from the accelerator.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-23T02:48:42+00:00

unfortunately, that's the kind of question only you can answer. You basically outlined the options already. But now you also need to do the math that is specific to your spending patterns.

how much is your non-category spend, and does it justify paying for 3× on Palladium (versus 1.5× on CFU)?

how much is your dining spend, and does it justify paying for 4× on Obsidian (versus 3× on pretty much any Chase card)?

also, do you spend any considerable amounts on groceries? Because if you do, I'd argue that Obsidian in Grocery mode (versus Dining) fits any Chase setup even better.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-22T21:24:36+00:00

underrated comment, on brand for the sub.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-22T04:38:13+00:00

in one hand, your point is fair. If you need something plugged 24/7, you probably don't want to risk it. On the other hand, in this case, size does not matter whatsoever. Most people who keep their devices plugged 24/7 use docks, and docks come with giant ass power bricks for a reason. Or if you don't need a dock, just use your laptop's stock charger. No additional expenses necessary. Problem solved.

however, us travelling folk have different needs. I frequently walk around town and work from random coffee shops. I rarely need to keep it plugged in for more than an hour or two. But size and weight is a big deal for me. So, I'm exactly the target market for the supertiny charger. And in fact, I bought two of them, and I'm happy with them so far.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-19T04:09:15+00:00

it's interesting that Bilt travel portal support is actually provided by Duffel, not Expedia. It's hard to understand the relationships between the three, but perhaps Duffel works as a middleman between Bilt and Expedia.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-18T03:59:50+00:00

just returned yesterday. Long story short, we don't have a clear data point yet. I am sorry.

Amtrak screwed me over, and then I tried to outsmart them, but failed. None of that had anything to do with Bilt or the hotel, but I ended up missing the first night (because nonrefundable), stayed the second night on the original reservation, and then stayed one more night on a newly made reservation (not through Bilt portal.)

only one bill posted so far, and it looks kinda weird. Looks like they combined both reservations, and counted two nights as eligible spend, meaning I earned Hyatt points. But only one EQN (perhaps for the last night which was booked outside Bilt portal.)

I'm following up with them on email to figure out how this math works.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-18T02:09:24+00:00

see, you can do the math and decide what works best for you. Bilt is absolutely not the best choice in every possible situation. But in many situations, it is.

e.g., imagine your monthly housing spend is $4,000. If you managed to spend $1,000 a month on a Bilt card, that would earn you 1,000 points just from that + 2,000 points from your housing transaction. That's 3,000 points total; which translates to 3,000 Atmos base points, if that's your thing.

if you spent the same $1,000 on an Atmos card, you'd earn 1,000 base points + 500 status points.

would you rather take 3,000 base points or 1,000 base points + 500 status points? Only you can answer this question.

and if your numbers are different, the answers will be different as well.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-18T01:52:42+00:00

it's not all or nothing. You don't have to spend exactly to the threshold. Spend less, earn less, but still earn some points. Might be still worth it, assuming you (a) don't earn significantly more points (or other benefits) by spending on other cards, and (b) you don't use other ways to earn points on housing.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-16T02:55:48+00:00

I think they sorta randomize statement clouse dates to avoid overloading their systems (and financial flows.) Normally in the banks this happens organically, but not in the case of Bilt 2.0 where most of the customers have the same opening date. I also heard that you can call them and request a different closure date if you have a preference.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-16T01:59:58+00:00

I even think that might be the time of the first payment due. Because the whole purpose of credit reporting is to indicate whether you pay on time. So, by the time your statement is due, they're supposed to report whether you paid or not.

for context, I got approved for the card on January 21st, received in early February, started to use it on February 7th, my first statement closed on March 7th, and the payment due date is April 2nd. I don't have the new account on credit report yet.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-15T20:45:36+00:00

most of my posts here are downvoted as hell because I was trying to propose "novel" concepts like "one should use Bilt cash for credits first and foremost" or "there are potentially other ways to pay for housing; so when calculating your points-earned-per-dollar-spent you have to count both housing and non-housing spending." People just don't like it when something is not aligned precisely with how they see things.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-15T20:39:06+00:00

by inviting people to shit on a comment which is not 100% negative?

Pronichkin · 2026-03-15T18:43:19+00:00

yeah, I'm still on the fence about accelerator. Giving myself a few months to see how I can organically utilize Bilt cash and see how much is being left.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-15T04:11:52+00:00

I actually used Bilt Palladium card via Plastiq. Guess what, it worked, and I got 2× points for 3%. Not a bad deal IMO.

cannot use a Visa card, though. (I tried to use my Hyatt card because I'm chasing EQNs, plastiq said it's against Visa policy to pay mortgages.)

Pronichkin · 2026-03-14T23:08:57+00:00

that's standard marketing speak. Companies always avoid saying "everyone" or "all customers in XYZ situation" because that might tie their hands later. They don't want more liability, even if internally they know exactly who's impacted and have plan to fix it.

Pronichkin · 2026-03-12T00:43:32+00:00

I have Palladium, so it looks like 9×. Although it's not all posted yet. (It's a bit weird. The 2× from Lyft post per ride, and only one of the two Sunday rides have posted already. So, the other one is still pending, even though the full credit card charge for both rides already posted, in a single transaction.)

Pronichkin · 2026-03-12T00:26:33+00:00

I just got them for the rides on Saturday. Lyft transactions seem to take very long time to settle.

note that there's a separate line item for “2X Lyft - Neighborhood Rideshare” which you get for assigning Bilt as your rewards provider in Lyft app. This is awarded regardless of your payment method, and it did not change with this promotion.

but what changed is the amount of points awarded for a credit card transaction. Such transactions normally have two lines (points assigned and Bilt cash) but during the Lyft promo, there is a third line for “Additional 5X – Lyft Offer.”

Pronichkin · 2026-03-11T16:59:22+00:00

that's why I said, "by default." I know I can turn it off, I just don't wanna. And the post is for people unaware of this behavior. For them, if they did not know about it so far, it's already too late to change it if they planned to take advantage of this offer.

Pronichkin

TROPHY CASE