There are a lot of different computer elements to consider when shopping for a new computer. Would a laptop or a desktop be better for your lifestyle? Do you need a high definition screen? Windows or Mac?
Today, we will be talking about your hard drive options: conventional hard drives and SSDs.
Conventional hard drives are similar to a VHS tapes; they are mechanical and have moving parts.
Solid State Drives, or SSDs, are similar to discs, in that the information is stored digitally.
Physical Failures
Conventional hard drives tend to have a lot more failures due to physical malfunctions than SSDs do. When there are moving parts, things tend to go awry eventually. Our techs believe the average life span of a conventional hard drive is 1-5 years.
With SSDs, there are no moving parts, so if you drop your laptop, your hard drive is less likely to break and lose all of it’s data.
Speed
SSDs also have a much faster read and write time. Our techs estimate that they are 3x faster than conventional hard drives. This means when you open up a large file, instead of taking 30 seconds to open, it will take 10 seconds to open.
SSDs seem to be the favorable hard drive. They are less prone to physical failure and they are much faster; what could be better?
Price
There is one downside: the price tag. Currently, an SSD with the same amount of storage capacity as a conventional hard drive is more expensive. For people on a budget, this turns into a question of which is more important: reliability and speed or more hard drive space?
Our Recommendation
We like to recommend that you choose the hard drive that best fits your life style. If you are constantly on the go, we recommend a solid state hard drive for reliability. If you are a photographer or a designer, we recommend getting a conventional hard drive; that way you will have enough space to store all of your files.
If you are unsure which is right for you, or if you would like to replace the hard drive in your current machine, feel free to contact us or give us a call at (386) 238-1692.
