Best low cost solid state hard drive

 A 240GB solid state hard drive for a reasonable price

What is a Solid State Hard Drive and why should I buy it? This is a question that a lot of us asked or will ask at one given moment.

A Solid State Hard Drive (SSD) is a relative new type of storage device that comes like an alternative to the classical Hard Disk Drive (HDD) that we are all used with. Even though the technology is a available for some time, only recently became accessible to the average Joe.

What is the difference between a HDD and a SSD you ask? In order to explain it as simple as possible, I will say that the classical HDD is a storage device composed from metal platters that have a magnetic coating. This coating is the one that stores your data. In order for your data to be available, this platters have to spin (like a CD), so that your data can be accessed by a read/write head.

The SSD are nothing like that. This new storage device has no moving parts and works more or less like high performance USB flash drives, with which we are all so used with. The data is stored on interconnected flash memory chips, that retain the stored data even if there is no power present.

The reasons to buy this new storage device are multiple. A SSD is considered to perform 28 times better than a typical HDD. A Solid State Hard Drive will drastically improve your computer’s boot-up time. You’ll enjoy shorter application load and data transfer times than your traditional hard drive ever delivered. As a plus your battery life will increase with a 15% and the noise produced by your computer will be barely noticeable. Also a thing worth mentioning is the fact that your data is a lot safer on a SSD than on a classical HDD. The moving parts, and therefore your data, on a classical HDD can be severely damaged in case of a physical shock.

This being said the SSD is the storage device of the future, while the old HDD will slowly start to disappear.

After studying the existing offer on the market, one of the obvious choices should be the 240GB SanDisk Ultra II Solid State Drive. This model incorporates the newest SSD technology at an affordable price. Bellow you can see a few of the characteristics that makes this model to be my obvious choice:

• Dimensions: 2.75 x 3.96 x 0.28 in. (69.85mm x 100.5mm x 7.0 mm)
• Optical Storage Read/Write Speed – 550/530MB/s
• Shock: Resistant up to 1500G
• Vibration: Resistant 5 gRMS, 10-2000 HZ / 4.9 gRMS, 7-800 HZ)
• Temperature: 32ºF to 158ºF (0ºC to 70 ºC)
• Interface: SATA Revision 3.0 (6 Gb/s)
• Endurance: MTBF: 1.75 million hours**
• Warranty**: United States: 3-year limited warranty. All other regions: 3-year warranty

I have ordered myself this model in order to use it for upgrading my current Lenovo Z500 laptop. I will return with info on how to install it and its performances once I’ll receive it from Amazon.

The only thing that stopped us until now to change the classical storage device that we used was the price. Now at less than 100$ this model can be accessible for everyone who wants to speed up his current computer. You can buy it here from Amazon US and here from Amazon Europe.