So, you’re getting ready to drop down some cash on a new laptop, and you get to the hard drive options.
Do you spring for the SSD option? Is a Solid State Drive worth the money?
Face it, you end up spending more, but getting far less space.
Whether you’re getting ready to purchase a PC laptop or an Apple, the question remains the same:
Is SSD worth it?
Recently, PCWorld/Macworld put a MacBook Pro to the test, to compare it’s overall performance, HHD vs. SSD.
Here’s what upgrade options from HHD to SSD did to the MacBook Pro price tag:
- Upgrading from a 320GB HDD to the 128GB SSD adds $250.
- Upping the capacity SSD options added $400 for a 256GB SSD or $1,000 for 512GB.
That’s a serious difference, and something that needs to be considered.
So, what did the tests reveal?
Nothing that would surprise you. SSD outperforms.
- The SSD upgrade made the 13-inch MacBook Pro boot 20 seconds versus the HHD’s 38 seconds.
- The MacBook with the SSD upgrade was also 20% faster in Speedmark tests—taking less than half the time to copy a file and significantly faster in other file operations.
- SSD also enabled the MacBook Pro to outperform a model with a faster processor in disk-intensive tests.
- The 13-inch 2.3GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro with SSD was 8% faster than the 2.7GHz Core i7 MacBook Pro with a 500GB 5400-rpm HDD.
Well, that’s what you get for running a 5400-rpm drive. That hardly seems fair. I won’t consider anything less than 7200-rpm, personally. So, perhaps the gap isn’t quite as huge as these numbers show.
But, let’s set speed aside. SSD has HDD beat, even if you’re spinning a faster drive. Will you notice it? Maybe. That depends on your HDD. Here’s where the real SSD advantages kick-in. SSD offers some things that HDD can never deliver:
- Impact Resistance
- Noiseless Operation
- Battery life
- Durability
Three of the four listed are huge things to factor in when taking about portability. We’re talking about laptops, after all. There’s not enough neoprene in the world to help an SSD when it comes to impact and durability. As for batter life, you need it.
However, is it really worth the price?
[via LifeHacker]
ThatGuyKC says
This is something I’ve wondered before. Great post and thanks for the insight. My next MacBook Pro will have SSD.
Eric Dye says
That’s good to hear!
Also, thanks for your help, I appreciate it!
😉
Jerad Hill says
SSD’s are very worth it. My Macbook Pro is lightening fast. I posted a video on one of my youtube channels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtpQoOMRHcU
Eric Dye says
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.
Ted Carnahan says
Yes yes yes yes yes. I just got a new 15″ MacBook Pro a few weeks ago. This thing SCREAMS with a SSD.
Eric Dye says
So it was worth the extra change?
Matt P says
This is helpful… I’m looking into a MBA but waiting to see if the refresh happens this next week at the conference. I had been wrestling with the SSD option.
Eric Dye says
That’s great to hear! Glad everyone could help, eh!
Jared says
the one thing that scares me to death about an SSD… if something goes wrong with it.. all your data is GONE.. where a SATA you can still possibly scrape out your crashed data… with that said I just upgraded to a Hybrid HD that uses 4gb of flash memory and a regular old 7200 rpm HD.. I can definitely tell the difference.. and its supposed to get about 70% of the speed you would get from a SSD at a fraction of the price
Eric Dye says
We all bow-down to your awesomeness.
ProTip FTW!
Djs says
Yes and No.
I just converted a desktop to SSD for two additional reasons – noise and heat.
HOWEVER, if you read about SSD in desktops they tell you to move your page file, temp files and any other high activity files to another drive because they will wear out the SSD faster in the physical locations that these files are stored.
Well, those high activity files are also all the temp files that will slow down your system if moved to slower disks.
I have seen a boost in performance simply because WIndows uses the living daylights out of the registry.
But it’s not “worth it” in terms of what is spent for this moderate speed boost – toss in the lower overall life expectancy and you can probably double your life-time cost. (I purchased Plextor because although they aren’t big in the SSD market, they are focused on longevity – not speed benchmarks that are totally disconnected from real-world use).
How often is your productivity truly hampered by a large file copy or boot up time? Most of the time we are writing email, blogging, loading a few webpages – none of this hits the disk very hard on a system that is properly sized in terms of memory.
Eric Dye says
Excellent thoughts. Well, put.
Djs says
I also forgot to mention that you have to manage the disk space on the SSD much more closely if you do not buy a large one. I have Windows 7 on a 128 GB SSD and I have to be much more mindful of what I install to C:\ as well as keep an eye on the many folders within Windows that tend to accumulate files over time.
Yet, to more than double the cost by purchasing an even larger SSD just so I don’t have to think about managing disk space (like I never had to do with a 320 GB 7200 RPM HD) makes the moderate speed gain even more costly.
Eric Dye says
This is the kind of real-world experience that is very valuable for those trying to make this decision.
Thank you.