HDD vs SSD

IMO it's not really worth it for something that is just going to be used for things like internet, word processing, email, etc as it won't effect those things much at all.

SSD

When you start your computer, lets say HDD starts 45 secs.SSD starts 15 secs and it has super-fast respond time.When you double click "Documents" it opens the milisecond you clicked a second time.

SSD is too damn fast and makes everything easier.I'd prefer a 60 GB SSD instead of a 250 GB HDD if it's not gonna be used by a gamer.

Think of it like this: An SSD makes your PC Sonic fast. It will take ten seconds to press the power button to being logged in. That is the best.

I recomend a ssd anyday over a mecanical disk.
If he just surfs the web a small ssd doesnt cost so much. 80gb is more the enough.
Computer wont slow down cuz of bunch of old browsing data and other tempfiles and defragged files etc.
A quick start and quick shutdown is awesome.

SSD for sure. Especially browsing will be much more pleasant since the modern browser causes a fuckton of I/O due to caching.

There is no sense in installing games on SSD - they do not demand such speeds. But it is very useful to buy small SSD (60-120gb) for your OS and most used programs (browsers, photoshop and all kinds of IDEs noticeably benefit from it too). I did that, and my OS (Win8) boots up momently (and this is without all trick to speed up boot) , browsers with over 40 tabs load in a second. Interface is much more fluid and responsive. Definitely not regretting buying and SSD.

But in your case - nah, he won't benefit from it. Just buy him sata 3 7200rpm HDD, and he won't have any problems.

Not worth it for those reasons. Will also be very cheap to (inevitably) replace down the road

ssd for sure

SSD. It actually speed up normal system usage more that it speed most games.

its already cheap to get an ssd now and its a huge difference

SSD all the way, it just doesn't boost up the OS, all apps started too :D

But however, if he just wants to surf a little, then, tbh, a HDD will do just fine

SSD is fast but it's not eternal and not cheap. It's like ~6-8 years for a good one. Ofc 6-8 years is enough for any computer, but still. I have small (60 GB) SSD where my windows 8 is installed and it loads in 10 seconds but it has only 16 GB of free space with w8+drivers and stuff (no games or something) and for everything else I have HDD. If you want to buy only SSD then I would say it doesn't worth it. Also remember that SSD's price is very dependent on its size (when HDD is not that dependent), so the bigger size = the bigger money.

SSD, for reasons stated above, but there is a caveat: only if he backs up his files. When a SSD fails, all data is instantly lost, whereas a HDD will simply accumulate bad sectors over time, and even then you can usually still recover the data.

I use HDD only but mainly due to the fact that SSD is just a bit out of my price range especially with the amount of space they tend to have right now. Eventually I will get one.. but.. yea.. I guess it just depends on what you can afford and if you are ok with things taking a little bit to load or not.

https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/

Chromebook if it's only for browsing

... or you could get him a tablet.

Thank you, guys. Your opinions are quite mixed, but I guess I will be getting him a small SSD.

really depends on what you want to do with that PC.

• do you want a fast windows boot?
• do you often work with big files? (700MB+)
• do you often play games or use programs with big archives and/or a lot files inside that archive/s? (8GB+)
• do you often use any other tool/game/application that would benefit from fast load(read) speed/drive-to-ram buffering?
• are you willing to spend quite the amount of extra money into a SSD for the benefits mentioned above?

if the answer is yes, get a SSD, if the answer is no, get a HDD, it's cheaper and you won't be able to tell the difference, when doing general tasks with it (internet, office, simple image-editing, etc.)

I have a small SSD on which my Windows and the very basic stuff is installed, and pretty much all the rest is on the regular HDD. Works wonders. I can also put games on the SSD if it's not too big and I need fast loading.

when a saw an SSD with Win8 installed, i was shocked. soo fast boot up time and shut down was also lightning fast.

try to play diablo 3 or SWTOR with and without SSD and the truth will be revealed.