If you ever get invited to one of those prime time television shows, like “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, and they ask you a difficult question, this just might win you a top prize. What’s the slowest part of any computer? As they audience quiets down, and nary a noise can be heard, you confidentially answer, “The Hard Drive!”....cue applause!!
Magnetic Hard drives are yesterday's news
Regular magnetic hard drives have been with us since the beginning of the modern computing era. If you have a desktop or laptop computer with one of those drives, you'll notice that will make a whirring sound as it tries to access the correct spot on its drive to save or store information that you are saving. You'll also notice that sometimes, it takes several seconds for it to figure out where your data should go, access the right location, and put it in its place. We've all learned to put up with this, as sometimes the hard drive’s efforts are barely noticeable, and sometimes we almost have to go get a fresh cup of coffee while we wait for the darned device to sort things out.
Especially on laptops, there is one additional risk which must be taken into consideration. These magnetic hard drives are extremely sensitive, and subject to damage if the laptop is bumped, or in extreme cases, dropped. Because these hard drives are mechanical devices, made up of many different tiny magnetic plates, they can break or shatter inside the computer, and that spells disaster. It is virtually impossible to recover data from a traditional hard drive that has been damaged. Additionally, as they spin and whirr about, they tend to wear out. So over a period of time, which can actually be several years, they can literally fail one day, without notice, due to fatigue. This is one reason why most computer experts advise backing up a computer’s data to external hard drive, just in case.
Technology to the rescue
Over the last several years, manufacturers have finally perfected this new way to store data on any computer, especially a laptop. Using technology that was initially pioneered over 50 years ago, but which was not economically feasible to produce in mass quantities, manufacturers now offer solid state drives with their computers. These modern electronic marvels offer several advantages over their older, magnetic cousins:
● As the name implies, they are solid-state, which means there are no moving parts to wear out
● They perform at a much higher speed than traditional magnetic drives. You will find that booting up your computer takes much less time, and accessing any file happens in the blink of an eye
● Being much smaller than regular magnetic hard drives, they allow the laptops they are installed in to also be reduced in size
● Nowhere near as power hungry as a magnetic drive, the batteries that power them and the laptop can be smaller, and last longer.
● Very little heat is generated, due to the lack of moving parts. This allows laptops to run cooler, last longer, and won’t give you that terrible feeling that your pants are about to catch fire!
● They come with a choice of interfaces and in various sizes, some as big as 1000 GB, or 1 TB, equal in storage capacity to traditional magnetic drives.
Thus, for the latest in reliability and ease-of-use, be sure to order one of these cutting-edge drives today, and have a far more satisfying experience using your computer.
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