Should My Computer Have an SSD?

Well, when building a computer in today's modern times, people are always troubled with choosing which parts to put in their new PC that they're building.

And one of the biggest questions is;

"Should I include an SSD in my build?" 

The answer is: 

Yes.
I personally think that every computer should have an SSD.
Whether it's for boot, fast access to daily used applications, or if you just generally want something shockproof, lighter, faster and smaller. An SSD can provide all of those and more.

SSD manufactures like Intel, Kingston, Samsung and Corsair are making solid SSDs that will last longer than you'll use them. They will last till the new technology makes your SSD look like its from the stone age.

Sadly. SSDs are a relatively new technology, and therefore expensive, the price is steadily dropping. While the amount of storage available is going up. Am I saying that in a year SSDs will be $50 for 500GB? No, sadly SSDs will always be more expensive than their cheaper hard disk counterpart.

A big concern with users today is: "Will they last?"

Well, the answer is, yes, they will last. Cheaper SSDs like the Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB SSD in the picture above, use flash that will last 3000 writes minimum. Now, saying it will last three thousand writes does not mean you can only write three thousand times to the drive, no, it means you can write 120GB (full write to every flash chip) three thousand times. So, over its life, you will be able to write to the drive, delete and re-write 3000x120GB of data (which is 360 000GB, which is also equal to three hundred and sixty Terabytes).

So, unless your using it heavily, in a heavily used server or NAS, than the drive will last a years.

Although current SSD prices are threw the roof (at around $.80-$3 a GB) and storage is small (30GB-512GB for SATAIII), in the past years SSD price has gone down, while quality and storage space has gone up.

My recommendations

I personally would recommend to anyone wanting to build a new computer, or anyone wanting to upgrade their current system to at least consider including a 30GB-60GB SSD for boot. Or if your like me, use one for boot and storage.

Brands

If you want to buy an SSDs choosing the right band is important.

Intel: 

Intel is one of the best manufacturers for SSDs right now, with some of the highest speeds, and the best track record for durability. Intel SSDs are getting to the higher price point of the market at a over a $1 a GB, but happily under $2. Intel sellers consumer SSDs (311, 320, and 330 series), a more prosumer (510 and 520 series) and finally, enterprise (710, 910 series).

Kingston:

 Kingston is my company of choice for SSDs. They're HyperX 3K series are amazing, being one of the fastest drives on the market, yet having a great price at a bit under $1. They have a few different drive series,  consumer (SSDNow, HyperX 3k) and then the higher prosumer (HyperX (5k)).

San Disk:

as all the photographers out their know that you may not, SanDisk is the leading manufacturer of SD cards and CF cards (basically small little SSDs). So, when they decided to make an SSD, it became awesome. With speeds equivalent to the HyperX, the San Disk Extreme SSD is awesome power, and bang for your buck prices. SandDisk has two series, their SDSSP, and thier Extreme series.

Corsair: 

One of the leading manufacturer of everything computer related has some pretty good SSDs. For some weird reason, thety decided to go back intime with their new Neutron SSDs, featuring SATA II. Corsair has a bit of a confusing lineup of drives. so read each description and chose a drive. http://www.corsair.com/en/ssd.html

Roger's Internet Fails: Customer Service

While, its the 29th of September, 3 weeks into the school year.

And like most Saturdays, I started off by the day by going online, doing the usual, pointless browsing.

While, at 1 pm, I had Band rehearsal (no, I do not play an instrument, I just make them sound good , A/V guy), and I happily got to come home at 4, no biggie. 

Fast-forward to 5:30, I go to show my dad a YouTube videos explaining why I dislike Drake (A Dose Of Buckley YOLO, was the video). First of all YouTube wouldn't even respond (ping, requests, nothing), so I thought, "OK, my dinosaur of a thing we call a router probably threw a fit and quit, requiring just re-boot and try again". So, I re-boot, try again.

Still no avail. 

Well, as I pride my-self on technologically inclined, I decided to jump into this head first, test the network by loading a simple forum page. And oh boy, was I in for a treat, no response, nothing, it just started loading, and then timed out. 

So, I decided I'd give my ISP a call, and see what was up. Now when I first called, what I got couldn't even be considered a busy signal. No, more like a whimper of pain from the telephone network, the only type that you get when you have a large proportion of Torontonians calling in wondering why their Internet service, or their clients Internet, decided to call it quits.

And that's when it hit me, Rogers DNS server must be down.

So, I decide to call back, seeing if I would get to the automated system at least. while, 3 minutes into the call, I get the first answer from the automated system. OK, so I thought, lets get this started, and I'll be able to talk to someone in a few minutes. so I answered if I want to continue the call in English, or if I want to transfer to the French line.

You know how you usually get the new prompt in 15 seconds? 10? Maybe 20 at the most? 

Yep, while, 2 minutes later I get the next prompt. TWO minutes. So I chose the Internet technical support and wait. Again, another minute goes by, then two, and then I get the prompt. 

So if your getting what I'm saying, Rogers Communication's (a communications company) customer communication failed..... A PHONES company PHONES failed. Oh the irony.

So fast forward to now, I called again, and the system works as usual  estimating a 15 minute wait time, well, that was half an hour ago. 

So, my conclusion is that in the heat of a technology related "emergency", don't call your provider, because you, and the million other people calling for the same issue, will be their all night waiting to talk to one of their representatives, and trust me, theirs more of us then them.

And As the old saying goes, "Keep calm, and carry on".