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Hard disk drives are devices using traditional technology of magnetic recording of data on to a rotating platter. Go for one with highest solid state space because a standard Windows installation will occupy around 20 Gb and all essential software will eat up another 10 Gb. The problem with SSHDs now-a-days is that they have only a small storage space in the SSD part, usually 8 to 32 Gb. Sizes ideally range between 500 Gb to 2 Tb. Frequently used files are identified using specialised logarithms and are moved to the solid state space to increase speed of access in this type of drives. They have a buffer memory which is purely solid state in nature and a large storage section based on Hard drive technology. They offer the best balance of storage, speed and cost. Data recovery from a faulty SSD is also difficult and is dependent on the number of non-functional chips in the drive. If you are a hardcore user, consider replacing your SSD once in at least 3-4 years to get the best in performance. On the down-side, they are prone to performance degradation overtime. SSDs are in their beginning stage and so we can expect higher capacity, more reliable, better performing, lower cost drives soon in the market as the competition and brand war increases.
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They are ideal for gaming, rendering 3d videos, file copying and sharing, ultra portable laptops etc. With fast read-write speeds of about 120-200 MBps in real test conditions, SSDs offer the best speeds. However, when we consider it in price per gb, it costs around 30 cents to $1 per Gb, which is still a bit reasonable considering its performance. 128 gb drives costs around $80 to $100 USD and the higher capacity drives costs about $220-250 USD. As I told, they are fastest among the storage drives but comes with hefty price tags too. Storage capacity ranges from 128 Gb to 1024 Gb (1 Tb), in consumer market during the time of writing of this article. They come in 2 main form factors: 2.5 inch drives used in laptops and 3.5 inch drives used in desktop computers and servers. Currently they are fastest storage devices in wide use. They are a little more complex in circuitry than your pendrives and memory cards. These storage devices use electronic circuits for storing information.
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Let us know the basics of technologies used in these different types of drives before going for a direct comparison. Here is a detailed guide on how to choose the best drive for your device.
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Solid state drive (SSD) or good old Hard disk drive (HDD) or Solid state hybrid drive (SSHD)? Which one is better and which one to buy? Many of us have this question unanswered while selecting a new storage solution for laptop or a faster gaming machine or just a data storage pc.
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