SSD Advances Promise Fastest Laptops Yet

Some people know the difference between SSD and HDD like they know the difference between their left hand and their right hand. Other people aren’t so certain.

For the Uninitiated, HDD and SSD

For most people, HDD is the spinning hard drive that they recognize when they turn a computer on or off. People of a certain age can remember hearing their computer hum after giving their machine certain orders, and some would say the computer was “working” or “thinking” as they heard the whirring noise in their computer.  A metal disk in the computer is covered with a magnetic coating which saves information or performs other functions for the user. Compared to computers in the good old days, like five years ago, HDD is pretty fast. 

An SSD does what an HDD does, but without a platter—or any other moving part. The SDD stores information on interconnected flash memory chips. These flash memory chips can be part of the computer, they can be stored on a card, on a box, or perhaps some other way. Some may think of SDD as similar to USB thumb drives, but they are more reliable and even faster. 

What IT People and PO Signers Should Know

The cost of SSDs have dropped and it is expected that in 2018, half of all laptops sold around the world will be built to use SSD technology, rather than the currently less expensive, and slower, HDD technology. In 2016 that percentage will be 30%, according to industry estimates, so the increase in SSD numbers will be dramatic in size and how fast it comes about.

While SSD prices have dropped, HDD prices haven’t. It is estimated that the cost per gigabyte of HDD’s is within eleven cents of that for SSDs. This makes more individuals and businesses interested in getting the faster (a common industry number is 10 times faster) SSD computers as the costs of each kind of machine come closer to meeting.

There Are Other Advantages

For many who rely on computing, the speed of the SSD is worth spending a little extra. However, another benefit is that SSD technology takes up less space in the computer. HDD is a 2.5-inch hard drive, while the SSD is not bigger than about an inch square, posting an even bigger punch in an even smaller package. The smaller size allows computer makers to make thinner and smaller machines that are faster than ever. Apple has been working to improve its MacBook Pro since 2013 thanks to the new technology.

Capacity

SSD technology allows it to make systems offering 4TB, but finding a unit that big generally requires a special order. More commonly found machines have from 500GB to 1TB. Those who need to use their machines more for multimedia uses will be interested in the 1TB or even the larger machines. Those who have more memory can keep more information stored on their computer. For many people, this means they don’t have to pack as much when traveling for business, and others just need more ability to add more data because they work in data rich environments. 

One advantage of storing things on the computer itself is that it tends to be less expensive than cloud storage, and once it is with you on the machine, concerns about losing data are limited to losing the machine.

There are several speed advantages when comparing SSD and HDD machines. First of all, even when booting the machine, the HDD takes time to “come up to speed”, literally. The HDD has to speed up until it meets the speed required to move on and do its task. The SSD is ready to go as soon as it is on, and it remains faster than the HDD throughout its cycle of use. The SSD machines boot up faster, launch apps faster, and deals with files faster. People who use computers for presentations will see that downtime that in reality is 30 or 60 seconds but feels like 10 minutes will evaporate.

Another advantage of SSD technology is that it uses less energy. This is especially important for laptop users who may not be in a position to plug in and get an extra charge.

People of a certain age will remember when it literally took minutes to move from one website to another. Now, with SSD technology, we are able to move from one site to another just as soon as we can think of it. And we can store more information and files than ever before. SSD tech is amazing, and since the price is coming down, more and more people are going to find out about it.