Re: Computer Hardware, Systems and Building
SSDs have been below US$1/GB for a while now, so that price sounds about right. And just checked, Newegg has the Samsung 840 250GB listed for $209, so yeah, sounds about right.
So yeah, they're essentially pretty affordable now (compared to 2 years ago). If you can afford it, and have the space, I generally recommend everybody gets one for their computer. Solid state drives are hands down the easiest component you can buy that will give you a performance increase which you can feel straight away. Your computer just feels so much more responsive and snappy with one inside.
But they aren't for everybody. As illustrated in Kkck's case, it's different depending if you're a desktop user or a laptop user. Desktop PCs have the luxury of space to house lots of storage drives, laptops don't have that luxury. For some, like Kkck, SSDs do get pretty expensive if they need a lot of storage, while others are fine with the bare minimum for the OS plus a few apps, and have the rest on an external drive.
Some do have options, like throwing the optical bay out and converting the empty space to fit another 2.5" drive. While some don't, such as ultrabooks, with their limited z-height, will look towards mSATA SSDs (whether it's used as cache or a full blown boot drive).
I should probably take the time now and also say, the caveat of an SSD is ultimately storage space. While a
250GB SSD can be had for $209, that
$209 can get you 2TB or even close to
4TB. So with SSDs, you're essentially giving up space for speed. For some who may be used to having terabytes of space for movies/music/pictures, they won't be quick to replace their entire setup with SSDs, it's just not economical. There's also the matter of reliability but I'll be here talking all day if I open up that can of worm.
But there is a best of both world.
Which are hybrid drives. Seagate has the
Momentus XT. Western Digital doesn't have one at the moment, but they had some showing at this year's CES, so we might see one later in the year.
Hybrid drives are pretty awesome in that they give you the best of both worlds; near-SSD speed and lots of space for cheap. They're most fitting for laptop users, like Kkck, who generally want the best of both worlds. The only caveat is, they're not made of magic. The keyword is you get
near-SSD speeds, not SSD speeds. And hybrid drives basically work like SSD caching so they do have limits.
Still, with that said, they're awesome for anyone who only uses a few applications on their PC. I've got the Seagate Momentus XT 500GB installed on my main rig right now and it's been great.