Shopping for a solid state hard drive?

Regular hard drives are electro-mechanical devices. Data is stored in disks that must spin for access. You can hear the disk spin whenever you boot up your computer. Remember seeing small lights flashing? That's an indicator that your hard drive disk is spinning to load up the information that you needed.

On the other hand, solid state hard drives are electronic and have no moving parts. They use flash or similar technology to hold data when power is turned off. In that sense, flash ssd is similar to your USB drive that you use to store files. SSD performance is faster than traditional hard drive because information is communicated to your CPU through software and not loaded up by a physical reader.

Also, because solid state drives have no moving parts, they are much more durable than normal drives for laptops and notebooks. Typical laptops suffer through serious wear and tear. Just think how often you bump your notebook against a table or sling it on to your backpack. Sometimes screws and fasteners loosen up inside your traditional hard drive from your day-to-day activities. The lack of moving parts make solid state hard drive more rugged.

The downside to SSD storage is their cost. They're more expensive. For example, a typical 64 GB hard drive costs $40-$250, while a 64GB SSD can cost between $150-$400.

The question for you is what will you be needing the storage for? For non-power users, a standard hard drive will do if you're simply surfing the Internet and/or writing text data. But if your a power user such as a graphic artists or a gamer, then you'll appreciate the extra speed and power of solid state hard drives.

Additionally, high definition videos are here. By now, you should be familiar with Blu Ray. It's a high definition digital format for watching movies. Because of it's high def nature, it uses more storage and requires more reading. Solid state drives adapt better in performance and longevity. Many of us are already downloading movies online, i.e. Netflix and Amazon services. A computer with solid state hard drive will make watching movies easier.