shaithis
It depends on what you class as a difference that's worth it.
For me, starting my PC and being in Windows with everything loaded in a few seconds, is worth it.
Double-clicking the Photoshop CS4 icon and having the program being instantly usable, is worth it.
Basically, if you do not like waiting, SSD is worth it.
Oh absolutely, it's a personal evaluation of what's worth it. What's why I put the “me” bits in bold. I don't really care if my PCs start in 5 seconds or several minutes, because I turn them on in the morning and sort out a few bits and pieces. I might not go back for half an hour. And I'm certainly not bothered enough to spend a large sum of money getting CS4 to load a few seconds faster, because I only do that once or twice a day, and even then, only on days when I'm using CS4.
If an SSD was making enough of a difference,
for my workload to be saving me lots of time while using Photoshop, I might justify it to myself. If it changed CS4 from frustratingly slow to a pleasure to use, I'd justify it because that affects workflow and state of mind all the time I'm using it.
Other people's mileage, clearly, will vary.
scaryjim
You have impressive patience for a frequenter of tech forums ;)
Maybe it comes with age and perspective. I've done the “upgrade to bleeding edge technology” thing, and did it for years. Bear in mind, as a technology journalist, I spent years having access to most computer technology before the public did, and in some cases, before the public knew it existed. I've had tours round codelocked labs at Apple in Cupertino, looking (under NDA) at technology that wasn't announced for a year or more. When HP first released the colour laser, I had one on my desk for about three weeks when, according to their press manager, there were two in the country. I've had golden sample processors from Intel and AMD, I've had tours round Epson's clean room facilities in Japan, and chats about forthcoming technology from boardroom level down to the development managers, in Japan. I've had dinner with Lexmark's CEO in Lexington several times, been taken to California for pre-launch briefings on numerous occasions, been invited to parties by IBM's Chairman, met Bill Gates and spent quite some years attending Comdex twice a year. I've even been invited to dinner in Downing Street (some years ago) by the Chancellor when he was hosting some (technology) industry event or other.
In other words, on the new tech front, been there, done that. I've been incredibly fortunate in some of the opportunities I've had, and had a great time doing it. But it does mean I'm a lot harder to impress with new technology these days. My “wow, that's new and great” gland is worn out. I am, if you like, a bit jaded. So, I want to know, before I spend lots of money, “What do I get for my money?” And if the answer isn't good enough, I don't spend.
When I was prepared to spend lots of money staying on the bleeding edge was when successive generations, or upgrades, could have major impacts not only on how long something took, but whether it was feasible at all. For instance, upgrading an x86 to a 286 (and increasing RAM) made AutoCAD usable for my needs at that time, whereas the old wireframe demo of the space shuttle used to take several
minutes to redraw, and that's in wireframe mode, not rendered.
Or, much later, I bought a new processor and more memory because it made voice recognition (dictation) software a practical proposition in a live environment, and that saved me a lot of time when I was doing a lot of writing. And time is money.
So yeah, it's about what it costs and what real benefits you get. If starting Windows and saving a minute or two justifies it for someone, then it does, for them. But not for me. If CS4 starting virtually instantaneously rather than taking a few seconds is worth it to people, then it is. But not to me. And I'm not enough of a gamer to care about level load times.
So it's not really about patience. It's about value for money. If I've got a few hundred quid and spend it on a large fast flash drive, I can't spend it on a new lens for my camera, or a long weekend away with the wife. And I'd rather have either of those, or a good few other things, than save those few seconds at load time.
As I said, different people will have different priorities and value sets. But for me, SSDs aren't
yet anywhere close to being value for money, and I'm quite content to potter along as I am, until they are.
It's a bit like cars. Am I prepared to spend £40k or £50k on an M3? Yup, and I did. Am I prepared to spend £120k on a Porsche Turbo? Nope. I tried it, loved it and was impressed as hell ….. but not another £70-£80k worth of impressed. But if Porsche ever get it down to £40k …. :D