Solid State Hard Drive

[ElJosh 0]

So I ordered a new laptop and I noticed after I ordered that some of the laptops come with a solid state hard drive. I must admit that I am usually behind the times when it comes to this stuff. The laptop I ordered came with a 500 GB (normal) Hard Drive. There was an option for a 640 GB solid state hard drive. My question is, does anyone have experience with these? What do you think of them?

Note I am not talking about external hard drives but internal ones.

DS #149
Yes I only have 3 jumps...it's the magic number dude.

[JohanW 0]

I would be very surprised if anyone did. I think you misread 64 GB.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[virgin-burner 1]

they're quiet, reliable and pretty fast. i think they're pretty cool..

and yea, i think you misread 64gb..

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[mnealtx 0]

I'm guessing this is the new Sony with the 64GB SSHD option? Speaking strictly for myself, I wouldn't pay the price premium for it.

They have the same problems as any flash drive - after time, the memory "wears out", so to speak. Newer flash drives have 'wear leveling' that helps prevent this, but once the data is gone, it's gone and there's no recovering it (from what I understand). They *do* have some advantages in regards to shock resistance (no drive heads to crash) and power usage.

All in all, unless you're planning on beating the SHIT out of it, or you absolutely MUST have the absolute maximum battery usage between plug-ins, get the normal HD.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[ElJosh 0]

Quote

I would be very surprised if anyone did. I think you misread 64 GB.

Oh shit... I did, screw that. I'll stick with the 500 gig.
Thanks.
Nope not a Sony it's a Dell. My desktop crapped out on me and my 5 year old laptop doesn't like the new battery i bought for it so I figured I'd sell everything off and just go with a laptop with a larger hard drive.
I'm also getting a usb modem through my cell phone service. My dad just did this and has a router it plugs into for the house, but takes it everywhere with him.
Finally I can surf the net at the DZ!!!! Look out porn sites here I come!



ps. forgot to add but I think the whole thing about laptops being fragile is bs. The laptop I have is a 5 year old Dell that spent a year in Iraq with me. I've dropped it tons of times. I've opened it a couple of times to upgrade the ram and the inside was very clean, no sand. In fact my laptop is proabably the only thing that I came back with that wasn't loaded with sand. It still runs great. The only problem with it is the battery issue which is fixable. I'm just getting rid of it because if I'm getting rid of my desktop I'll need something that can hold more. It's only 30 gig and since I have over 60 gig on the old iPod... Well lets just say I think we're gonna need a bigger boat.

DS #149
Yes I only have 3 jumps...it's the magic number dude.

[mnealtx 0]

Y'know, you COULD just buy a new HD for the existing one...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[SuFantasma 0]

Yep, you misread, it's 64GB (MLC) .... Not worth the premium and their lifetime is very limited.

Dell's SSD reliability has been in question since early 2008 (see Dell Denies 20-30% retrun rates for SSD-laptops)

If you are considering SSDs, check out Intel's X25M series. There is still a premium, but they are much better technology than Dell's consumer-grade MLC drives.

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[ElJosh 0]

Quote

Y'know, you COULD just buy a new HD for the existing one...

Yeah I could but I figure she's had a good run. The new Dell is a pretty good deal and I've always been happy with their quality. Plus the new one has a bunch of options that the old one doesn't.

DS #149
Yes I only have 3 jumps...it's the magic number dude.

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

My question is, does anyone have experience with these? What do you think of them?

I have been testing out a navigational oriented laptop for HALO operations for a little over a year now. Initially the test units had HDs in them but as was expected, the altitude and the G loading caused an eventual HD failure and or problems. Once the SSDs were installed the problems went away. SSDs are expensive and not all that large in capacity but if you have a need for a HD that is durable and can survive harsh environments(other than a sealed and pressurized unit,which is too big anyways) the SSD is the current ticket. Like all tech, I expect that it will eventually get cheaper and capacity will increase as time goes on.

Until then, for most people, there probably isn't a need for a SSD to justify the associated cost.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[ElJosh 0]

Quote

Quote

My question is, does anyone have experience with these? What do you think of them?

I have been testing out a navigational oriented laptop for HALO operations for a little over a year now. Initially the test units had HDs in them but as was expected, the altitude and the G loading caused an eventual HD failure and or problems. Once the SSDs were installed the problems went away. SSDs are expensive and not all that large in capacity but if you have a need for a HD that is durable and can survive harsh environments(other than a sealed and pressurized unit,which is too big anyways) the SSD is the current ticket. Like all tech, I expect that it will eventually get cheaper and capacity will increase as time goes on.

Until then, for most people, there probably isn't a need for a SSD to justify the associated cost.

Yeah but the HD in my laptop handled the Iraqi elements pretty well and I was pretty rough with it.
So in the end this is the laptop I ended up with.
Dell Studio 15
* Studio 1537, Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, 2.2GHz, 1066Mhz, 3M L2 Cache
* 4GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm
* Back-lit Keyboard
* Hi Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1920x1200)
* 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
* 500G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
* 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
* Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD Software Edition
* Intel WiFi Link 5100 802.11AGNHalf Mini Card
* 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
* Windows Vista Premium System
* Integrated Finger Print Reader
* Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.0)
I'm not into gaming so this should work for me. All said and done I paid 1,300 for it and got a backpack added to it for me.

DS #149
Yes I only have 3 jumps...it's the magic number dude.

[stitch 0]

I would wait a few years. This technology is still fairly new to laptops. Storage space is minimal at best.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[riddler 0]

If you can afford it, and you don't need that much HD space, get it. But if you are using the Microsoft OS, which takes up way too much space, don't get it yet.

The major difference that you will notice is that they are much, much faster than older hard drives. If you have a super-fast platter drive (i.e. older technology), they can compete with solid-state in terms of speed, but most people don't have HDs that are that fast, and most people will see drastic improvements in the speed of their computers because of SS.

Another improvement - if you drop your laptop, you are much less likely to lose your data.

Within five years, SSHDs may comprise about 30% of the market, but they will probably always have less storage space than the old-fashioned hard drive. Hybird machines that contain both will likely become more popular.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD