It's pretty much the best way - that said, I have a two drive laptop and I use the non-SSD for all of my "storage" (Mostly work stuff, but my Steam stuff is also there) and use the SSD for all other software installations and the OS.

 

I'm pretty sure kine was meant to have two bays, but when I opened it up it's only one. My original plan was ssd + normal drive :-(

IIRC, the WD Black only runs on Windows and requires specific software running.

Might be mixing it up with something else, but I'm pretty sure I decided against it for something along those lines. (Which might not be an issue in this situation, but if anyone else is looking...)

Having been previously sort of opposed to SSDs I did a u-turn and got one the other day. Being on Linux means I don't have to choose between installing the OS or the apps on the SSD (since the two are kinda indivisible). So I just put everything on the SSD and will just install the odd large game to HDD.

My PC now boots from bootloader to desktop in 4 seconds. Which is ridiculous. (And not all that useful really).

Browser opens instantly which is nice.

Think I'll get a big one. Sick of 5 minutes plus to get a usable system. :(

I use that valuable 5 minutes to fetch and pour a cold beer. If I knew my PC was already up and running, it would destroy my enjoyment.

It takes you 5 minutes to get a beer? Armature :C

I'm easily distracted.

So am I. Normally by more beer.

2Y?

One thing, once you get an SSD you can never go back to mechanical drives for system drives ever again :)

Peter, I do not understand the question.

I can barely face them now, and I've never used an ssd before!

:(

> Having been previously sort of opposed to SSDs I did a u-turn and got one the other day

...

I need more help.

Want, not need.

Use your thoughts, Luce.

I'll never be a Jedi :C

Fuck you, Obi Wan Boughton.

(tell me :'S )

Didn't you buy a PCSpecialist laptop?

If so the second bay is a replacement for the dvd drive so if you have one of those you'll have to order the hd bay.

That's what i did. I have an external dvd drive, which i've never used, and got a second drive in the bay.

What made you conclude that an SSD is better than a hybrid? Not that I disbelieve you, it's just that I've been looking at an iMac with the "fusion" drive (read Apple claptrap marketing spiel for 'hybrid') and felt a gut dislike of the name if nothing else.

Can't remember. Looking at what's on the market (here in Canada) now:

- hybrid drives are a lot cheaper than they were, but still >2x more than a 'plain' hdd of equivalent storage capacity.

- the actual ssd part has underwhelming capacity (e.g. 8 GB), which is used as a cache and not a standalone volume on which you can install stuff (I think. Is it even persistent?)

- so stuff like booting and program launching might not benefit all that much anyway

- "Improves overall responsiveness by 20% or more" Meh.

The actual reason why *I* didn't buy an ssd is because I only had one available sata slot (the other being occupied by a dvd drive), and I would have wanted a regular hdd on board as well for all the stuff I keep onboard, AND I run a 4-way multiboot (xp + 3 linuxes) so it seemed like too much of a hassle to work out how to put an ssd into the mix.

Have to say though that the latest iMacs are super fast. Which they ought to be considering the price. Not sure if any of the 4 we got in at work over the past year or so (most recent a couple of months) have hybrid drives in 'em.