IGX

What's the minimum requirement a laptop would need to justify fitting one of these fancy SSDs in there?

I'm looking replacing my current machine and noticing that laptops that come with SSDs are quite a bit more expensive than I would expect since I can get what looks like a decent SSD on its own for maybe $100-$150.

Is it worth it, or should I just fork over the cash for something already put together? Is there a significant speed/stability/whatever advantage to an SSD (and if so, under what circumstances), or can an HDD + the right processor and ram be as effective and/or more cost effective?

Your friend,
Baff

Not an expert. But I've looked into this. The SSD is going to make your computer faster. They are expensive (unless you're confident putting one in yourself. There are a number of YouTube videos on the subject.)

You can increase your ram on a computer with a hard drive. I doubled mine (4 to 8 GBs) in a 2011 Mac Book. It now boots up in about 40 seconds. As opposed to almost 60 seconds before. Not all that much faster for the $100.

But an SSD in place of the hard drive will boot up in less than 10 seconds. Seriously. Nothing will make your computer run faster than an SSD. I have MacAir for travel. It's got a 250 GB SSD. Boots in 7 seconds.

The problem is that SSDs are expensive, so you might go with a small one: 125 GB or 250. That gets filled with pictures and music and all that porn you download pretty quickly. Think about using Dropbox or some other cloud storage for your large files. But SSD is the way to go.

Yeah, I have a 1TB external hard drive and I have a google drive account. I'm sure I can fit an SSD into a laptop, but I assume an SSD may not be worth much if the processor, RAM, bus (whatever that is) etc aren't up to snuff.

The only minimum requirement is that you have enough $$$ to buy an SSD big enough to fit your OS and your most often used programs. And do some research on brands. In theory, since SSDs don't have any moving parts, they ought to be more reliable than spinning magnetic platters. Anecdotally, I know a few people (both in-person and internet-"know") who've scrimped on off-brand SSDs and had them go blooie.

baffled wrote:What's the minimum requirement a laptop would need to justify fitting one of these fancy SSDs in there?

I'm looking replacing my current machine and noticing that laptops that come with SSDs are quite a bit more expensive than I would expect since I can get what looks like a decent SSD on its own for maybe $100-$150.

Is it worth it, or should I just fork over the cash for something already put together? Is there a significant speed/stability/whatever advantage to an SSD (and if so, under what circumstances), or can an HDD + the right processor and ram be as effective and/or more cost effective?

Your friend,
Baff

Flash memory wears out after so many Read/Write cycles. They have limited data retention because the memory holds a charge, but I'm hearing a minimum of forty years on average before the charge dissipates. Word around the campfire at work is that earlier SSDs would fail pretty fast within a year or two in some cases.

Not sure about today. They are pricey. I don't have experience with them. Good luck.

This is a good time to be buying one (between Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

good price on what is considered one of the better drives:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch- ... vo+850+2.5

Prices are really bouncing around so not sure what it'll be when you click the link but at the time pf posting it's a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB drive for $139. (I Paid $159 last week.) Yesterday they had a same size Crucial for $119 but I don't see it today.

Do your research now and be ready to pounce on a good price on Monday.

My understanding is you will perceive a noticeable improvement in performance between a SSD and HDD, but perceive little difference between SSD's themselves. IOW the better ones may indeed test better but the differences being too slight to really notice without a stopwatch.

If your computer can push a hard drive with spinning disks and all, it can push an SSD.

SSDs will not speed up a system that is taxed by a resource-heavy antivirus or other background stuff. Tested this.

SSDs make refurbished computers more appealing. HD failure was a problem in typical refurbished PCs.

Wirecutter has a very good article on SSDs generally. Reddit has a good "PC builder" at various price points, I don't remember the number at which they put an SSD in. reddit.com/r/buildapc

I bit the bullet and bought a refurbished Dell XPS 13 for about 60% retail, after a long time using less expensive desktop systems. The Dell refurbs are cancelled orders and returns. Great buy.

I will not ever go back to a computer without an SSD. They make a world of difference, and can make an old computer young again.
Currently in my home desktop I have a 256GB SSD that has windows and my programs on it. I have a 1TB standard hard disk I keep my data, pictures and videos on. My new work laptop is set up exactly the same way, but it's huge and can fit two hard disks.

My daughter had a laptop for high school. She got to keep it when she graduated. I bought her a new laptop for college, and took her old one, replaced the standard hard disk with a SSD and it was like a new computer at that point. 4 year old laptop that boots up in about 10 seconds, and can load Word or Excel in just a few seconds. My wife uses that one now, and comments how it's faster then her work laptop, which is newer.

Seriously, replacing a hard disk in a laptop is pretty easy, and replacing yours with an SSD will give it new life.
I know our IT guys really like the Samsung ones, and typically buy those. I would not go smaller than 256GB, more if you can get it. I believe Crucial also makes pretty good SSD's.

Oh, and regarding adding memory to a system to increase performance. This only works if it's running out of memory during your routine tasks. If it's not running out, adding more memory really has no benefit.

Nice info, gentlemen.

Appreciate the info. I'll have to look at the Dell refurbs, and the reddit link.

SSD?? That's a sexually transmitted disease. Why do you want that??

Soak it in Mannatech before installing.

Haven't tried it but apparently there's a deal for a 480GB SSD for $100 w/ free shipping.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8294915-480-gb- ... =catpagev2

baffled wrote:What's the minimum requirement a laptop would need to justify fitting one of these fancy SSDs in there?

I'm looking replacing my current machine and noticing that laptops that come with SSDs are quite a bit more expensive than I would expect since I can get what looks like a decent SSD on its own for maybe $100-$150.

Is it worth it, or should I just fork over the cash for something already put together? Is there a significant speed/stability/whatever advantage to an SSD (and if so, under what circumstances), or can an HDD + the right processor and ram be as effective and/or more cost effective?

Your friend,
Baff

I have a computer.

How can I help?

Thud wrote:Haven't tried it but apparently there's a deal for a 480GB SSD for $100 w/ free shipping.

http://slickdeals.net/f/8294915-480-gb- ... =catpagev2

Nice. Thanks. I looked at slick deals last night but somehow missed that.

nafod wrote:Soak it in Mannatech before installing.

A lotta men didn't and a lotta men died.