Is an SSD really that much better than a HDD/SSD

[pignick]

So, if you are going to keep it for several years, the Envy would give you an upgrade path to OS/app SSD and storage HDD, though it has no option for sufficiently large (60GB) SSD out of the box.

That's a good point actually. However, the whole back panel of ultrabooks nowadays is one piece so to get to the msata or hard drive you have to open the whole panel up. Has anyone had any experience doing this/is it hard to change? Will this void the warranty? Could I even replace the whole hard drive down the line?

that one is mostly good for when Intel drivers aren't up to snuff. So, on the bright side, for making the choice, I think you can safely ignore the GPU in making the decision.

What do you mean by that?

 

[Cerb]

That's a good point actually. However, the whole back panel of ultrabooks nowadays is one piece so to get to the msata or hard drive you have to open the whole panel up. Has anyone had any experience doing this/is it hard to change? Will this void the warranty? Could I even replace the whole hard drive down the line?

The HDD is just a 2.5" 7mm SATA HDD. Reasonably common, today. I'm sure it would void the warranty...for the duration of the warranty.

What do you mean by that?

They only recently started working to get pro app certs, and there are many, especially OpenGL apps, where their drivers just aren't good enough to be usable. Sure, they keep getting better, but they don't port many improvements back to older hardware.

 

[Blintok]

my game machine is 100% SSD now. When i built it in January i used an Intel 520 120g for Win 7 -64b and a 1T Seagate for games. (Asus P8 board, intel i7-2600k, 16g ram) A few months ago i decided that i am not really using the full 1T drive, 15% at most. So i got a OCZ Vertex 240 for less than what i paid for the Intel and am loving it.

games load insanely fast. Started playing WOW again. Clicking on the icon to pw entry is ~8sec. Click on "enter world" and i am ready to play in 8 seconds. Area transitions are even faster. As soon as call to home has finished casting i am in the Inn ready to move in literally an eyeblink.