SSD Upgrade Guide: Breathe New Life Into Your Old Laptop

# SSD Upgrade Guide: Breathe New Life Into Your Old Laptop

Is your laptop taking forever to boot? Programs loading slowly? Before you spend hundreds on a new machine, consider this: a simple SSD upgrade might be all you need.

Why SSDs Make Such a Difference

Traditional hard drives (HDDs) use spinning magnetic platters – technology from the 1950s. SSDs (Solid State Drives) use flash memory with no moving parts, resulting in:

• **10-20x faster boot times** - From 2+ minutes to under 20 seconds
• **Instant program launches** - No more waiting for applications to load
• **Better durability** - No moving parts means better shock resistance
• **Silent operation** - No spinning platters means no noise
• **Lower power consumption** - Better battery life on laptops

Real-World Results

We recently upgraded a 2015 Dell Inspiron from a 5400 RPM HDD to a 500GB SSD. The results:

| Metric | Before (HDD) | After (SSD) |

|--------|--------------|-------------|

| Boot time | 2 min 34 sec | 18 seconds |

| Chrome launch | 12 seconds | 1.5 seconds |

| File copy (1GB) | 45 seconds | 8 seconds |

Choosing the Right SSD

For Older Laptops (Pre-2015)

Look for a 2.5" SATA SSD. These fit in the same slot as your old hard drive.

• Budget pick: 240GB (~$30-40)
• Sweet spot: 500GB (~$50-60)
• Future-proof: 1TB (~$80-100)

For Newer Laptops (2015+)

Many support M.2 NVMe SSDs, which are even faster.

• Look for M.2 2280 size (most common)
• NVMe is faster than SATA M.2

What We Offer

At TechGuys.bs, we stock a variety of SSDs and can:

• Help you choose the right drive for your laptop
• Perform the upgrade for you
• Clone your existing data so you don't lose anything
• Properly dispose of your old drive

Check out our [PC parts section](/shop) or bring your laptop by for a free assessment!