If you’ve been shopping around for a new laptop recently, chances are you’ve seen several models that come with both a small solid state drive (SSD) and a traditional hard drive. If so, you might be wondering if it’s worth paying extra to buy a model that has both. In my opinion, it is.
Although relatively small, the SSD in a dual drive laptop will hold the operating system at the very least, providing boot-up times that are up to three times faster than what you’re used to seeing, and any programs that are stored on the SSD will load at lightning speed.
In some cases there might even be enough room on the SSD to hold your most frequently used programs as well as the O.S. The hard drive will hold the rest of your programs and all of your data files (photos, Word documents, spreadsheets, etc.).
An alternative to a dual drive laptop would be to buy one with a larger SSD and then attach an external USB hard drive, but having to pay for the extra drive would negate much of your savings (plus you’d have to lug the hard drive around along with your laptop).
Buying a laptop with both drives built in is a great solution in terms of speed, storage capacity and convenience. And while the inclusion of an SSD does add a bit to the price, it is money well spent in my opinion.
If you’re not familiar with the advantages of a solid state drive, this post will fill you in.