Solid State Drives: Already becoming Obsolete?
My prediction of why SSDs won't hit the mainstream market in time.
Monday, January 2, 2012 by VistArtXPosed | Discussion: PC Hardware
-> Not enough stores are promoting SSDs: If brick and mortar chains such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy started to promote and advertise SSDs and the benefits they have over hard drives, SSDs might have increased sales. But there is one problem with that now, SSDs are still too expensive. And the majority of Wal-Mart shoppers probably don't even know how to open their PC without breaking something inside.
->More PCs need eSATA ports for the inexperienced: The majority of consumer PCs sold at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and the like aren't equipped with eSATA ports. And who in their right mind would run an SSD on USB 2.0? You might as well run a hard drive if you're going that route. If SSD makers decided to start reaching out to the mainstream market, they'll need to design somewhat larger and rougher, external SSDs that won't break if dropped, as the majority of typical soccer moms won't be opening up and fiddling around with the insides of a PC. Connecting an SSD should be as easy as connecting an external hard drive. And seeing how eSATA is only 3.0Gbps, they would only focus their simplicity on SATA II SSDs. Casual tech users wouldn't need SATA III speeds. And one more thing, make ALL SSDs bootable, whether internal or external. After all, what good would an SSD be if you can't boot from it?
->The low capacities would turn-off consumers: The inexperienced casual crowd wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference between a hard drive and solid-state drive, besides that an SSD is clearly smaller. Most people do know about drive capacity size; that 500GB is bigger than 250GB. Most people would not pay >$100 for a 60GB drive when they can get a 1000GB external hard drive for the same price, if not less. And lets not even get to read/write speeds.
->Integration with the Cloud would mean less localized storage: This is clearly happening already. As more people (casual and techies alike) are migrating to tablets & smartphones with syncing services, there will be less demand for localized storage, which includes SSDs. And Cloud-Based storage is significantly cheaper than buying and installing an SSD (and having to either install an OS or restore from a drive image). Five years from now only a small, niche market will still run PCs with localized storage. I'm pretty sure that as the years go buy, Cloud-based storage will become even simpler and more secure than it is now.
->Even if SSDs become affordable, it will be too late: The prices of SSDs are still going down, but they aren't down enough yet for retailers to put them on shelves. I would say if SSDs hit brick and mortar chains right now, they would flop, mostly because of price. Only a few techies here and there would actually invest in an SSD from a chain store. Most of us (like me) would buy them online. Whenever SSDs do become affordable, even if it's a year from now, it will be too late, because the demand for Tablets & Smartphones will skyrocket and those devices would become more affordable as well. Casuals would rather spend $300 on a device that can surf the web, e-mail, and chat rather than $300 on a device that only provides local storage (albeit, SPEEDY local storage) and can't do anything else. And seeing how most people today are so lazy, they won't even bother cracking open their PC box open. Heck, they're probably too lazy to lug their machines (even if it's a laptop) to their local Best Buy to have an experienced tech install it for them.
And i'm not going to even talk about businesses and SSDs. I'm only focusing on consumers this time.
My predictions of SSD obsolesce may be premature, but it just seems so sad that only a few of us are experiencing what next-generation computing SHOULD be like. Basically the same thing we're doing now, except a whole lot faster. Only niche markets, such as gamers, power users, and tech enthusiasts are enjoying the brilliance and wonder that is a Solid State Drive. I love SSDs and I have two of them now. In fact, i'm running my PC on my Vertex 3 as I write this article.
My suggestion to you is that if you haven't done so already, and have the money to afford it, buy a Solid State Drive. Not only because you'll have a much faster PC, but because you'll support the drive makers putting much effort into making such drives, and that increased sales will mean more competition. And more competition will lead to newer, faster, and better technology. It doesn't even have to be an expensive SSD. Tell your friends and show off your new configs so they too will buy SSDs. The age of the PC hard drive is over (for boot drives anyway), but the age of the PC should always live on!
Long live SSDs!
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Reply #2 Monday, January 2, 2012 11:00 PM
That's about all that's relevant. WHEN SSD prices come down [they are already] they'll become "more mainstream' and definitely won't be obsolete any time soon.
Currently all that's keeping my WEI score down is my 'old' SSD ... so will eventually [soon] replace it with a newer/bigger/faster version....and the old one can 'speed up' my laptop instead...
Reply #3 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 12:20 AM
We're getting closer to the $1 per GB mark for SSD's, and at one point few believed that would ever happen. Anyone who knows anything about computers should be using an SSD as their OS drive if nothing else, and seeing as we're the go-to people for friends and family who know nothing about computers, it's only right that we should show them the benefits of SSD computing. Once I get my new rig built, I'll be giving this one to my brother. I can't see how he'll possibly want to go back to regular mechanical drives once he's experienced the SSD I have in this PC. Especially considering he's using an 80 GB drive for his boot drive ATM, and his computer, unsurprisingly, is slow as molasses. But that's not something I can fix for him, due to the price of mechanical drives. By the time I can, I'll probably have my new rig running, so it won't matter really.
Damn right! 
Reply #4 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 4:19 AM
Hm, THE argument I hear most when speaking about SSDs is limited lifetime. Or is that obsolete already ?
Reply #5 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 4:31 AM
Limited in that you can only read/write so many times before it goes kerplunk. Granted that's up to a few tens of thousands of times, maybe more, maybe a lot more but what happens when you reach that point? Throw it away and buy anew one? Oohh ... my poor piggy bank is gonna see some hard times. If I go that way which fortunately for me won't be for quite some time.
Reply #7 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 6:38 AM
You might take a look here: http://drjbhl.joeuser.com/article/413325/SSDLife_FreeCalculates_Your_SSDs_Life_Expectancy
A neat little app which will predict your SSD's lifespan, but it has to be in the machine for the app to work, because it's based on the number of writes and rewrites your system makes to the SSD, and that depends on how you've set up your system.
Lifetimes for SSD's have improved a great deal from the early makes and models, however.
Reply #8 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 9:29 AM
I just bought a new laptop, an i5 Sony Vaio. One of their cheap versions, and I did that on purpose, because my plan from the start was to swap the 500 GB hard drive that came with it with a 160 GB Intel 320 SSD.
Right now, that is the single most important upgrade you can do to ANY computer - the thing simply flies, and I bet it's a lot more responsive with that SSD than the MUCH MORE expensive state-of-the-art Sony Vaio laptops with powerful i7 CPUs but puny 5400 RPM disk drives.
Reply #9 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 9:34 AM
Can I ask: Is there any point using a SSD with SATA 2? And if I want to upgrade to SATA 3 to get the best perfomance from the SSD, does that mean changing the motherboard, or is there another way to do it?
Reply #10 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 11:30 AM
I want an SSD, but I still don't think the value is there yet.
Reply #11 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 12:38 PM
In addition to Boxxi's question, I add this.
In redneck terms, can I put an SSD in my Compaq tower, with a locked down OEM MOBO, and see a major increase in speed?
Reply #12 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 12:53 PM
Oh, I will gladly accept a gift of an obsolete SSD if anyone wants to get shed of their old, obsolete hardware. 
PM me for details....
Reply #13 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 1:22 PM
My present rig uses a SATA II mummyboard and a SATA III SSD (a Crucial C300). I don't get the maximum read or write speeds, but the system is way faster than it ever was using a mechanical drive.
You can get add-in PCI cards for SATA III, but the better ones tend to be a bit expensive and it can be hit and miss as to whether they'll get the most out of your SSD, especially with the most recent generation of SSD. A mummyboard with SATA III built in is a better option, IMO. It may not cost a fortune for one, so if you're interested, let me know whether you're using an Intel or AMD processor (and which one if you happen to know) and I could have a look for one for you, if you want.
Reply #14 Tuesday, January 3, 2012 11:03 PM
Starcandy already replied to Boxxi, but let me add this: speed is not the only advantage of SSDs - in fact, personally I don't even think speed is the most important advantage. Let me explain:
What takes longer when using a conventional hard drive? Reading the data from the platter or physically moving the read/write heads to the required position? The time required to do the latter is called access time and is, of course, an order of magnitude (or more!) slower than the actual read operation.
SSDs do not have physical heads they need to move, so things get interesting when you have several programs running at the same time. In a conventional hard drive, data for different applications will be spread all over the disk platters, so, in the Windows multitasking environment, the read/write heads are moving back and forth all the time. Things slow down.
Now put an SSD in the same environment: not only are read and write speeds four or five times faster than a hard drive, as there is essentially no extra delay when accessing data in different locations of the SSD. Everything feels - and is - snappier.
Reply #15 Thursday, January 5, 2012 10:07 AM
Starcandy: Thank you for the info, very helpful!! I'm using an Intel Q8300 Quadcore (I think.....lol). If you can find me one that would be great! 
Reply #16 Thursday, January 5, 2012 11:14 AM
No problem, Bryan. Unfortunately your CPU runs on the LGA775 socket, and there are no motherboards using it that have native SATA III support. That means the only options available to you would be to upgrade the CPU, mummyboard and probably the memory (not sure if LGA775 uses DDR2 or DDR3 memory, I suspect it's the former, though I could be wrong), or, buy something like the Crucial C300 128GB that I have so you're not severely limiting your read speed, or, get a latest generation SSD plus take a risk and buy a PCI-E expansion card that will give you SATA III.
If you need any more help, give me a shout.
Reply #17 Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:12 PM
Hmmm.... don't like the sound of all that. Maybe it's time I built myself another new system. I built this about 3 years ago and it's still really good, can't fault it, but I think it's time i embarked on a new 'puter project. If I get stuck I'll give you a shout if that's ok?
Thanks Starcandy...... 
Reply #18 Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:28 PM
Starcandy: If I just bought something like this http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/motherboardbundles/mbb-i5240a.html and a SSD drive, and then just threw it into my existing setup would that make a big improvement?
Reply #19 Thursday, January 5, 2012 3:33 PM
For a desktop does it need to be a 3.5?
I hear you can get adapters for the 2.5.
Reply #20 Thursday, January 5, 2012 6:39 PM
The problem with that bundle is that the memory is by a no name manufacturer and it's of the generic flavour. Not that generic memory is bad. I'm using Crucial's generic no-frills memory, but that's because it has good reviews. No name and generic can sometimes add up to to cheap memory that could go faulty, and I'd rather avoid you having to deal with something like that.If you'd be happy with an i5 2400, a H67 chipset motherboard and some DDR3 memory I could have a look for them. Throw in an SSD and you should be laughing. Let me know a spend limit and I'll see what I can come up with. Oh, and if you could let me know if your computer case will support ATX boards or just Micro ATX (mATX) and what your power supply wattage is, that would be greatly appreciated. 
I hear you can get adapters for the 2.5.
The majority of desktop SSD's are 2.5" anyway. If by adapters you mean a 3.5" to 2.5" bay converter, than yes you can. You'll probably have to get one if your case doesn't already have drive bays that support both. Have a look at these LINK
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Reply #1 Monday, January 2, 2012 10:44 PM
I can remember when RAM was $200 per MB, prices go down then tech becomes common place.
Would love a SSD but can't justify the cost. Will be getting one on my next computer (for Photoshop) ... only problem, the computer I'm using does everything I want. I will have to wait.