Solid-state Drive Review

Don't call a solid-state drive an "SSD Hard Drive." SSDs are actually quite different from traditional hard drives. Hard disk drives, like the one you probably have in your computer right now, feature a series of platters that spin on a spindle. A read/write head on an arm then finds the information on the disks. Since both the platters and the arm of the read/write head of a traditional hard drive are motor-driven, mechanical failure is imminent. In fact, the majority of hard drive crashes are caused because of mechanical problems.

Solid-state drives have no moving parts. They use NAND flash technology to emulate the function of spinning hard drives. Since they don't spin or move, these computer storage drives use less energy and create less noise. Also, since the information not stored on a disk, files are more accessible and defragmentation is not necessary. SSD technology is used by the military and aerospace industries because of its resistance to temperature change, shock and mechanical breakdown. Now that the technology is becoming more affordable, they are beginning to replace traditional hard drives in personal computers.

This new world of SSDs can be intimidating to those who don't feel informed. After all, this is like moving from a record player to an MP3 player. On this site you'll find a variety of information as we present the ten best MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash solid-state options. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

Solid-state Drive Rating Criteria

Solid-state storage technology is constantly growing and changing. However, even with all the changes that have taken place, certain things, such as speed and reliability, will always be important to a user. As we researched and ranked each one of these computer storage devices, we found the following criteria to be the most important.

Features
Many SSDs on the market don't perform as well because of poor construction. We wanted to make sure that these flash-based drives had the best components available. In addition, the drive needs to be compatible with your computer. This section measures the physical characteristics of each.

Performance
This section takes into account how well each SSD performs. How fast can they read information? How fast can they write it? What is the life expectancy? How much abuse can they take? The specifications in this section will let you know how well these storage drives hold up when they're actually being used.

Capacities
Every user will have a different purpose for their SSD. Some may use it for their primary storage drive, while others may only use it for a boot drive. A large variety of capacities is important so you can find the drive that best fits your needs.

Ease of Installation
The Ease of Installation section covers how simple the drive is to use. Also, it takes into account if the SSDs come with a 3.5-inch mounting kit - which would enable them to be used in a desktop computer.

Help & Support
If you encounter any problems while using solid-state storage, we wanted to make sure you were covered. Having a solid help and support system will help prevent any issues you may have before installing the device, and correct any problems when using it.

By using these criteria, we've found the OCZ Vertex 2, the OCZ Agility 2 and the Corsair Force to be among the best MLC NAND flash solid-state storage drives available today. Using any of the SSDs on this site will give you faster, quieter and more efficient memory storage on your computer than a traditional hard drive. Also, be sure to check out our articles relating to solid-state drives and hard drives.