Solid state drives

[jbc]

Sadly I seem to be behind in technology in terms of solid state drives. Would someone please answer a few questions about them: I understand that solid state drives are the next generation beyond hard drive technology, true? What are the advantages of Solid state drives over conventional drives?

 

[Osiris]

Battle of the Drives: Solid State Drives vs. Normal Hard Drives - Geeks.com

Aceshardware • View topic - Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solid State Disk drives over

Solid State Disk

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Sadly I seem to be behind in technology in terms of solid state drives. Would someone please answer a few questions about them: I understand that solid state drives are the next generation beyond hard drive technology, true? What are the advantages of Solid state drives over conventional drives?

SSD Advantages:
Massively superior performance, in some cases they are an order of magnitude faster than HDDs
Price/Performance
Low Power consumption
Shock Resistance

SSD Disadvantage:
Price
Capacity

One thing to keep in mind is all SSDs aren't created equal. Drives using Intel, Indilinx, and Sandforce controllers are exceptional but drives with Samsung or Jmicron controllers should be avoided at all costs.

I highly recommend reading Anandtech's SSD articles. They are all pretty long but they do an excellent job of explaining the technology as well as what to look for in a SSD.

AnandTech: The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD

 

[jbc]

How do they differ from USB drives?

 

[wachtn]

How do they differ from USB drives?

Size

Flash/thumb/pocket drives are all solid state drives. Same goes for most memory cards such as the one you use in your digital camera.