# Laptop SD Card Recs?



## Punk_M0nitor (Dec 17, 2021)

Disclaimer: I don't know anything about tech beyond basic software operation.

After realizing my laptop has only 118 GB of storage and not being able to download anything but a couple video games and two seasons of my favorite show, I've come to the conclusion that I really, REALLY need more space. It's started to lag because of the full storage. I've already wiped my laptop of literally everything I wasn't immediately using and it barely made a difference because those took up hardly 2 GB. My homebrew techie roommate said I should invest in a new SD card.

Does anyone know any good brands or companies to buy SD cards from?


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## Thrashy (Dec 17, 2021)

Is it a "real" laptop? Real as one running Windows, Linux or Mac OS, not a tablet running Android or iOS.
If it's just a normal laptop, I'd just buy a USB hard drive. A 2 TB drive is enough for most people, and they're not too expensive.

An SD card is often slower than a USB hard drive. The fastest you could get would be a USB SSD, but they cost more. 

Btw, an android tablet could handle USB drives (using an adaptor cable), but moving or opening files is more complicated than on a desktop OS.


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## Raever (Dec 17, 2021)

When I got the Nitro 5 for work I wound up needing a memory upgrade so I grabbed the the Corsair Vengeance: click here
I personally like them a lot, but they might not be in your budget. If you need space, then something external might be better.
Or something by Seagate, their pretty highly rated too.


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## Punk_M0nitor (Dec 17, 2021)

Thrashy said:


> Is it a "real" laptop? Real as one running Windows, Linux or Mac OS, not a tablet running Android or iOS.


Real laptop, running Windows 10. HP Pavilion x360, I believe?

How would a USB SSD work? Like, would it be external the same way a USB is? I could always save up if I really needed to, since I'd rather wait for something quality


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## Deleted member 106754 (Dec 17, 2021)

Proper way would honestly be to get a bigger internal SSD, clone what's on your drive over to the new one you got, and then take the laptop apart and put in the new bigger SSD.

You will always be fighting space restraints to some extent most likely if you're already having problems now. Though it's always recommended to someone like yourself to have an external drive, be it a regular HDD or SSD to store things like movies and series, it's not really something that needs to be on the computer itself when there's limited space.

Yes you can just get any sort of 2.5 inch SSD drive and then buy an external enclosure for it and have it act like an external drive, it's to some extent already what some companies do with their external drives that you can buy off the shelf in a store. Getting an external drive would be wise just to offload things from your computer, but if you intend to use this laptop for a while it might be better off taking it to someone that's tech savvy and just have them replace your drive to something with more space.

SD cards and SSD's are two different things, SD cards are those smaller black cards that you use in cameras, phones and other various portable devices which aren't nearly as quick nor come with the same capacities. SSD's on the other hand is usually more for bigger machines like Desktops and laptops, but SSD's can also come in different formfactors, though most regular and probably what you look for is the 2.5inch sata drive type.


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## Khafra (Dec 17, 2021)

Punk_M0nitor said:


> Real laptop, running Windows 10. HP Pavilion x360, I believe?
> 
> How would a USB SSD work? Like, would it be external the same way a USB is? I could always save up if I really needed to, since I'd rather wait for something quality


It's a small box that you plug in with a USB cable. I have one I store movies and photos on. It's good for things you don't need on a daily basis. However, games and other programs might be more awkward, and it would be better to upgrade your laptop's built-in drive. (You can go to a computer shop and ask them to do it if you're not confident in your skills)

In any case, an SD card is a bad idea. Flash memory is very slow, and it tends to wear out fast when its read or written often. It works for phones, but computers there are far better options.


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## Thrashy (Dec 18, 2021)

Punk_M0nitor said:


> How would a USB SSD work? Like, would it be external the same way a USB is?


Exactly, it works the same as a USB stick 

What might be a bit more difficult would be installing software on it. Some software allow you to choose an external drive during the install process, but some don't. 
If you have a lot of photos or other files, that fill up the space, then the external drive works fine. 
If you install a lot of software, then @Redlinelies was right and you should replace the internal SSD. 
That will require:
- A S-ATA or M2 SSD (depending on what's in your laptop now
- A bootable software to clone the old SSD to the new one 
- expanding the partition on the new SSD after cloning
Certainly a bit more complicated than just plug in an external drive, and requires some knowledge in computer hardware.


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## Punk_M0nitor (Dec 18, 2021)

Thrashy said:


> If you have a lot of photos or other files, that fill up the space, then the external drive works fine.
> If you install a lot of software, then @Redlinelies was right and you should replace the internal SSD.





Khafra said:


> It's a small box that you plug in with a USB cable. I have one I store movies and photos on. It's good for things you don't need on a daily basis. However, games and other programs might be more awkward, and it would be better to upgrade your laptop's built-in drive. (You can go to a computer shop and ask them to do it if you're not confident in your skills)
> 
> In any case, an SD card is a bad idea. Flash memory is very slow, and it tends to wear out fast when its read or written often. It works for phones, but computers there are far better options.


90% of the space being taken up on my laptop is by video games and art software---so I _do_ do a lot of software installation. Moving other files onto external drives wouldn't make much of a difference because those take up such a small portion of the space.

Once I have the money I'll likely try and find a computer shop to replace the internal SSD since I'm not entirely confident in my ability to do that myself. Most of my concern is what to replace it _with_, if that makes sense. I'll be checking out some of the companies that people have mentioned here and see if I find anything good.



Redlinelies said:


> SD cards and SSD's are two different things, SD cards are those smaller black cards that you use in cameras, phones and other various portable devices which aren't nearly as quick nor come with the same capacities. SSD's on the other hand is usually more for bigger machines like Desktops and laptops, but SSD's can also come in different formfactors, though most regular and probably what you look for is the 2.5inch sata drive type.


Thank you for clarifying! I didn't know there was a difference and that's going to help me out a lot when I start looking around for one


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## Miles Marsalis (Dec 29, 2021)

SD cards have drawbacks, specifically corruption issues and a tendency to lock in read-only mode from too much use, but if you wind up getting an SD card for added storage capacity, I'd recommend Sandisk, since they tend to be the best brand for computers at the moment. Their warranty and insurance policies are the best for SD cards as well too.


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## PupBoogieB (Jan 6, 2022)

your storage issue could be solved by investing in a New internal SSD. The newer Nvme drives are a lot more responsive and will improve your speed a ton. it is expensive depending on size but is worth upgrading to those. as others said a Simple SD card isn't fast enough and should only be used for music, movies, important files.


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## rekcerW (Jan 8, 2022)

Punk_M0nitor said:


> Disclaimer: I don't know anything about tech beyond basic software operation.
> 
> After realizing my laptop has only 118 GB of storage and not being able to download anything but a couple video games and two seasons of my favorite show, I've come to the conclusion that I really, REALLY need more space. It's started to lag because of the full storage. I've already wiped my laptop of literally everything I wasn't immediately using and it barely made a difference because those took up hardly 2 GB. My homebrew techie roommate said I should invest in a new SD card.
> 
> Does anyone know any good brands or companies to buy SD cards from?


that is a port to read sd cards which are slow as molasses. you're way better off as mentioned previously to upgrade your actual boot drive. dunno if sata ssd, nvme or hdd, but judging by the capacity i'm guessing nvme. there's lots of decent 2tb nvme drives for cheap these days.


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