OWC Solid State Drives

Key Questions and Answers About OWC Solid-State Drives (SSD)

Solid-state drives make quick, easy work of saving and accessing information and can generally save exorbitant amounts of information without taking up too much physical space in your laptop or motherboard. You can find a range of inexpensive OWC solid-state drives on eBay. Here are the vital basics about this flexible, powerful component.

All post-Windows XP laptops, desktops, and mobile devices possess sufficient system requirements compatible with an upgrade from a hard disk drive (HDD) to SSD. SSD predates flash drives, so recent generations of computers engineered to communicate with flash drives can accommodate SSD. The vast array of gently used and new-in-box OWC SSD products available on eBay mention compatibility in the product description. Some OWC SSD products are designed for a specific Mac or PC, so be sure to check the product title or description to confirm compatibility.

SSD is fairly standard in gaming motherboards. Each SSD has a specific physical connector (interface) between SSD and laptop or motherboard as well as a method of communication (data protocol). Some interfaces and data protocols are more common on certain types of devices. A basic rundown includes:

• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment I/II/III (SATA I/II/III): This is the most common SSD in desktop and notebook motherboards. The numerals refer to generations, or revisions, sporting incrementally wider bandwidth and data transfer rates of 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbit/s), 3 Gbit/s, and 6 Gbit/s, respectively.
• External SATA (eSATA): An external OWC SSD storage device. The name of this device also denotes its port, which is externally accessible.
• Mini-SATA (mSATA) and M.2: The first is a miniature SATA, and the second is a next-generation mSATA.
• Micro SATA: This is a SATA with a 1.8-inch form factor designed for use in netbooks and some mobile devices.
• Universal Serial Bus (USB): Refers to an external OWC SSD that you connect via USB 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, or 3.0.

Yes, you can. On your desktop or laptop, you can partition or designate your SSD for system files exclusively to improve boot up and general operation. With this set up, you can keep your HDD and still connect an external SSD via USB or whatever interface you prefer. You can also ditch your HDD entirely and upgrade to an SSD you can subsequently partition as needed.

It depends on what you require storage for. OWC SSD storage capacities range from 100 gigabytes (GB) to 1 terabyte (TB). If you like collecting digital media, if you run a small business, or if you routinely create media-rich content for work, you may want to consider SSD products with higher storage capacity. For everyday household or home office use, youre fine with 100 GB.