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People who work on computers often know that their device has a built-in hard drive to store all the data. However, through the advancement of technology, laptops have different types of hard drives.
But a hard drive is more than just a requirement for storage. It is the central location where all the software, including the operating system, is kept. If you don’t have enough space and memory cache, your laptop can seem sluggish as it struggles to identify the needed information.
While the price of hard drives increased exponentially with the storage capacity a few decades ago, components have become cheaper over the years. This is great news for consumers, as it means that laptop prices are also reduced, making large-capacity devices more affordable.
In this article: HP 15-EF1072 15.6-Inch Laptop, Asus Vivobook 17.3-Inch Laptop and HP Pavilion Laptop With 15.6-Inch Display
Different kinds of laptop storage
The best-known kind of hard drive is the traditional 3.5-inch hard drive commonly associated with desktop computers. These are too large to fit into a laptop, but smaller mobile versions exist that work off the same technology.
A more recent, faster alternative is a solid-state hard drive. Unlike traditional hard drives that store data on magnetic platters, an SSD uses flash memory. A laptop or desktop computer can access the stored data much faster, but it comes at the expense of storage capacity.
A middle-of-the-road option is a hybrid hard drive that uses the best technology from different drives. It combines the flash memory function of an SSD while also having a separate hard-drive segment. This lets the drive cache frequently used files on the flash memory for quick retrieval while storing larger, less used files on the hard-drive portion.
Solid-state drives are far more common in laptops than hybrid drives, but you can easily find a device with a hybrid drive if you wish.
Consider the other specifications
Knowing that you need a laptop with at least 1 terabyte of space is an excellent step toward picking the correct device, but there are a few more things to consider. The most important of these is the operating system.
Apple has an extensive range of MacBooks and MacBook Air laptops with 1TB or more in storage, but they are generally priced well beyond what would be considered “affordable.” A great alternative is a Windows-based laptop for everyday work.
But along with the operating system, you must also look at the random access memory, the central processing unit and, if you want to play games, the graphics card. Large storage is great, but the amount of RAM determines how quickly your computer can access the information.
The CPU is the brain of the entire operation, and if it isn’t powerful enough, it might be able to access the information quickly, but it won’t be able to execute it at a compatible speed. This leads to your laptop working slower than expected. This is the same as when you know what you need to do during your day but don’t know how to do it, or not finding the time for it.
Best affordable laptops with 1TB of storage space
HP 15-EF1072 15.6-Inch Laptop With AMD Athlon 3050U
This is a great option if you want a powerful laptop with 1TB of solid-state storage. It has a 15.6-inch widescreen display with a maximum resolution of 1366 pixels by 768 pixels and uses an AMD Athlon Silver 3050U processor with a maximum clock speed of 3.2 gigahertz. The laptop comes with 16 gigabytes of RAM, Windows 11 Home pre-installed and one year of access to Microsoft Office 365.
Sold by Amazon
Asus Vivobook 17.3-Inch Laptop With Intel Core i5
This laptop comes with an ultra-fast M.2 solid-state hard drive for fast multitasking and is compatible with up to 2TB of storage. The Windows operating system runs on an Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor with a maximum clock speed of 3.6GHz and 20GB of RAM. The 17.3-inch LED display has a maximum resolution of 1600 pixels by 900 pixels, and the laptop has several connectivity ports.
Sold by Amazon
HP Pavilion Laptop With 15.6-Inch Display
This lightweight laptop has a 15.6-inch micro-edge display with a maximum resolution of 1366 pixels by 768 pixels. It comes with a 1TB SSD for fast data retrieval, 16GB of RAM and uses an Intel Pentium Silver N5000 1.1GHz quad-core processor. It has a built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 combination card and is compatible with other Miracast devices.
Sold by Amazon
Dell Inspiron 15.6-Inch With FHD Touch Screen
With 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core I5-1035G1 quad-core processor, this laptop won’t have any problems accessing your data on the 1TB M.2 solid-state drive. It has a 15.6-inch backlit LED display with a maximum resolution of 1080p. It has built-in stereo speakers, an SD card reader and several connectivity ports.
Sold by Amazon
Asus Republic Of Gamers Strix Scar 15-Inch Gaming Laptop
This is an excellent choice if you want to play games in addition to doing office work. The 1TB PCIe 4.0 solid-state drive is large enough for all your games, and the 16GB of RAM makes short work of loading times. It comes with a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor with a maximum clock speed of 5.0GHz and a powerful GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics card.
Sold by Amazon
MSI GF63 Premium Gaming Laptop
This is a great choice for any gamer on the go. In addition to the 1TB in storage, it has a 15.6-inch display, an Intel Quad-Core i5 processor and 16GB of RAM.
Sold by Amazon
This laptop comes with an Intel Iris Xe graphics card, 1TB of storage, 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor.
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With a 15.6-inch display at 120 frames per second, this laptop powers the 1.5TB SSD with a GeForce RTX 1650Ti graphics card.
Sold by Amazon
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Charlie Fripp writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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