15.01.2024 Views

CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

NOTE If you have a newer portable, chances are the computer uses one of

the newer, smaller SSD formats—mSATA or M.2. You read about them in

detail back in Chapter 8, but glance back to refresh your memory if

necessary.

Most manufacturers make it fairly easy to replace or upgrade an mSATA

or M.2 drive. Remove the bottom plate or dedicated drive bay covering from

the computer. Remove the tiny retaining screw and pop the old drive out. Put

the new drive in its place, insert the retaining screw, and reattach the

covering. You’re good to go, at least from the hardware side of things.

One of the best upgrades you can make on a laptop is to go from an HDD

to an SSD. Obviously, you’ll get a lot less storage capacity for the money, but

the trade-offs can be worth it. First, the SSD will use a lot less electricity than

an HDD, thus extending battery life. Second, any SSD is rip-roaringly faster

than an HDD and performance across the board will be boosted. For a time,

SSHDs, or hybrid drives, were a good compromise between the speed of an

SSD and the size of a traditional HDD. These days, the inroads SSDs have

made on price and capacity have made SSHDs a lukewarm choice. 2- and 4-

TB SSDs are common, though still a bit pricey, while 500-GB SSDs are

under $60.

Try This! Comparing HDD with SSD Today

As I write this chapter, you can get roughly twice the storage capacity on

an HDD for the same cost as an SSD. In other words, $60 spent on an SSD

could give you ~512 GB of storage, whereas you could purchase a 1-TB,

2.5-inch HDD for the same $60. So do some comparison shopping.

What’s the price point now? Are the trade-offs worth it for you or for your

clients to make the switch from HDD to SSD?

The process of replacing a hard drive mirrors that of replacing RAM. You

find the hard drive hatch—either along one edge or in a compartment on the

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!