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EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,730
287
San Francisco, CA
Did you read the entire article? The chips have a limited number of read/write cycles, yes, but will almost certainly outlast any traditional HDD.
 

iToaster

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2007
1,742
0
In front of my MacBook Pro
While true, a SSD will fail, I find that the durability of a SSD is much better than that of a hard drive, seeing as most of what the hard drive does is store data. Especially as seen in the MBA and similar computers, the SSD is not written to frequently, and I bet that it will take quite a while for each memory cell to undergo 100,000 or so writes, certainly well outside the usable life of the computer.


Also, the article uses MB (as in megabyte) instead of GB (as in gigabyte), so essentially he said he'll pay $500 for 128 megabytes, that being not a lot nowadays, seeing as an 8 Gb flash drive is $50. Whatever, we get the point :p
 

Satori

macrumors 6502a
Jun 22, 2006
761
6
London
Both effectively have limited life spans... The real point about SSDs is that they are a lot less susceptible to shock damage (no moving parts).

Having said that they are still very expensive per GB!
 

ayeying

macrumors 601
Dec 5, 2007
4,547
13
Yay Area, CA
I worry about any type of failures on the Hard Drives. I keep multiple back ups but when something fails, its really bad.
 

sushi

Moderator emeritus
Jul 19, 2002
15,639
3
キャンプスワ&#
Did you read the entire article? The chips have a limited number of read/write cycles, yes, but will almost certainly outlast any traditional HDD.
And we will be seeing more SSD type devices in laptops in the future, is my guess.

I find that the durability of a SSD is much better than that of a hard drive, seeing as most of what the hard drive does is store data.
Exactly why they are good for laptop computers.

Both effectively have limited life spans... The real point about SSDs is that they are a lot less susceptible to shock damage (no moving parts).
Very important for portable use.

I worry about any type of failures on the Hard Drives. I keep multiple back ups but when something fails, its really bad.
Always good to backup your data on a regular basis.
 

wordy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2008
233
0
Toronto
They are faster at SOME tasks right now - but not far off they will be far superior and far far cheaper. Remember, SSDs really are the future. They will eventually unify the RAM and storage functions!
 

twist2b

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2008
220
0
North Carolina
Did you read the entire article? The chips have a limited number of read/write cycles, yes, but will almost certainly outlast any traditional HDD.

Yes, this is a theory. NOT been proven. You have to look closely:
"He added that if a failure ever does occur, it will not occur in the flash chip itself but in the controller."
who knows how good the controller could be. Also this is not super tested equipment, so who knows whats going to happen within a 3 year period. If it went down in price, I would be ALL for it! But who knows if its really worth it right now.
 

wordy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2008
233
0
Toronto
But who knows if its really worth it right now.

I do. The answer is of course it's not worth it. SSD is new tech, and as such it's initial costs are very high. As production ramps up, and it already is, the price will fall.

People that bought the SSD model hopefully did so because they simply have the money to do so rather than on the basis of benchmarks. For example if you check out the Ars Tech review, there is no sane person that would say those difference can justify the price difference.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,742
155
I do. The answer is of course it's not worth it. SSD is new tech, and as such it's initial costs are very high. As production ramps up, and it already is, the price will fall.

People that bought the SSD model hopefully did so because they simply have the money to do so rather than on the basis of benchmarks. For example if you check out the Ars Tech review, there is no sane person that would say those difference can justify the price difference.

No, however, having something with no moving parts is quite nice. ;)
 

wordy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2008
233
0
Toronto
No, however, having something with no moving parts is quite nice. ;)

That's marketing my friend.

99.999% of laptops across the board up to this point have used traditional HDD without problem.

They have to highlight some features that distinguish SSD from regular HDD otherwise who would pay more?
 

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,089
22,155
That's marketing my friend.

99.999% of laptops across the board up to this point have used traditional HDD without problem.

They have to highlight some features that distinguish SSD from regular HDD otherwise who would pay more?

well yes it is marketing, but its also reassuring in a way to know that you wont somehow end up damaging a HDD platter with a little bump or twist while moving your laptop. also, the battery advantages that will become more apparant as the tech grows out of infancy will make it more than worth it in the end.

Hard drives MAY be a dying breed.
 

wordy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2008
233
0
Toronto
well yes it is marketing, but its also reassuring in a way to know that you wont somehow end up damaging a HDD platter with a little bump or twist while moving your laptop. also, the battery advantages that will become more apparant as the tech grows out of infancy will make it more than worth it in the end.

Hard drives MAY be a dying breed.

Of course they're a dying breed, and SSD will eventually replace all HDD, but the timeline for that far outlasts the lifecycle of the Air.

The point about bumps etc is pretty invalid. There are hundreds of millions of HDD laptops out there (billions?) and if minor bumps or twists caused HDD failure they certainly wouldn't be as successful as they are.
 

twist2b

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2008
220
0
North Carolina
That isn't supported by 3rd party benchmarks, can you please provide your reference?

Wikipedia has a list I had read before showing the diff between the 1.6 HDD to the 1.8 SSD and it was clear. I will try to find it.

ALSO every person that I have talked to about the diffrence has said that the 1.6 HDD takes 45-50 seconds to boot meanwhile the 1.8 SSD takes 17-23 seconds.

yes, clocked and tested. Not companies, but people I know. Still the evidence is clear if you read information on this.

edit - also the 5 hour life has NOT been proven....... ever with the HDD
meanwhile if you are using SSD it can last to very close to 5 hours, WHY? Because no moving parts saves power consumption, no movement and also it knows were the data is instantly.
 

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,089
22,155
Of course they're a dying breed, and SSD will eventually replace all HDD, but the timeline for that far outlasts the lifecycle of the Air.

The point about bumps etc is pretty invalid. There are hundreds of millions of HDD laptops out there (billions?) and if minor bumps or twists caused HDD failure they certainly wouldn't be as successful as they are.
;) read carefully me friend, the bumps thing i stated is, to me at least, i kind of piece of mind thing even if its completely unfounded.

also most of what ive said pertains to the FUTURE of SSD and not the air specifically
 

wordy

macrumors regular
Feb 26, 2008
233
0
Toronto
Wikipedia has a list I had read before showing the diff between the 1.6 HDD to the 1.8 SSD and it was clear. I will try to find it.

ALSO every person that I have talked to about the diffrence has said that the 1.6 HDD takes 45-50 seconds to boot meanwhile the 1.8 SSD takes 17-23 seconds.

yes, clocked and tested. Not companies, but people I know. Still the evidence is clear if you read information on this.

I'm almost certain your boot up stats are correct, but I fail to see how this relates to your original statement which was about battery life: "gives ALOT more juice and battery life = extended"

LOL and I'd trust a company over your friends anyday. I've read a crapload of reviews and I think your remarks are either pure BS or misguided optimism - either way they're simply incorrect. Anyhow, please provide the source, thanks.
 

twist2b

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2008
220
0
North Carolina
;) read carefully me friend, the bumps thing i stated is, to me at least, i kind of piece of mind thing even if its completely unfounded.

also most of what ive said pertains to the FUTURE of SSD and not the air specifically

exactly, the new 256 GB SSD is to big to fit in the Macbook air as of right now. The price is still high for this type of drive to be used on many computers but when price cuts are do-able then I think it will be pushed.... HARD. Like blueray and HD.
 

NT1440

macrumors Pentium
May 18, 2008
15,089
22,155
exactly, the new 256 GB SSD is to big to fit in the Macbook air as of right now. The price is still high for this type of drive to be used on many computers but when price cuts are do-able then I think it will be pushed.... HARD. Like blueray and HD.

yes as tech advances it tends to trickle down into the products we use everday. although i see SSD's becoming big way sooner than a full scale adoption/acceptance of HD
 

twist2b

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 26, 2008
220
0
North Carolina
I'm almost certain your boot up stats are correct, but I fail to see how this relates to your original statement which was about battery life: "gives ALOT more juice and battery life = extended"

LOL and I'd trust a company over your friends anyday. I've read a crapload of reviews and I think your remarks are either pure BS or misguided optimism - either way they're simply incorrect. Anyhow, please provide the source, thanks.


NO, I said the SSD NOT the batter gives alot more juice and battery life
when I say juice I meant processing speed on the drive.

proof that battery life is better:
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/14/macbook-air-ssd-vs-hdd-battery-life-revisted/

proof that the SSD is FASTER!
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/02/11/macbook_air_face_off_hdd_vs_ssd_with_video.html

remmember that the SSD is still freakishly expensive and lower Drive space, but still!
 
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