Macbook Pro with SSD

I have been toying around with the idea of a laptop with some solid state storage for quite some time now and recently I came across a video posted on YouTube of a hacked Macbook Pro with a 64 GB SSD swapped in. This got me thinking about an old research project I did on solid state media.

I like solid state media for two main reasons, although there are numerous others to supplement. My number one reason is the decreased read/write times. Normal hard drives can adequately open programs and perform required tasks with mediocre speed on a desktop machine. This is due to the fact that it is common to see drives that spin at about 7200 rpm. Now, step into the mobile world of computing and it is far more common to see disks that spin at 5400 rpm or less (the underlying reason being the greater power consumption) and you can see where having the new quad core processor or 4 gigabytes of RAM can get hung up.

Solid state media has no moving parts. Unlike traditional hard drives which have a platter of disks that rotate and a read/write head that needs to pivot to retrieve and store data, SSDs need only electricity to perform their required functions. Right now though, it is not very economical to purchase these SSDs, as their cost per GB is extremely high in comparison to their mechanical counterparts. As the cost continues to fall, I'm sure more manufacturers will take head and start implementing this technology into their products.

This subject interests me greatly and I am sure I will have many follow up posts to continue the discussion.