Hard Drive versus Flash memory

[Jan]

Hi guays!

I am shopping for a new laptop, it's been long overdue and the only natural choice that I have is between a Mac Book Pro and... a Mac Book Pro but there is a problem: they all seem to be switching from regular hard drives to flash memory storage. I understand the advantages of flash memory (faster start ups, no moving parts, more battery life, etc, and so forth) BUT.... is flash memory really a reliable alternative to the good old hard drive? From my experience using conventional flash memory sticks, each memory cell has a finite life based on the number of times it's been written to, unlike a HD, where the same sector can be written to over and over without ill effect. This makes me somewhat skeptical of these new flash memory "hard drives".

Does anyone have experience / own a flash memory based computer?

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't hesitate to get a SSD, and in fact, I'd prefer it. A SSD will be obsolete technology-wise before it actually fails. IOW, you'll have a new laptop before that time comes. Flash media does degrade over time, but the affect of that is overstated by many. It just isn't a concern unless you have a problem with your system, such as out of control logging, or something like that. There's no guarantees in life, especially with crappy commodity hardware, but I would have at least as much confidence in a SSD as I would a platter drive.

[Reynard]

Get an iMac, then you can have the best of both worlds. An SSD for your OS and apps, and HDD for content :-)

I love having an SSD for loading apps and running the nuts and bolts of my computer, everything is a lot quicker and slicker, I'd recommend.

[Jan]

I wouldn't hesitate to get a SSD, and in fact, I'd prefer it. A SSD will be obsolete technology-wise before it actually fails. IOW, you'll have a new laptop before that time comes. Flash media does degrade over time, but the affect of that is overstated by many. It just isn't a concern unless you have a problem with your system, such as out of control logging, or something like that. There's no guarantees in life, especially with crappy commodity hardware, but I would have at least as much confidence in a SSD as I would a platter drive.

Thanks Ixskllr!

I am not suspicious of anything new, quite the opposite,.. this SSD is quite expensive though. a 256 GB flash drive would costs the same as a solid 750 MB platter... I was looking into the latest Macbook pro models with retina, not only they stopped making hard drive based machines, they are also ditching DVD burner/optical drive and they are lacking ports that most people would find essential (I am not talking about the Air model, its the Pro that is becoming lighter and lighter and I think the two product lines will eventually merge).
None of the Apple products that we owned has ever failed and its obvious I am not even considering the competition.

How much storage space will I be left with eventually if I move all my stuff (40 gigs of files) onto a 256 GB flash drive Mountain Lion machine with all the progs installed on it (Adobe, Office), etc. ?

[Jan]

Get an iMac, then you can have the best of both worlds. An SSD for your OS and apps, and HDD for content :-)

I love having an SSD for loading apps and running the nuts and bolts of my computer, I'd recommend.

I am being told a previous generation (as old as last week in fact) non retina HDD Macbook Pro allows for auxiliary SSD to be installed on it.. but I am not finding sources online to verify this...

I am actually thinking of purchasing a desktop too but I am sure it will be a Linux machine, I don't want to blow my money out of Gates' windows, I rather support people who know what they do and who know quality.

[lxskllr]

How much storage space will I be left with eventually if I move all my stuff (40 gigs of files) onto a 256 GB flash drive Mountain Lion machine with all the progs installed on it (Adobe, Office), etc. ?

Only you can answer that. Cheap mass storage is where platter drives rule. If you need lots of space, spinning rust is the way to go. 256gb would be way more than I needed for a portable, but I have, and will always have(fate permitting) a desktop system for my primary computing. I can load a desktop full of dives, and have all the storage I need, then take the essentials on the road with the laptop.

[Jan]

Only you can answer that. Cheap mass storage is where platter drives rule. If you need lots of space, spinning rust is the way to go. 256gb would be way more than I needed for a portable, but I have, and will always have(fate permitting) a desktop system for my primary computing. I can load a desktop full of dives, and have all the storage I need, then take the essentials on the road with the laptop.

Thanks lxskllr. My laptop is where the heaviest files end up being stored because I use it mostly for leisure (video, photo editing, audio tasks) and communication while desktop is used mostly for business (word processing jobs, invoicing, et cetera) but of course, whatever the size of internal storage I can always put things on external hard drives.