SDD compared to HDD

[EpicZephos]

im looking at two different models of a laptop, one with an hdd, and another with a sdd. The hdd has 1TB, The sdd has 256 gb. Which would be better? Price is not an issue.

 

[ak47jar3d]

I would take the ssd over any hdd. The responsiveness of Windows would be far better.

 

[smorizio]

hard drive has moving parts in it. most laptop hard drive die when dropped from small hights. ssd there no moving parts to break in a drop. down size with an ssd smaller size and write limits.

 

[USAFRet]

im looking at two different models of a laptop, one with an hdd, and another with a sdd. The hdd has 1TB, The sdd has 256 gb. Which would be better? Price is not an issue.

All else being equal, the SSD no question.
But all else is NOT equal.

What will the drive size difference do for you?
Some people, 250GB is plenty. Some people, 2TB is not enough.

Is there space in there for a second drive?

 

[MarkW]

Most laptop hard drives are very slow 5400 RPM units.

On the other hand a 256Mb SSD is fairly small.

I think I would buy the cheaper of the two, and th. en buy a 512MB or even a 1TB SSD, and replace the drive the laptop came with.Also, some laptops can have a second drive installed internally. So you might be able to use what the laptop comes with plus another drive. Either way, the drives are likely going to be 7mm units.

 

[SBMfromLA]

Of course an SSD is faster... but you need to first ask yourself what you will be using the computer for. If you want to be able to store large amounts of games and movies and music... then you'd be better getting the larger HDD. The SSD with 250GB is really only 232GB.. and for me that's just not enough space, unless you're willing to get an external drive. The 1TB drive is actually only 930GB.

 

[EpicZephos]

im looking at two different models of a laptop, one with an hdd, and another with a sdd. The hdd has 1TB, The sdd has 256 gb. Which would be better? Price is not an issue.

All else being equal, the SSD no question.
But all else is NOT equal.

What will the drive size difference do for you?
Some people, 250GB is plenty. Some people, 2TB is not enough.

Is there space in there for a second drive?

Yes, There is an extra slot

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, There is an extra slot

So then have both.
Get it with the 256GB drive. Then add a 1TB spinning drive.

Speed and space.

 

[EpicZephos]

Of course an SSD is faster... but you need to first ask yourself what you will be using the computer for. If you want to be able to store large amounts of games and movies and music... then you'd be better getting the larger HDD. The SSD with 250GB is really only 232GB.. and for me that's just not enough space, unless you're willing to get an external drive. The 1TB drive is actually only 930GB.

I was going to use it to download some games, like team fortress 2, cs:go, garry's mod, and overwatch, could it handle storing all these games, and have a good amount of extra space?

 

[MarkW]

If you buy it with the 256MB SSD and add the 1TB hard drive, yes.

 

[jaguarskx]

If price is not really an issue, then I would simply buy it with the 1TB HDD which is probably the cheaper option. Then I would purchase a SATA 1TB SSD which generally sells for round $260 to $320 depending on the brand and model; "Pro" or "Enterprise" class 1TB SSDs are over $400 though. That way you can swap out the HDD for the SSD and have both performance and capacity. You can also buy an external case for the 2.5" 1TB HDD and turn it into a portable hard drive.

Depending on the specific laptop you want to buy, it may only have a 2.5" bay for either a HDD or SSD. Some laptop have both a 2.5" bay drive and a M.2 slot for a SSD. The Dell XPS 15 9950 is an example of a laptop which has a 2.5" bay and a M.2 slot. M.2 has two different interface which are not compatible with each other. The Dell XPS 15 9950 has a PCIe M.2 interface. Other laptops may have a SSD M.2 interface. Therefore, verify the interface before buying a M.2 SSD.

Additionally. some models of the Dell XPS 15 9950 come with a 84WHr battery instead of the standard 56WHr battery. The larger capacity battery occupies the space of the 2.5" bay. That means the only storage option would be for the M.2 interface.