4 reasons why installing an SSD in your old laptop makes sense

by
url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url url

It's always good when you can prevent older technology from ending up in landfill, and old laptops are no exception. They often work fine except for a few things, including physical disk speed. The best laptops are also upgradable, which means using 2.5-inch storage drives on older laptops. Adding SSD storage is the biggest performance boost for these older computers, and here are three compelling reasons why.



3 To increase overall responsiveness

The boot time and responsiveness of the operating system are significantly improved

The interior of the Razer Blade 18 2024 shows an empty m.2 SSD slot

If your laptop is old enough to use a 2.5-inch hard drive as a storage drive, swapping it out for a SATA SSD will make a huge difference in overall responsiveness, right from the moment you press the power button to turn it on. Almost any SATA SSD can achieve sequential read and write speeds of 500MB/s or even 550MB/s, which is right at the limit of the SATA III specifications. That's because it's a mature technology these days and while the market is shifting to NVMe storage, SATA still has a place as it's cheaper for larger drives.


Even laptops with relatively slow CPUs benefit from an SSD transplant, as they often boot in seconds. Although it also opens files and programs faster, it doesn't speed up everything. Gamers might benefit from the system's responsiveness and loading times, but the speed of the storage drive doesn't change how well the CPU and GPU in the laptop can run games. Still, users who do productivity tasks will notice a big difference in their daily workload, and in this case, installing an SSD is definitely worth it.

2 To increase storage space

Older laptops often didn't come with large drives

A picture of a Kingstone SSD stored next to a WD hard drive.

Memory prices for OEM laptops are often wildly inflated, so your old laptop probably has pretty poor storage capacity, even if it comes with an SSD. Storage costs have dropped significantly since the introduction of SATA or NVMe SSDs, making adding faster storage more affordable than ever. Most laptops come with less than 2TB of storage, but you can now get up to 8TB of SATA or NVMe SSD storage.


We're not saying you should install a nearly $1,000 SSD in your old laptop. That would be a waste. However, if your laptop has less than 2TB of storage, upgrading to 2TB will often cost less than $100 if you get the right sales, and then you'll have plenty of storage space for documents and other files. Storage is now cheap, and you'll be less reliant on the cloud or having to occasionally move files from your laptop due to space constraints.

The best SSDs you can buy in 2022

Related

Best SSDs in 2024

From 2.5-inch SATA drives to more advanced M.2 NVMe drives, these are the best solid state drives you can buy right now.

1 To reuse it

Transform your laptop into something new


If you want to reuse your old laptop, you can turn it into a home laboratory, for example. Adding an SSD helps with file recovery and all data processing tasks and generates less heat, which is good since the laptop runs as a makeshift server most of the time. You may only be able to add one or two SSDs for storage, but that's what external USB drives are for, right? Thermals can also be an issue, but you can leave the lid open if your laptop's ventilation comes from the lid hinge.

The speed at which files can be opened from an SSD also means that an old laptop can be repurposed as a digital cookbook, allowing you to scroll through your favorites at any time. Since it's old, you probably won't have to worry about the occasional splatter of béchamel sauce on the screen or greasy fingerprints on the touchpad or keys. Or turn it into a retro game emulator and play through the childhood games you never got a chance to finish. Even the most modest laptops can handle it, as retro emulation puts relatively little strain on the system and they load at lightning speed with an SSD. Dolphin Emulator is a good emulator with support for GameCube and Wii games that only require 2GB of RAM to run, perfect for the old laptop.


Installing an SSD in an old laptop can extend its useful life by a few years

If you have an old but upgradable laptop, adding an SSD is the biggest upgrade you can make in terms of speed and responsiveness. Then you have a perfectly serviceable machine, ready for a few more years of life. If the rest of the laptop's hardware isn't quite up to running Windows 11, you might consider converting it to a Chromebook or a similarly lightweight version of Linux.

Leave a Comment