Thanks folks for your opinions and expertise. What's the risk of
losing all data stored in a SSD going through an airport x-ray machine
or worse? And what's the expected longevity (i.e. of the integrity of
data recorded) compared to a high end spinning mag. drive? Let's say
at the Terabyte level of storage. Thanks - Chris B.

On 13/01/2016, Arthur Gaer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Mac laptops can only be configured with Solid State Drives now.  They
> haven't put spinning hard drives in laptops for several years, though you
> can get the SSD's up to 1terabyte in size.
>
> The one exception you shouldn't waste money on: it's a single low end model
> that hasn't changed since 2012, heavy, with a slow processor and slow
> memory, low res screen, etc.  It's not a modern computer.  Even Apple's
> cheaper laptops take SSD's.
>
> The fact that Apple, which has to service their own systems, has gone to all
> SSD's should tell you a lot.  SSDs have no moving parts so less prone to
> failure, especially in a laptop environment where they're subject to all
> sorts of physical stresses.  They're also roughly 5-10X faster than a
> spinning hard drive, use far less energy (which increases battery life in a
> laptop) and put off far less heat (which means less cooling and thus greater
> battery life in a laptop).  They also don't add vibrations and they take up
> a lot less space in the confines of a small laptop.
>
> SSD's keep getting faster and even more reliable while the prices keep
> dropping precipitously.  There's only three hard drive manufacturers left in
> the world.  I'd be shocked if there were still production lines in 10 years.
>   I wouldn't be at all surprised to find them gone in five years.
>
> Arthur Gaer
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Senior Systems Manager
> Harvard University
> Department of Mathematics
> Science Center
> 1 Oxford Street
> Cambridge, MA 02138
>
>
>
>
> On Jan 13, 2016, at 1:38 PM, Adam Jazairi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> The technology is similar (both are non-volatile solid-state memory), but
>> the flash drives you'll find on a laptop nowadays generally have more
>> storage than an SD card and are much faster. That said, a 1TB SSD will
>> cost
>> a premium compared to a 1TB HDD. It's been a couple years since I bought
>> my
>> Macbook Pro, but I think it was something like $200 extra just to upgrade
>> from 128GB to 256GB.
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 1:07 PM, CJB <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you - but aren't flash drives the same as SD cards?
>>>
>>> But a 1TB conventional drive seems OK.
>>>
>>> CJB
>>>
>>> On 13/01/2016, Stewart Gooderman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> MacBook Pro 13” can be gotten with a 1 TB hard drive.
>>>> MacBook Pro 15” can be gotten with a 1TB flash drive.
>>>>
>>>> DrG
>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 13, 2016, at 9:14 AM, CJB <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> BTW if anyone knows of a brand (not Lenova with in built spyware) that
>>>>> offers laptops with proper hard-drives do let me know. As others have
>>>>> opined re: SD cards aka solid state 'drives' of limited robistness,
>>>>> please let me know.
>>>>>
>>>>> CJB.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Adam Jazairi
>> Digital Collections & Preservation Librarian
>> Boston College University Libraries
>> (617) 552-1404
>> [log in to unmask]
>