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Why upgrade with a SSD?
So we all know we should regularly back up everything on our laptops, whether that’s manually doing so or using Time Machine on MACs. But there’s nothing that shows you just quite how important backing up your most precious digital information is than your laptop suddenly being out of action because your hard drive has packed up without warning.
Believe me, I know it recently happened to me and I lost a lot of things on top of the sudden expense I had to spend. My laptop is how I make the majority of my money so there’s no way I could put off getting it sorted. A trip to the Apple store cradling my mac book pro like a wounded and a vulnerable animal, led to a confirmation that my hard drive had indeed failed with no possible recovery. I also ended up having a crash course in HHDs v SSDs.
What happened to mine?
Apple could fix my laptop with the same Hard Disk Drive (HHD), for edging on £200. I’d be without a laptop for roughly a week (the horror) and HHDs are built with a disk so like a CD player the slightest knock and they can fail. This is also one of the leading reasons why you have to trade in your old laptop for a new one. A Solid State Drive (SSD) on the other hand, is built like a lego piece and therefore far more sturdy. This is what Apple now uses. The in store genius advised me that not only could I get a bigger hard drive but for zero down time. This would also be cheaper! The only catch… I’d have to install it myself. After asking if there’s a hard drive installation for dummies available, he laughed and assured me that many people have installed it themselves. It’s a quick and easy process so I was told. All you need is the hard drive and the stated screwdriver heads (you probably already have this).
The outcome?
I definitely couldn’t be without my laptop for a week. The sooner I could replace my hard drive and for as little as expense the better. At the risk of spending more money for a hard drive that’s so fragile, more than likely I would soon have to replace it again. SSD was definitely the way to go. You can see why SSDs are rightly the rave right now and for money a needs must. What can be better than saving from the start AND in the future. Solid State Drives also run quicker than Hard Disk Drives.
The process?
I used the website crucial.com, which is what the genius recommended. The next day I was signing for my nerve-racking yet lovely new hard drive and screwdriver in the post. The 500gb SSD that I went for also has a 5-year warranty. The installation process took less than an hour as promised and I used the helpful guide on the website. Waiting for the High Sierra system package took longer to install than installing the drive itself.
So what did it cost?
- 500gb Solid State Drive = £91.19.
- Screwdriver (needed but me but check if you already have the screw driver heads stated) = £8.39.
- Special delivery = £3.99
- Total = £103.57
Overall?
Solid State Drives get a big thumbs up from me, I’d happily change my hard drive myself again. Batteries are another part that tends to need changing, so when I change my battery myself in the future I may also upgrade to a larger size drive. But for now 500gb, which is the same as I had before, is perfect for me. Click this post Step-By-Step SSD Drive DIY Installation for a step-by-step guide to DIY upgrading your laptop with a SSD.