SSD vs HDD

[A§H»Stealth]

In the process of looking at a new computer, the last decision I am faced with is a choice between SSD and HDD. I've done a bit of research on the benefits and drawbacks of both. Is there a noticeable difference in boot time/response time with a SSD? Which do you guys prefer?

My choices are:
750GB HDD (no cost)
1TB HDD (extra $90)
128GB SSD (extra $90)
256GB SSD (extra $270)
And 512GB SSD (extra $540)

All HDD's are SATA's @5400 RPM. All SSD's are third gen SATA solid states.

I'd like to find a balance between price, storage size, and speed. Going for a smaller size and an external drive is an option, especially if this comes with a large increase in speed.

Thanks ahead of time for your thoughts.

Stealth

[A§H»WillRok]

7200 RPM HDD's will get you anywhere from 30Mb/s to 90Mb/s transfer speed depending on the drive you get, whereas a OCZ Vertex 4 I believe SSD will get you about 500Mb/s+ read AND write speed.
http://ocz.com/consumer/vertex-4-sata-3-ssd

I would suggest going with at least a 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 SSD for your boot drive and then get at least a 320GB HDD for data (unless you need more). External drives shouldn't be used for anything except for backups and storage because there transfer speeds are horrible. A 5400 RPM drive would also not be the best thing to get unless its a laptop that your looking at and a 5400 RPM drive is all they have.

If you can I'd say get the OCZ SSD (at least a 128GB one for OS) and if possible a 7200 RPM HDD that's at least 320GB.



I will say this, having a SSD is all fine and dandy but if you put your OS and a couple of programs on there you will only get fast boot times and the programs will be a little faster that are on the drive. If your like me and you leave your computer on 24/7 I would highly recommend not having the SSD as your boot drive, especially if you are a gamer. If you aren't planning on turning your pc on and off frequently I would recommend trying to get a bit bigger SSD (256GB+) for your games so that the load times for them will be good.

[A§H»Stealth]

For a little clarification, this is a laptop I'm going to get. Everything comes straight from the manufacturer at the time of purchase, so I won't have the option of adding an aftermarket hard drive without getting a factory one and opening the case to replace it. Given my very small technical know-how and lack of appropriate tools, replacing the factory hard drive is only a last-ditch event.

For fear of being fragged, I will refrain from posting the make and model of the computer. However, I will state what I plan for it's use. If you don't care what I do with it, you can skip to the next paragraph. A laptop computer is required for all incoming students at the university I will be attending in the fall. So this will be everything for me: how I take notes in class, how I do research at the library, and how I play games at home. Primarily, therefore, it is academic. I need no extras for academia, but faster program boot times would be nice. I'll probably end up shutting it down every night, if nothing else, to mute the lights that would be on during sleep.

If I was to get an external drive, it would be strictly for backups and storage of academic files. I'd like to keep all program and OS data on the laptop's drive itself. But due to the high number of pictures that I end up taking and storing, and the high quality of the images used by the photo display and manipulation program I use, having a decent amount of storage on the laptop's drive is essential.

Apologies for the long post, this is really atypical of me. Ask just about anyone and they'll tell you that I'm usually quite terse.

[«DG»Suika]

For laptops, a solid state drive is one of the largest upgrades you can get. People will easily trade a small SSD over a 1TB HDD.

With a 5,400RPM HDD, I'd get a SSD. That's slow, bro, an SSD is fast.

Personally though I would get the stock hard drive and buy a larger SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820147189

It's seriously $100 cheaper than buying the manufacturer's 250GB SSD, lol.

[A§H»Stealth]

I'm beginning to lean towards the 256GB SSD and a decent sized external. It's not a terribly expensive option, and it gets me the speed I'm after and the storage space I'm looking for. Since I got some cash for graduation presents, it shouldn't be too much of a hit to my budget.

As I said before, I'm lacking the necessary tools and skills to replace the stock drive myself. Therefore I'm hesitant to buy two with the intent of exchanging them. There's another reason I'm hesitant, but I'll keep that one to myself for now.

[«DG»Suika]

You remove screws and then put them on the solid state drive and into the laptop. I'm not even kidding when I say you'd have to be a baboon to screw it up. Transferring the OS is also as simple as downloading the program that comes with the solid state drive, plugging it in via USB tools the SSD comes with, and then pressing a button and waiting a couple hours.

Unless the internal hard drive is deep within the system, in which case I'd still say it's possible, but just annoying. I don't know a laptop like that though.

I don't see how two hours isn't worth $100 to you, but your choice.

[A§H»Stealth]

Hard drive isn't really parked deep onside the machine, I just don't have a set if jeweler's screwdrivers to open it. Plus, I just figured out that if I crack the thing open, my warranty is shot. So, $100 save now versus an unknown dollar amount save later. I'll take my chances with the warranty intact.

Does anyone currently have or have recently had a SSD running in their machine? If so, does it really cut a decent amount of boot time or program start time off? I've heard claims that it can cut half of the boot time off. That would be a nice perk.

[Elbarto]

I have a 60GB SSD for Windows and some stuff and i have to say it was worth the money.
Boot time is now 20 sec (1 minute with my HDD) and programs like xfire, firefox, skype and some more are starting up really fast. Even if you just booted and your desktop appears after the welcome screen you can already start up every program.
Another good thing on the SSD is that its shock resistent. You dont have to watch out if you move your laptop around.

[A§H»Stealth]

I would like the speed and the durability. One concern is that some say they wear out fairly quickly, as each flash cell has only a limited number of read/write cycles. Is this a major concern I should be worried about? If the thing is going to wear out in only a few years, it might not be worth the investment.

Everyone here sounds very positive about SDD's, though, and that is quite reassuring.

[A§H»WillRok]

Older SSD's died quickly but newer ones are a little better.