Laptops are costly; you should consider the storage space you need. You will seriously regret buying a computer that doesn’t have enough storage space for your needs. However, a lot of Storage can be expensive, so if you need a lot of Storage, expect to pay more.
Storage space required on the laptop
It’s better to invest a little more in Storage when you buy a laptop than to try to fix the problem later. You can buy an external storage drive, but these are expensive. So follow the recommendations in this guide, and you will have the storage space you need now and in the future.
You should know there is no perfect answer to determine how much storage space your laptop needs. Both Apple Mac laptops and Windows PCs have different storage options.
For example, if you’re interested in buying an Apple MacBook Air, you’ll choose a 256GB hard drive or 512GB internal storage. Purchasing a more significant internal memory will cost you more.
With Windows laptops, you can find models with internal memory starting at 128 GB. There is usually a 250GB option, a 512GB option, and a 1TB option. The extra Storage won’t cost as much as the MacBook Air, but it won’t be cheap.
Consider operating system and other factors with internal Storage
A mistake many people make when buying a laptop is that they need to consider the interior storage space the operating system takes up. For example, if you are considering a 512GB storage solution, 512GB will not be available for you to use for your files.
Windows 10 requires about 15 GB of Storage, and macOS (High Sierra) takes up more than 8 GB of internal Storage. Another thing to know is that 512 GB is not 512 GB. This is because laptop suppliers use base ten digits instead of binary digits, so you always get less than advertised.
Many experiments have been done on the actual space available. An excellent example of this was a study that showed that every gigabyte of internal Storage advertised was more than 70MB less than that.
So if you want a Windows 10 laptop with 128 GB of internal Storage, subtract about 20 GB from the operating system and then calculate the actual amount of available storage space. It reduces 128 GB to about 99 GB. Applying this to 256GB becomes 218GB, and 512GB becomes 456 GB.
You can use 128 GB in the shortest time.
HDD laptop hard drive
We do not recommend buying a laptop with only 128 GB of internal memory. If you plan to use your computer often, you will likely use up all the available space very quickly. Videos and pictures can take up a lot of space, and unless you have another storage option available, you can quickly max out your internal Storage.
Every program you install on your laptop takes up space. For example, most new browsers require at least 200 MB of storage space. Graphics and video editing programs require more. So trust us when we tell you you’ll fill up 128GB in no time.
Many laptop manufacturers do not offer a model with only 128 GB of internal memory because they know it is insufficient. Usually, cheaper models have at least 250 GB of internal memory. Apple certainly does this with its latest MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and several Windows-based laptop vendors do as well.
How much Storage are you currently using?
Do you have a laptop or desktop computer that you are currently using? If so, this is an excellent place to start when deciding how much Storage to get with a new laptop. It’s easy to check the storage space you’ve used with your Windows and Mac computers.
If you use a Windows-based computer, click the Start button and select File Explorer. When this appears, select This PC. Windows computers often have different storage drive partitions, so, for example, you might have a C drive and a D drive. You can see your free space for each purpose and easily calculate what you’ve used.
When using a Mac computer, you must go to the top left of the screen and click on the Apple logo. Then you need to select the About this Mac option, and after that, click on Storage. Then you will see a screen that tells you how much internal memory is used.
What do you plan to use your laptop for?
You may use your new laptop differently than your current computer. For example, you’ll only use your laptop for programs like Word and Excel to create documents and spreadsheets. In that case, you’re probably OK with 256GB of internal Storage.
In this scenario, 256 GB also provides enough space for other files, such as photos and files of other applications. If in doubt, go for the more effective 512GB option. Buying a bigger drive for your laptop will cost you more later, and you’ll have more trouble reinstalling the operating system and all your programs.
You can store a lot of videos on your new laptop. You can create videos and then edit them on your device. Having a lot of videos stored locally on your computer consumes a lot of internal memory. 256GB is not enough, and you’ll be better off with 512GB or 1TB if that option is available.
It would help to have maximum internal memory when using your laptop for graphic design or gaming. We recommend at least 512GB here. Modern games can be at least 5GB each, and a high-resolution K4 image can be 1GB. If you can afford 1TB of internal Storage, we recommend you do so. It will be worth it in the long run.
Should you choose HDD or SSD drive?
A hard drive is a regular hard drive, whereas an SSD is a solid-state drive. SSD is much faster than HDD, and if you can afford it, we highly recommend it. In addition, your operating system (Windows or Mac) will be more rapid, as well as your programs.
Hard drives have been around for a long time and are reliable. But they have moving parts and eventually fail due to use. An SSD won’t last forever but will last longer than an HDD drive.
These days you can find laptops with a combination of SSD and HDD internal memory drives, i.e., hybrid. Your operating system and programs are stored on the SSD drive to make your laptop run faster. You can use a regular HDD drive for file storage.
SSD drives are more expensive than regular HDD drives, so you must consider that. If you have the budget for an SSD drive, we always recommend this. Your laptop runs much faster, and an SSD has no moving parts, so it should last longer.
Always check what system and specifications you need before buying a laptop. While you may be able to upgrade your computer to a higher storage capacity later, we don’t recommend it because you’ll need to reinstall your operating system and apps, which can be time-consuming.
Therefore, we recommend avoiding the 128 GB internal memory option and choosing at least 256 GB. If you need more space for large photo and video files, choose 512 GB or 1 TB. It is better to have more internal storage space than you need.