SSD - The price of a solid-state drive is higher per MB (megabyte) than an HDD. HDD - A typical HDD takes about 5,000 to 10,000 microseconds to access data.īottom line: SSD wins in this category. This faster access speed means programs can run more quickly, which is very significant, especially for programs that access large amounts of data often, like your operating system. SSD - An SSD has access speeds of 35 to 100 microseconds, which is nearly 100 times faster. Then, we suggest purchasing a large HDD (either internal or external) for storing documents, pictures, and music. For most computer users, we recommend using an SSD as the primary drive for your operating system and the programs you access most frequently. However, due to its price per unit of memory, it may not make sense to use SSDs in all instances. As you'll learn by reading the following comparisons, the SSD technology is superior. The SSD (solid-state drive) is another storage solution replacing the hard disk drives. The main draw is the high storage capacity and low cost. The standard HDD (hard disk drive) has been the predominant storage device for computers (both desktops and laptops) for a long time.