Solid State Drive

Swapping traditional hard drives for SSDs

Solid State Drive (also known as SSD or solid state disk) technology isn't new, but it is becoming increasingly popular as a means of data storage for the average consumer. Solid state drives are similar to, and are often confused with, USB flash memory drives. The two are not entirely different – both hold data and both use semiconductors rather the magnetic technologies found in traditional hard drives.

Though "solid state flash drive" isn't an incorrect term, SSDs and flash drives differ both in appearance and size. A solid state drive will generally have a much higher capacity than a USB flash drive, and it's designed to go inside your computer. The much smaller flash drive simply plugs in to a USB port outside your computer.

Features and Benefits

• Solid state drives use less power, making them great in laptops.
• They are more durable than hard drives and have fewer moving parts.
• SSDs don't spin like traditional drives, resulting in faster data loading.

Top Choices

• Sandisk
• Samsung
• Intel

Major Considerations

• How much storage do I need?
• Can I trust the brand name that manufactured the device?
• Is the solid state drive compatible with my current laptop or PC?

Price Range

Solid state hard drives generally cost more per megabyte than traditional hard drives. The current cost of an SSD starts at roughly $100 for a capacity of 32GB and could go as high as $600 or more for a capacity of 250GB.

Summary

As a consumer, you'll probably be hearing more about solid state drive technology in the near future. Its stability, speed, power and efficiency make it the ideal choice for computer users, most notably those with laptops.

If your laptop doesn't already use the technology, chances are your next one will. In the meantime, look for dropping prices as the primary incentive for adding this technology to your computer.