Interesting reading. Which systems that the Pi4 can emulate would actually be affected by the read speed that USB2 or SD cards can deliver?

I usually transfer new games from my phone or my PC so my WI/FI and Ethernet speeds would probably be the limiting factor for writing speed for me.

Have you tried microcenter they are not too bad like 50$.

480 ssd are going for around 50$ may be the way to go but you would have to get a external enclousure.