QOTW:Do you still use mechanical storage?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 21 August 2020, 16:31

Tags: WD (NYSE:WDC), Seagate (NASDAQ:STX), Corsair, Sabrent, Team Group, Adata (3260.TWO)

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We have championed solid-state storage since it become mainstream 10 years ago. Offering near-instant access without the screeching associated with slower mechanical storage, SSDs have become legion in PCs, laptops and becoming increasingly popular in servers.

The latest iterations use the compact, wire-free M.2 form factor and offer up 5GB/s read and 4GB/s write speeds, making them 20x faster than even the best mechanical storage. And with capacities increasing and cost dropping, we expect to see an SSD in each and every system that comes in for review.

With all that said, mechanical storage still has its advocates. There's still no beating it in the value-per-GB stakes, and if size is more important than speed, mechanical storage rules the roost.

Considering all the above, this week's question is whether you still use mechanical storage in your main PC or laptop? I don't because I have a 1TB NVMe SSD boot drive augmented by a slower 2TB SSD. How about you? Other than cost, are there any reasons why you persist with mechanical storage. Over to you.



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I do indeed, a 4TB solid state hard drive are far too expensive, and the stuff i put on the spinning disks is not something i need to access fast or often.

I have a SSD for working surface so to say, when i am done working with things they go to the spinning drive.

OS and Programs often used are on NVMe drive.
I have a few TB's of platter/mechanical drives as storage (external), I use a mix of NVme (OS as only 256 GB), SSD (500GB games), platter drive (1TB for media) and a 2 TB hybrid drive (games) in my PC.
Just to add to my comment above, cost is one factor (but prices are really starting to come down) and what i have serves me well at the moment.
yes I have two filing cabinets and some pallet racking in the garage
'Article'
QOTW: Do you still use mechanical storage?
You mean “mechanical storage” like closets and drawers? Sure do…

Joking aside, of course I still use mechanical hard disk drives. Not only is the price per gigabyte still vastly better than for SSDs, but I don't really trust the data retention time of SSDs in the long run. Especially unpowered (archival storage) and considering that manufacturers seem adamant to press on with technologies likes QLC and PLC.