Image Credit: Simon Wüllhorst

While it may surprise you to learn that solid state drive (SSD) technology has been around since the 1970’s, it has only been recently introduced to the computer market. Initially, we knew SSD’s to be those tiny cards know as SD and Micro SD cards that came with our digital camera, but now solid state drives are making an appearance inside the computer as well.

Recently, we explored the difference between SSD and traditional hard drives, and asked the question do you really need an SSD drive? (The short answer, yes, you do.) But are SSDs the best fit for all computers? Is it better to use an SSD on your desktop, laptop, or both?

Benefits of SSD on a Laptop

Hands down, laptops greatly benefit from having an SSD installed. Although SSDs are (generally) smaller in size than a traditional hard drive, the benefits of using this type of drive on a portable computer greatly outweigh many capacity and price concerns.

Durability

Having an SSD in a laptop is a no brainer in many respects, but particularly where drive durability and data integrity is concerned. This is mainly because SSDs have no moving parts, compared to traditional hard drives, which means there are no platters to get jostled and scratched when you walk around with your laptop running. Additionally with an SSD, you don’t have to worry about dropping, kicking, or roughly bumping your laptop when it is on.

Longer Battery Life

Having an SSD in your laptop can help save and lengthen your battery life. Tests have found that with routine tasks, such as surfing the web, SSD drives can save you 20+ minutes of battery life, compared to laptops with a traditional drive.

Speed

One of the features that are noticed the most with SSD drives, particularly on laptops, is the speed. SSD drives not only access your data faster, but your boot up and shut down speeds will also be considerably quicker.

Desktop

Compared to laptops, what are the main benefits of installing a SSD on a desktop? The speed. While a SSD drive boasts the exact same benefits whether it’s installed in a laptop or a desktop, due to the stationary nature of desktops they just don’t take advantage of these other features the same way. So, you’re mostly going to get the speed benefits of using an SSD drive on your desktop.

Better Drive for Desktops?

If you are already leaning toward a SSD drive for your desktop, you may want to look into hybrid drives, which merge all the best parts of SSD and traditional hard drives. With a hybrid drive, you get the benefit of a traditional drive when it comes to space. You can get hybrid drives which hold 1TB or more of data. However, the beauty of a hybrid drive is that a small portion of it acts as a SSD drive. Just tell your computer how you want it to use and access the drive, and it does the rest. We recommend using the traditional portion of the drive for storage of items, such as pictures, movies, and other items which don’t necessarily need the speed an SSD provides.

Do you use a SSD or Hybrid Drive? Leave us a comment telling us what you like about it.

Julie Strier is a freelance writer who likes to help you understand your technology choices. Email: [email protected]. Website:www.mybusinesswriter.com.