I got a new laptop a few months ago, it came with a 256GB NVMe SSD. I really didn't think I'd end up running out of space this soon, but I did, and now I'm constantly juggling files to keep it a decent margin away from being totally full. At this point I only have around 30GB of space left, and most of what's on here is stuff I'd really like to keep.
So I'm thinking about getting a 2.5 inch, 1TB HDD for it in addition to the SSD. It has an empty slot for it, and it's an upgrade option listed in the service manual.
I'm not entirely sure yet, but I think I already have one that might be compatible, it's in an old laptop of mine from around 2015. I'm thinking I should just transplant that one, but my concern is that it'll be too dated for my purposes. It runs at 5400RPM, I have no idea if that's considered fast or way too slow. Does the speed even matter if I only plan to put movies, tv shows, books, photos, etc on it?
Does the speed even matter if I only plan to put movies, tv shows, books, photos, etc on it?
nope
Hard drives fail more easily than ssds (esp consumer drives). I would suggest having an extra as backup. 7200/5400 doesn't matter that much for mass storage.
5400rpm together with 7200rpm are the only two relevant harddrive speeds nowadays. It sounds like a large difference, but I'm not sure how much difference the average SSD-spoiled person really can tell. 5400rpm is obviously better on laptop battery. As long as only media and ancient games are installed on it you won't notice anything.
Thanks for the help and suggestion.
The old laptop wasn’t actually used for more than a couple years, it’s just been sitting in my closet all this time. Does a HDD still accumulate wear in storage like that?
For now that HDD is my only option, can’t afford anything new at the moment, so I’m probably just going to use it temporarily to hold media I don’t care too much about losing. I’ll look into that SSD you suggested when I can afford it, though.
Disk speed doesn't really matter all that much but you should probably put an SSD in a laptop instead of an HDD. Performs better in every way and is far more reliable because no moving parts.
Yeah, as I said the laptop already has an SSD. I’m just thinking about getting the HDD for some extra media storage. Nothing that I’d care about losing, that stuff will stay on the SSD.
I know you already have a nvme SSD. I'm saying use that 2.5" bay for a sata SSD instead of an HDD for that extra media anyways. Sata SSDs are only like $10-$20 more and are better in every way. You won't care about the speed but you will notice the battery life improvement. (Also less gyroscopic forces in your laptop).
Oh, sorry misunderstood. I'll probably get around to to that eventually, I can't afford to buy anything right now, so I'm stuck with using the HDD I already have. But you're right, the sata SSD sounds like the better option long term.
Ah if you've already got the hdd just slap that shit in and forget about it. Revisit if battery life is starting to hurt.
Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately it turned out I did not, in fact, already have the HDD. Well, sorta. That old laptop I took it out of was pretty thick, makes sense given how old it is. But that meant it contained a pretty thick 2.5 inch HDD to match. I tried it out, it worked, but the bottom cover of the laptop couldn't fully clip in because it was just a tiny bit too thick. And I had to secure it in place with electrical tape since the brackets made it even thicker. These laptop manufacturers really made a significant portion of all 2.5 inch HDDs incompatible only because they wanted their laptops to be just a couple millimeters thinner.
So looks like I will have to wait until I can buy one, at which point I will get a SATA SSD since they really aren't that much more expensive per GB than an HDD.
These laptop manufacturers really made a significant portion of all 2.5 inch HDDs incompatible only because they wanted their laptops to be just a couple millimeters thinner.
They really worsened serviceability just for this. It's so annoying.
Also, one benefit I've yet to see mentioned about going with the SSD is it operates silently. Very preferable to the ever-present whir of a hard drive in your laptop.
Sheesh. 2.5" is supposed to be a standardized sized. Its totally bullshit that it didn't fit. Remember to check the height on whatever SSD you get before you buy it because it would suck if that didn't fit either.
If no SSDs fit then you can take one out of the case and still use them. 2.5" ssds are just a big chip like the nvme SSD but in a plastic box and with SATA connectors.
This might help your decision: https://diskprices.com/
Note that external HDDs are just HDDs inside a shell that you can open and put in your PC.
SSDs are only about twice as expensive as HDDs. If it's in your budget you could get a 1 TB SSD that uses a SATA connector or whatever your laptop supports. I assume you'd have to install it yourself, or take it to a PC repair place to have them install it if you're really nervous about opening up a computer.
SSDs are also silent, don't vibrate, and don't have a risk of a "head crash" like HDDs do, which could be something to think about since it's a laptop, if you're taking it places (you don't want to move hard drives around too much when they're running, they'll actually pause if they get too much movement I think). You could also have someone replace the SSD that it comes with with something larger and transfer the file system over. But that would obviously be annoying to do, cost money, and leave you with an extra SSD.
This. No one under any circumstances should be putting an hdd in a laptop in 2023
For your use case the HDD will be fine. Most laptop HDDs were/are 5400 rpm, it's not egregiously slow for storing or loading media files.
get a small little program like CrystalDiskInfo to check/monitor the health and temp of your HDD/SSD drives. I have a really old 500GB hdd that I'm using on my desktop, but I only store unimportant media files on it, it's still healthy.
I have a ten year old 5400 in my laptop in addition to the system SSD. If it's a massive (>20GB) game, you might see higher load times, otherwise you won't see much issue, maybe loading thousands of photo thumbnails would take a little longer.
As others have said, be aware the HDD could die, but I appreciate buying stuff isn't always that simple, however cheap.
