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General discussion

Is there a solid-state drive (SSD) in your future computer?

Jul 20, 2012 9:26AM PDT
Question:
Is there a solid-state drive (SSD) in your future computer?


Hello everyone. Solid-state drives (SSDs) are rapidly becoming the
main drive in PCs (not just a boot drive for the OS) as a factory
install or DIY upgrade. They are lighter, noiseless, don't generate
heat, consume less energy (extending battery life), are incredibly fast,
and seemly indestructible versus their spinning HD cousins.

Granted, most factory-installed SSDs top out at 256GB (ultrabooks and
MacBook Airs) with a few at 512GB. Aftermarket prices range from
$0.82 to $1.36 per GB. That translates into $104 for a 128GB SSD to
$696 for a 512GB SSD (depending upon the manufacturer). A Crucial M4
series 512GB SSD (highly rated) can be had for about $400. As you can
see, a little careful shopping can net you a pretty good deal on some
state-of-the-art technology.

Laptops are outselling towers as most people want mobility. However,
that mobility comes at a price. A factory-installed SSD can increase
the price of an $800 - $1,000 laptop by about $400 (regardless of Gb
capacity). Because of cost, most buyers forego the SSD option.
However, with technology changing so rapidly that $800 - $1,000 laptop
is yesterday's news in six months. But it's still cutting-edge
technology!

One way to make that one-year-old laptop seem like new is to
install a SSD. As a matter of full disclosure, in the beginning SSDs
had a reputation for not handling data storage efficiently. Put
simply they weren't able to properly recapture/reallocate space
wherein something had been deleted. TRIM and Garbage Collection
technologies (plus any other manufacturer proprietary schemes
introduced into the SSD controller) have greatly minimized those
concerns. By comparison, the old-fashioned (well, may be not old-fashioned)
spinning HD is prone to developing "Bad Sectors," which makes that
portion of the drive unreadable/unwriteable. SSDs today have
similar MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) ratings as spinning HD's.

Now, the questions to you are (in any order you choose to answer):

1. Do you see an SSD in your future or do you have one already?

2. Was your SSD part of a new PC purchase or DIY upgrade?

3. If you made the switch, what's your satisfaction level on a scale of
1 to 5 (5 being the highest)?

4. If the switch was a DIY upgrade, what brand and size (GB) did you
choose and why?

5. Do you feel the SSD technology is ready for "primetime?" Why it is
or why not?

In case you're wondering, I upgraded my early 2011 MBP 17-inch with a 750
GB spinning HD to an OCZ Vertex 4 SATA III- 512Gb 2.5-inch SSD and I'm
loving it!

Remember, your answers may help fellow members make up their minds to
take the SSD plunge, or not. So, be as accurate/honest as possible and
try to keep the techno-babble to a minimum for the sake of the
uninitiated. Thanks in advance!

-Submitted by: Aaron J.

UPDATED on 7/27/2012: Please read Aaron's thank you note, feedback, and well summed up analysis of members contributions to this topic:
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-7588_102-5340608.html

Note from Lee: A big thank you Aaron for this follow up response from you. It is just spectacular! I appreciate it and I think all of members here will too! Thanks again Aaron!

-Lee

Discussion is locked

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I replaced my HDD with an SSD drive in my MacBook Pro
Jul 27, 2012 10:41AM PDT
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concerning, for ultrabook users
Jul 27, 2012 11:57AM PDT

Most ultrabooks come with SSDs, and I figure my next computer will be one. Very few use HDs, incl. hybrids, and they're not really upgradeable. That's a real shame.

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SSD's?
Jul 27, 2012 12:05PM PDT

I have a SSD in my current gaming computer built around 6 months ago (Intel socket 2011 i7, Asus ampage IV Formula, Dual PNY Nvidia GTX 680 GTX Graphics cards, 16GB G.Skill) The Speed difference on loading the few games I have installed on it is well worth any cons tha may come up. As a hobbist Computer builder, this was my first run in with SSD drives and dispite hearing all sorts of people having issues with primary installs, Mine was plug and play. (The drive is a Sandforce 256GB Drive built by Crucial). I recommend one of these drives just to boot off of, and store stuff you want access to alot. it will make life SOOO much faster and eaisier.
also to note, im running this on Sata II and have a pair of Western digi 2tb drives for regular filre storage (Raid)
~Fyre.

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Far too positive
Jul 27, 2012 5:36PM PDT

Far too positive, 'don't let the cons deter you'. As a firm believer that electro-mechanical spinning devices were the past, in my current desktop I specified SSD which the builders (custom made) assured me were now reliable, about 18 months ago. The OCZ SATII failed and had to be replaced- twice.

My data was all safe as it was on conventional HD and backed up pretty consistently. But you can't back up all your program installations and settings (under Windows anyway).

Each failure cost me a couple of weeks of computer usage while I sent off failed unit and awaited delivery of replacement and a lot of stress while I reinstalled it (Not really my scene). But much worse was trying to reinstall all the programs (starting with Windows 7, then Office, then literally dozens of other purchased or downloaded programs), get all the settings right, rebuild all the indexes etc. Weeks of effort and months of problems each time. And a new 'c' drive is somehow seen as a new computer by cloud backup etc. the impact on every aspect of my life was major, including not havng time to take the vacations I would have liked.

I now have OCZ SAT III, OK so far, but who knows.

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Stay current
Jul 28, 2012 1:47AM PDT

on FW updates from the mfr. As they discover bugs, or more likely inadequacies, in their FW there will be update releases. Don't fall behind. Updating is not a turn on for most users but a real buzz for the geeks.

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Regarding backups
Jul 28, 2012 11:52AM PDT

"But you can't back up all your program installations and settings (under Windows anyway)."

Sure you can:

Control Panel->Back and Restore->Create a system image.

Create the bootable system repair disc so that you can reinstall from this image backup at a later date without first reinstalling Windows.

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I totally agree
Jul 30, 2012 4:41AM PDT

I dragged my feet on buying an SSD due to cost and the reviews talking about failures. Then I figured that my setup would entail programs on the SSD and data, etc., on the spinning D: drive. If the SSD failed, I would just have to reinstall the programs. Pain in the butt, yes. Catastrophic, no.

I picked up the ETC Memory Blaze Pro about 3 months back and haven't look back. I would find it incredibly difficult to go back to a spinning drive. I don't do much heavy gaming or anything but I am constantly using some processor/memory heavy applications - usually all at once. I have been nothing but pleased. My PC boots in about half the time, apps launch instantaneously. Just makes life so much easier.

The positives far outweigh any negative (I've seen none so far). And with a little preparation you can minimize any risk. Programs on the SSD, data on the spinning, back up both often, keep program CD's product keys handy.

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Already have one
Jul 27, 2012 10:54AM PDT

Already have one installed. Samsung Series 830 SATA III 256 Gb. : ). Best thing I have bought. Well the GTX 680 was nice too. Took a while to get accustomed to the fast boot and load times of games and such 1) I didn't originally
2) DIY Upgrade
3) 5 Hands down
4) Samsung Series 830 SATA III 256 Gb I Like Samsung products have a monitor, camera, & TV.
5) Yes, I think it is ready. I am loving the one in here and don't know why I was not all that enthusiastic about them. Probably because of the initial pricing and limited capacity.

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There is an SSD in my PRESENT computer
Jul 27, 2012 11:06AM PDT

I DIY-upgraded my main computer (a laptop) a little over a year ago, and never looked back. The key for me was getting a 256GB drive to completely replace the original 240 GB conventional HD. Last year, if you kept your eyes open and were ready to pounce on a few hours' notice, you could get some really good bargains on new 256GB drives; otherwise, they were too rich for my blood. But I got lucky and found one, at well less than $1 per GB, which was my price threshold. This year, I see that, on sale, similarly capacious SSDs can be had for even less per GB than I paid, which is a good trend. I have no buyer's remorse for not waiting. My life was improved by my SSD during the year I might have kept the old HD in service. As it is, the latter serves as a handy backup medium.

I have appreciated the speed improvement I received, especially during boot, from the SSD drive. The power consumption, also, has gone way down and my battery lasts much longer than it used to do. However, I cannot say that my system runs cooler. I actually think the SSD keeps my system significantly warmer than the old HD did. Maybe this is a defect in my bargain SSD (albeit from a top manufacturer). But the extra heat seems to have not mattered at all, speaking of overall system performance, and there are times when the SSD definitely runs cooler to the touch than I would have expected the old SSD to run.

When this SSD gives out, I will definitely replace it with another, which should be cheaper, more capacious, and more reliable yet.

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Solid State Drive size solution
Jul 27, 2012 11:07AM PDT

When I got my MacBook Air I figured I would supplement the drive with a full time 32 GB SD Card in the slot. But when I filled that up it was a problem to carry extra SD's around loose until I found an adhesive vinyl SD card sleeve that holds 4 cards and sticks to the lid. I stuck two on the Air and now I've got a 32 in the slot and 8 more assorted and labeled SD's on the lid.

And the SD prices keep coming down so I figure soon I'll be able to have a slew of 64 GB cards attached to my Air at all time. I occasionally run Time Machine onto an external drive as a home backup, then copy files to the SD cards and erase from the SSD. I travel only with the SD cards and the SSD makes it fast and super light. I don't think I'll ever go back to a traditional HD laptop.

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Had SSD's since 2009 in my PC's
Jul 27, 2012 11:26AM PDT

Responding numerically:

1. Already have one, actually several.

2. Both upgrades and with new (2009 and 2012) PC's.

3. Definitely a 5 - no problems, fast as greased lightning, rugged, reliable, did I say fast?

4. I bought new in 2009 a Win 7 PC with a Kingston 264GB SSD, and I ordered a 128GB Kingston SSD with my 2011 PC. I chose a Kingston 128GB SSD for the upgrade of my 2010 Win 7 laptop, which came with a 64GB SSD that I keep as a backup drive, just in case.

Reasons: Obviously the primary reason to select an SSD is for their superior speed, and secondly for their ruggedness (shock resistence). Initially, I wasn't sure how many GB's Win 7 Ultimate would need, including space for 3rd party software, so in 2009, I chose the 264GB SSD. However, I found I didn't really need quite much space. The 2010 laptop I bought came with a 64GB SSD which was enough for the operating system, Win 7 Ultimate, but was not really enough once 3rd party software was added, so I upgraded to the 128GB SSD to have some head room for more programs. It also has a conventional 500GB data drive. Since 128GB was enough, that's what I chose for the 2011 PC.

5. SSD has been ready for prime time for a long time, if several years is a long time? I've been using my first SSD since 2009.

I use the SSD's for the operating system C: boot drives because of their speed, and use regular SATA HD's for data storage because of the lower cost per (tera)byte. If you want operating system and program speed, an SSD coupled with plenty of memory and a fast processor, is the ticket.

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MTBF
Jul 27, 2012 12:05PM PDT

I must first admit that I am behind on this also. It seems that a solid state drive would be very fast and "rugged", as its relatives, the sd card and thumb drive, are.
So how can the mtbf be the same as a spinning mechanical device with incredibly close tolerences, which run hot and are sensitive to shock and magnetic fields?
I guess I find the author's evaluation of the mtbf as un believable. I could understand how a failure would not be recoverable, but how often does it fail?
I have thought about trying an ssd in one of my servers, as the os drive. I am now reluctant, if the mtbf is the same, then it still makes sense to just use cheap jbod schemes, with automated backup.

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No benefit
Jul 28, 2012 1:59AM PDT

to replace HDD with SSD as system drive in a server. No need for fast boot/shutdown, transaction serving, low heat, solid state parts. Depending on role of your server, better ROI most likely from faster CPU, more RAM, more storage.

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Is there a solid-state drive (SSD) in your future computer?
Jul 27, 2012 11:51AM PDT

1. Do you see an SSD in your future or do you have one already?

Using OCZ 128GB Agility 3 as my OS drive

2. Was your SSD part of a new PC purchase or DIY upgrade?

This was a DIY upgrade to my primary HDD which died.

3. If you made the switch, what's your satisfaction level on a scale of
1 to 5 (5 being the highest)?

Most definitely a 5. Load times have gone down significantly!

4. If the switch was a DIY upgrade, what brand and size (GB) did you
choose and why?

I desperately needed a replacement primary drive. OCZ Agility's price point was just right, however I would not have minded paying extra for the Vertex- I didn't have time to research which was the better drive since I needed a primary drive. That said I'm extremely satisfied.

5. Do you feel the SSD technology is ready for "primetime?" Why it is
or why not?

If $1/1gb then sure! I'd love to have a terabyte of SSD storage.

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Already have
Jul 27, 2012 12:13PM PDT

1: I currently have an SSD in my main computer as drive C:
2: My main computer has been DIY since it was a pentimum 100
3: Satisfaction level is 5. It goes like a bat out of hell.
4: Intel 80G. My old spinning C drive was 80 Gig. Initially, I cloned it. Since, I have reinstalled the OS.
5: The only reason it is not prime time is cost. Bring that down and boom.

The only reason this laptop doesn't have one is that the cost of 320 GB, the size if its current spinning drive, is that it would cost nearly as much as the computer did in the first place. I am looking into the hybrid drive. One with 4 or more GB of SSD and 500 GB of spinning drive. They cost about $50 more but are still very reasonable.

Ask that one here. Are Hybrid drives a waste of money or a good compromise between speed and size?

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SSD in my future...
Jul 27, 2012 12:14PM PDT

I sure hope so. I am just waiting for size to go up a bit more and price to go down so i can have one for my OS drive. I will probably stick to a standard sata drive for storage and most programs. I just want to be able to put some of the slower proggies and games on an SSD to increase performance, so I need one that is a bit bigger to do that and fit the OS. I guess I could go with 2, but it is still a bit price prohibitive. That will change. I remember the first hard drive I ever bought...a 300 MB drive...it cost me 300.00 when I bought it.

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SSD's
Jul 27, 2012 12:17PM PDT

With no moving parts, I would expect superior MTBF performance than a hard drive, not just equal performance. This is going to change, very likely in the next two to three years. So will the capacities, which will be more competitive.

SSD's will be much more competitive from a value standpoint in the next three years.

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Is there a solid-state drive (SSD) in your future computer?
Jul 27, 2012 12:41PM PDT

1. Do you see an SSD in your future or do you have one already?

I have one already.

2. Was your SSD part of a new PC purchase or DIY upgrade?

I installed it myself.

3. If you made the switch, what's your satisfaction level on a scale of
1 to 5 (5 being the highest)?

5.

4. If the switch was a DIY upgrade, what brand and size (GB) did you
choose and why?

OCZ Vertex 3, 128 GB. Blistering fast everything.

5. Do you feel the SSD technology is ready for "primetime?" Why it is
or why not?

I firmly believe that SSD technology is ready for primetime, and is here to stay.

The main vendors (intel, Corsair, Kingston, Samsung, OCZ) have ironed out all the TRIM & GC issues, and yes, SSD drives *WILL* fail, but that's only if you write 20 GBs worth of data every hour to the drive, around the clock, for 10 years straight. I got my OCZ Vertex 3 back in December 2011, and it STILL writes at 512 MB/s and reads at 552 MB/s (ATTO 32). Like brand new, in other words. I idle it/logout overnight every 2 weeks.

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They will be the only drives soon
Jul 27, 2012 1:04PM PDT

Just as SATA has overtaken PATA and SCSI, SSDs will soon be the standard as prices fall. Speed like sex sells.

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Not until Re-write limitations are resolved.
Jul 29, 2012 2:13PM PDT

Back in the late 80s, long before Flash Memory there was already talk of SSDs based on Static RAM which, like the BIOS of the motherboard, would have a battery to keep the drive intact while the PC was turned off. The issue was cost. Static RAM is all transistor based and it actually takes more than one transistor to represent a 1 or a 0 whereas Dynamic RAM uses a printed capacitor to store 1 or 0. For their ridiculously tiny size these capacitors are obviously also ridiculously leaky which is why there is extra circuitry to do a "Refresh Cycle" which reads and rewrites the memory before it has leaked too far.

DRAM is cheaper to manufacture than SRAM, but consumes more power in use. It becomes clear that attaching a small lithium cell to the side of SSD based on DRAM would be pretty pointless as the cell would go flat in hours and the cost of manufacturing SRAM in useful amounts (even MB quantities at the time) meant that this product never materialized. Most PDAs used SRAM which is why the space was comparatively small, but they survived on one or two Lithium cells.

I remain very unsure about using Flash RAM in a Windows environment, because even with all that extra read/write stuff turned off, Windows still loves to thrash drives.

My first step into the SSD arena will be on the Trailing Edge of Technology, by replacing a 4GB hard drive in a laptop with a 32GB Compact Flash card and loading it with 98SE.

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When the kinks are absolutely gone........
Jul 27, 2012 1:57PM PDT

Yes, in due time my 8 year old Toshiba 40 gig ought to drop dead on me -- when that happens I will certainly upgrade to SSD. Let's face it, it's about time the industry moved into the 21st century.

Bottom line, I'm waiting for any or all kinks to be worked out, and for my spinning HD to drop dead, once that happens i'm all in.

Cheers!

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DEFINITELY
Jul 27, 2012 2:43PM PDT

There have been reports that macbooks with Mountain Lion installed on a SSD (as far back as the 2010 macbook pros) boot in 4-8 seconds.

Let me repeat that: FOUR to EIGHT -second BOOT time~!!!! That's a heck lot more than the previously "only ten seconds off" reports.

That's insane! From over forty seconds to just that?? Granted, I hardly need to boot my macbook but I just purchased 16GB of RAM (yes, you can) for my macbook pro and thought hey -- now I can keep EVERYTHING open right??

Yes and No.

I can -- however -- with everything open, my battery also seems to drain MUCH quicker!! But hey... maybe that's because the discrete graphics was always running. Perhaps forcing integrated graphics with GfxCardStatus will do the trick.

Still... I can definitely see an SSD improving everything. As I don't use my optical drive much, I'll be happy to move my internal spinning drive to there and put in an SSD (taking care to note that the optical drive bay doesn't support sudden motion protection).

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Is there an SSD in my future?
Jul 27, 2012 2:50PM PDT

Once the prices drop, and they have become 100 percent reliable, etc, then yes, there will be SSD's in my computers.

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layman's 10 cents
Jul 27, 2012 5:53PM PDT

this is a must upgrade. night & day difference, a no-brainer cost/benifit

Im a financial business analyst by trade and have always taxed my work machine creating dynamic models using popular MS apps and light developing (SQL Server, SharePoint Foundation).

work machine = HP ElliteBook Workstation laptop: i7 processor and ATA drive

personal machine = tiny Fujitsu LifeBook 520 quasi-netbook; AMD dual core with SSD.

the fujitsu with the same 8GB ram with the SSD is a monster; unbelievable read, swifter performance all around, especially startup. I literally run the same app on it as work machine.

anyway, my layman's 10 cents

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An overwhelming yes?
Jul 27, 2012 6:38PM PDT

It seems that most users are totally behind SSDs as the way forward. However I wonder if that's because its those who have already gone down the SSD path are the ones most likely to respond to this question. Perhaps those who have looked at this and have decided its not for them are less likely to post a repsonse here.
I think there was only one contributer who came out with a clear NO, due to bad experiences. Seems a bit too good to be true.

Personally I opted to a Hybrid drive upgrade to my laptop. Reasonable price, lots of storage, still get much quicker boot and load times but without the risk of excessive wear on the SSD chip. And more importantly it is easily configurable with Windows Vista and other versions prior Win7.

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Sorry Aaron J, but Solid State hard drives are easy.
Jul 27, 2012 10:05PM PDT

Page from my web site.

The rumor that solid state hard drives can't be repaired or
you can't recover data is false.

Here is a page from my web site showing 200 bad sectors and 200 bad sectors RECOVERED.

It shows pictures of before and after.

http://www.computers-itpro.com/Solid-State-HHD.html

Can A Solid State Hard Drive Be Repaired?

When They Tell You It Can't Be Done

We Can Repair Solid State Hard Drives
We Can Save Your Data Off Solid State Hard Drive
We Can Make It Like New Again

I have been repairing them for over two years and only published
this page on my web site because the IT tech at Staples
told my daughter in law NOT to use solid state hard drives
because they can't be repaired or data recovered.

Jimmy

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SSd is the future, that is now.
Jul 27, 2012 10:10PM PDT

1. I own a couple.

2. Always an upgrade.

3. 5

4. first was a Kingston v100 ssdnow 96GB drive. It was what I could afford at the time, and it was the first drive I saw that was below 1GB per dollar. Windows 7 x64 ultimate on a desktop, and I do game. I had to get creative with the install of the OS, and most of the users folders were located on the second conventional hdd in the system. This has been upgraded to a Crucial M4 sata 3 256GB drive for more space.

5. It is to some degree. I feel that it is getting there, it still has some firmware issues that can result in loss of data, or a dead drive. But it is getting better. Neither of my drives have had an issue. My suggestion is don't buy a new drive model when it first comes out. wait 6 months or so, and read reviews, and forum sites. Also watch the manufactures forums, for issues with the model you are looking to purchase. This may be the year that SSD drives are starting to gain market share, a large part was because of the flooding and supposed hdd shortages, that drove the prices of conventional drives to 2-3x the prices before the flooding. But yet, the SSD prices continued to drop. Conventional drive prices are almost back to the prices they were at before the floods, but more people have purchased ssd drives, and word of mouth is their best advertiser.

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HTPC
Jul 27, 2012 11:18PM PDT

One application the SSD is ideal for is the "media pc" or "home theater" computer. At the moment I'm actively using three streaming appliances (Squeezebox, Roku and TVIX) but for some content, particularly on the Internet, you need a full blown computer. Ideally, I need it permanently attached to my a/v system. I built one once that was basically a disaster: noisy and unreliable.

An SSD coupled with a fanless or nearly silent cooling system would be ideal. The OS could live on the SSD, the content on an SSD (at the moment not very economical), a network server or the Internet. Taking no more time to boot up than an old all-tube TV set to warm up helps too. At the moment there aren't any fanless systems I am aware of with the processing horsepower to handle high definition video, though. So this SSD is still in the future. I bought a fanless mini-itx mobo with a PCI bus and a 64GB SSD to play with, but it's not equal to web video content.

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Yeah there is
Jul 28, 2012 1:35AM PDT

There are no fanless around but there are minis with mobile CPUs and low rev/noise fans, eg. Zotac, Arctic. Key is to avoid dedicated GPUs. Current gen Intels and AMDs with chip graphics suffice for even 1080p content. Don't store (and don't need to) content on SSDs unless you don't care about losing all if hiccup strikes; even USB2 HDDs can feed native 1080p content stress free. Haven't found copper fast enuf for 1080p stream yet.

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(NT) please be specific - COPPER?
Jul 28, 2012 3:11AM PDT