Is it worth updating to SSD or should I just buy a new laptop?

Apr 30, 2018
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Interested in people's opinions on my particular laptop (Toshiba Satellite U50d-a) and whether it is worth upgrading to a SSD such as Crucial MX500 500gb or Samsung 860 Evo 500gb) or should I just buy a new laptop? I only really use it for study and work tasks, lots of online use, videoconferencing etc and storage of media (mainly photos) but it has become increasingly slow with time. Would I get a few more years out of it with a new SSD or is the performance always going to be hindered by the other specs?

CPU AMD A6-5200 Quad Core (2.0GHz, 1600MHz MC, 2MB L2 Cache)

Operating System Windows 8.1 (64bit)

Screen Size 15.6" Widescreen HD LED Backlit Display (1366 x 768)

Resolution 1366 x 768

Screen Aspect Ratio 16:9

Memory 8GB DDR3 (1333Mhz)

RAM slot allocation Total memory expandable to 16GB (authorised service required)
Storage 750GB (5400rpm) with Toshiba HDD Accelerator

Graphics AMD Radeon™ HD 8400Graphics

Thanks for your time :)
 
Solution
It's pretty amazing what an SSD can do for an aging laptop. I put one in my old DELL laptop and the difference was incredible.

If your old laptop only had 4GB or RAM then I would have told you to just get a new laptop, but you have 8GB.

Is the laptop your only machine? Do you store lots of content on it? I personally only use my laptop for surfing, so storage capacity is not an issue. But if you store music and video files then you need a big drive, and that's where the cost adds up.

Personally, I would get a 250GB SSD and try the upgrade. The investment is minimal and the SSD is re-usable in future machines,
An SSD in your current laptop will be faster than a newer laptop with a mechanical drive. On the same token, a newer computer will have newer, more capable hardware otherwise (i.e., a better processor, faster and/or more RAM, probably a larger capacity drive, etc.), and better driver support.

It really depends on what you want to do with the computer. Also, take into account age/wear and tear on your current computer, and it's warranty (or lack thereof).
 

neiler0847

Estimable
Mar 25, 2015
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4,520
It's pretty amazing what an SSD can do for an aging laptop. I put one in my old DELL laptop and the difference was incredible.

If your old laptop only had 4GB or RAM then I would have told you to just get a new laptop, but you have 8GB.

Is the laptop your only machine? Do you store lots of content on it? I personally only use my laptop for surfing, so storage capacity is not an issue. But if you store music and video files then you need a big drive, and that's where the cost adds up.

Personally, I would get a 250GB SSD and try the upgrade. The investment is minimal and the SSD is re-usable in future machines,
 
Solution