For the past couple of days i’ve been thinking about switching my 750 GB HDD in my Alienware M14x to a 256 GB SSD and replace my optical drive with a 2.5 Inch bay area that i can fit my current HDD in. SDD technology is now a lot more stable than it used to be when it came out, speeds have increased and storage and fetching algorithms have also improved, increasing the life and reliability of SSD drives. So the easiest way to get some more speed from your current laptop would be a simple swap. Only downside is the price of SSDs are somewhat higher than the conventional HDD.
Here are a few videos that will show you the difference :
http://youtu.be/8LkuDbbMf5E
Comments 9
Salam!
You do not switch to SSD, you add it.
Because there are not any with lots of space. But things work this way:
You get a 120 GB SSD, or even an 80 GB, and make it the system one. Install Windows on it and any program/game that needs faster hdd such as Photoshop, 3D Max…etc
While keeping your HDD as a second drive to put everything else on.
For a laptop, an SSD will seem like a huge upgrade. It is totally worth it.
Author
Yeah, my plan was to get an SSD as the primary driver and use my HDD as secondary storage in the Optical Bay (i.e. cancelling out my CD Drive). By switching I meant using the SSD as the primary storage, and with USB 3.0 I can literally “Switch” to a 256 GB SSD and use USB 3.0 external Hard disk for storage, it won’t be the optimum configuration, but I’ll still have my optical drive. Thanks for your feedback 😀
Go for it .. SSD upgrade makes a considerable difference, especially with booting.
Author
Will probably order something this weekend.
I made the switch more than a year ago and couldn’t be more satisfied. Even though SSD’s at the time weren’t that stable I have never faced any issues(yet). Games and Media files are still on my HDD but the operating system and adobe files are on my SSD. The thing is blazing fast, restarting your PC can take less than a minute.
Author
Thanks, Do you recommend a certain brand?
I personally went for Intel. Comes with an app that opens daily/weekly (scheduled)to optimize the SSD.
SSD is the shiznat and really makes a difference, my MacBook Air 13″ Late 2011 model is faster than my MacBook Pro 17″ with 8GB of RAM and Core i7 it just handles more and is quieter of course.
If you can do the swap then go for it!
SSD is by far much better, loads faster, and they have improved drastically over the years! Its priceir but the performance difference is huge! If its for a desktop or your main machine then go for a SSD+HD combo, the OS & Programs running on the SSD much more efficient!