Do I need an SSD? Is it worth the price?

A solid state drive (SSD) is a hard drive for your computer without the moving parts. A normal hard disk drive has spinning disks from which data is written and read.

What are the advantages of an SSD?

Because SSDs have no moving parts, they tend to be much more durable and reliable. A Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is prone to mechanical failure from vibrations or drops – an SSD is not. This decreases the risk of data loss due to shock and vibration, and this means time between failure (MTBF) greatly exceeds that of traditional hard disk drives, giving users peace of mind that it will retain their files for the long term.

An SSD is up to 10 times faster than a 7,200 RPM HDD. Users can quickly boot and shut down their systems, launch applications faster and reduce wait times. SSDs are the types of drives found in tablets.

They are more durable and power efficient. They consume 30 percent less power than a HDD while generating less heat and noise, making it an ideal solution for notebook users who want to maximize their battery life while computing on the go.

So, is it worth it?

For the price of my 128 GB SSD one could buy a 1 TB HDD. SSDs are still expensive and it can be hard to trade-off storage space for performance. If you have a PC with expansion space it’s no problem, just put your operating system on the SSD and pictures, videos, and music on your HDD. If you’re looking to upgrade a laptop it can be harder to decide. There may be other, cheaper ways to increase performance, such as a RAM upgrade.

However, if you need more space you might need to go for a traditional HDD, but make sure that it is at least a 7200 RPM drive.

As technology makes advancements and memory capacity can be added to smaller spaces, the price of SSDs will reduce.  For now, you just need to decide on what is more important - space or performance.

- Janet F, IT Consultant

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