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    SSD question

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by xecure, Aug 16, 2008.

  1. xecure

    xecure Newbie

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    Hello there, I was wondering if you guys thought it would be possible to install a SSD on a laptop I plan on buying with no hard drive. If so do you guys know any place (preferably online) where I can purchase a SSD drive that I can use with a laptop?

    thanks.
     
    xecure, Aug 16, 2008
    #1
  2. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    Yes it is possible. You will want to read up as all SSD are not created equal. Some don't perform great others do.
     
    powerpack, Aug 16, 2008
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  3. xecure

    xecure Newbie

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    what do you mean by some dome perform great and some don't, would any SSD be faster and save more energy then a regular hard drive?
     
    xecure, Aug 18, 2008
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  4. sxusteven

    sxusteven Notebook Evangelist

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    Mosts SSDs are faster than regular HDDs, but the energy savings isn't significant, if any. Some SSDs perform better than other SSDs, which is something you should be aware of. Generally, the more expensive SSDs like mtron mobi perform better.
     
    sxusteven, Aug 18, 2008
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  5. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Not all hard drives are equal (look at Hitachi, Samsung, WD, and Seagate's 320GB 5400RPM drives). This also applies to SSDs. First of all, there are 2 very different technologies that are the foundation of the SSD - SLC and MLC. SLC is far better in that it has proven to be reliable, give better battery life, and have fast access times. Some SLC have slow speeds and all are pretty expensive. Conversely, MLC is cheap, relatively new (so reliability is questionable), sometimes does no give better battery life; however, still have relatively fast access times and fast read/write speeds.
     
    sgogeta4, Aug 18, 2008
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  6. xecure

    xecure Newbie

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    do you guys know how high the frequency of data loss is on an MLC? I'm a student and on a budget.
     
    xecure, Aug 18, 2008
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  7. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    The MLC drives have a projected lifetime of 5-10 years before having issues. Maybe even 3-5 depending on size/quality.

    Actually, one useful piece of info here...when part of an SSD burns out, it becomes read-only. So if the OS recognizes that it cannot save a file or write to that location, your data should still be safe long enough to be recovered.

    A student on a budget probably means that you are better off with a traditional hard drive and an external backup. Cheaper, too.
     
    Greg, Aug 18, 2008
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