There have been a lot of changes in the computer arena since the first (affordable) PC came out in late 1980s. Of all the things that have changed :

  • Monitors – From big bulky CRT to the sleek LCD
  • Processors - From the 8386 to the Celerons then Pentiums and C2Ds
  • RAM – from the wimpy 16MB to the massive 4GB+
  • Sound Cards – from mono/stereo to dedicated 5.1 Dolby Digital
  • Graphics – from 8MB VRAM to the present 1GB+ DDR5 Crossfire / SLI

Computer is not just a computer. Its a consumer device. Its a multimedia hub, download machine, jukebox, learning tool, video/audio creation studio.

In spite, all these changes, the hard disks have remained at the same plane. Sure their prices have dropped and a 500GB costs Rs. 3000 only what remains the same is the way they work is the same as they used to a decade back.

As I keep mentioning about here at CG, Hard Disks are the slowest part and thus the limiting agent in the performance of any rig. The read/write headers and the spindle being a mechanical device. The seek times , average latency times prove to be a hindrance is the speed.All mechanical devices eventually FAIL.

I myself have suffered bad sector problems. Hard Disks are now on there way out! With the coming of SSDs(Solid State Drives) hard disks will now be phased out (but) slowly.

SSD

So, what’s so special about SSDs? To keep it simple, you can consider an SSD an a large non-volatile RAM. Sort of a refined pen drive with large amount of storage space and high speed data transfer speeds. Its therefore, allows direct access reducing average latency times.

P.S : Geeks can say – SSDs are made of NAND gates just like my pen drive albeit with better circuitry.

Benefits of SSD

  • No disk fragmentation
  • High transfer rate, so copying/reading files will be faster
  • Silent. No noise and your computer can work buzz free without emitting vinyl scratching sounds.
  • Fast Booting times and faster application startups
  • No HDD crashes, bad sectors
  • Power Savings

Fantastic! I wanna have mah SSD. How much does it cost?

That’s where things go a bit sour. Being fairly new in the market they are very expensive at the moment. An 80GB SSD costs USD 1000 or Rs45000 approx! Scream…..

There is still hope, prices will come down with the increase in production. Dell Adamo sells with an 80GB SSD and costs USD 2000 or Rs.1.5 lakh. Its focused towards the lifestyle segment and business class.

In another 6 months prices will come down and hopefully, you’ll hear me getting one in another 1 year or so!