<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>So i have around 2k to blow on a laptop for college (thanks to the Alaskan PFD) and i wwould really like to use it 2nd semester this year.</p>
<p>I'm looking at a dell XPS m1530 with upgraded t9300 2.5 ghz processor and a the 85wkr battery. A friend suggested the solid state hardrrive. It's faster, and is bump resistant but is it worth the $350 upgrade?</p>
<p>No, SSDs are still relatively new so they are expensive and generally have way smaller capacities than comparably priced HDDs.</p>
<p>While they may be marginally faster, it's usually not worth it just to have your windows boot up 5 seconds faster. Additionally, many business class laptops (read: IBM) or even dell have hardware and software to detect drops and stuff and automatically shut down the harddrive to protect it from bumps so it shouldn't be that bad. </p>
<p>Also, harddrives are generally upgradeable, so you can save that money, and buy an SSD later when the price drops and just pop it in.</p>
<p>Don't get an SSD. It might actually use up more battery (because they're not very efficient right now), and it leaves you without as much space.</p>
<p>I wouldn't get one. They aren't exactly cheap right now, nor do they have near decent capacity( at least for me, I have a 500GB HD in my MBP). I would love to have a SSD in my laptop, then I would have to worry less about it sitting in my backpack on my motorcycle going over every pothole in southern california. But not cost effective enough yet.</p>
<p>You can always buy and external HD to backup your stuff if space is the problem. I don't know if its that much faster though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You can always buy and external HD to backup your stuff if space is the problem. I don't know if its that much faster though.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A SSD is definitely faster than a traditional hard drive. And an external hard drive would be noticeably slower than an internal hard drive unless you are using an E-SATA external enclosure.</p>
<p>I don't think most people really care about harddrives being marginally slower. Many of my friend's computers are so crappy that you can hardly tell the difference.</p>
<p>Don't do it. At a certain point, even if the harddrive is faster, the interface isn't. Solid state just isn't worth it. Its all new... give it a few years, at least. If I were you, I'd go with a computer for the reliability. Like, a lenovo T500, external harddrive set, and a full accident protection warranty for 4 years. Insure a good investment, rather than let that super laptop burn up.</p>