The Laptop Storage Situation (And What It Means For Dinosaurs Like Me)

OK, maybe not dinosaurs...

But people like me who use 2.5" laptop drives (HDD or SSD) seem to be left in the Stone Age of laptop storage. Here's how:

• For the past year and a half, laptop manufacturers seem to be making the move toward thinner-and-lighter laptops. This means that the adoption of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage drives has been increasing rapidly, and the use of 2.5" drives has been decreasing rapidly.
• PCIe NVMe M.2 SSDs are more expensive than 2.5" SSD's for the same storage capactiy, due to their 3x+ R/W speed capabilities. For example, the 1TB Crucial MX300 2.5" SSD (my current SSD) costs $265.72 with a R/W speed of 530/510 MB/s, while the 1TB Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSD costs $475.55 with a R/W speed of 3200/1900 MB/s.
• Tech junkies, like myself, like to be able to pop the same hard drive from one laptop to another. However, this is not possible if 2.5" drives are completely phased out.
• Laptop manufacturers, like Lenovo and Dell, have restricted 2.5" drive support to their lower-tier laptops, which means that you cannot buy a laptop with superior build quality if you plan to use a 2.5" drive. With the recent announcement of the Lenovo Yoga 530, even the lower-tier 2-in-1 has phased out 2.5" drives.
• If you plan on buying a laptop with a 1TB M.2 SSD, be ready to have $300+ added to the build price. It may be a worthy investment for some, but if you already have a working 2.5" SSD, you might feel that you shouldn't have to pay that much for the same amount of storage.

The future of laptop storage is just over the horizon, and if you are still using a 2.5" laptop drive with a large capacity, you may be left in the dust. For me, my MX300 SSD is less than 2 years old, and I don't want to see my investment in it go to waste just yet. Are you faced with the same problems relating to laptop storage?

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