Well I'm doing specs for a new system when W7 comes out as the current system I have is somewhat outdated. Was checking old WhirlPool forums for some ideas and their higher end systems recommend an SSD for the OS. Now I'm wondering, has SSD technology improved since it was brought out? Are there any particular advantages using SSD over traditional mechanical drives, like read/write times etc? Or is it all still just a big wank factor?

Regards,
Mr.B

They're faster, but a lot more expensive. You could run it as your boot drive, with any important ppprograms if you wanted to.
Check out some benchmarks here.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/hard-drives,3.html

Cheers, I plan on running an SSD primarily as a boot drive, anything else will just go on other drives as it is. The price differences between certain manufacturers are phenomenal. Anything between $200 - $500.

If you are going to, go with an Intel or Samsung.

I'd still hold off from SSD simply due to the limitations in the number of read and writes. And the cost, of course.

At the rate SSD technology is improving, holding off even a matter of months will net big gains in value for money. Its total overkill for a home computer that does nothing much beyond browsing boost and a few games anyway. IMO, SSDs greatest use is in netbooks/laptops where battery life is critical, and in the high end PC market where the read/write speed of a platter HDD is a bottle neck.

Well I'm holding off till W7 as it is anyway so we will see in a few months anyway. From what I've been able to gather they've improved the read/write capabilities of SSD's dramatically since they were commercially produced. I'll be considering it for an OS drive anyway and running engineering applications off the other 2 anyway. Still the read/write capabilities are a rather big let down and don't have a sizeable advantage over mechanical drives IMO.

You'll probably upgrade hard drives before you run out of read/writes.

all above my head,, give me a steering wheel

I worry about shits half-life too.

Manufacturer sez: Our SSD will last for 1 million r/w, which is 5 years in a typical situation!
I sez: Their SSD will last for 1 million r/w tops, with a dramatic decline in reliability (and dramatic rise in chance-of-failure) after 500,000 r/w and its maximum life span is likely 2 years in my situation which means the reliability will only be "guaranteed" for maybe 12 months.

Its like Mercedes saying their Vitos can go 30,000k between services. Which they can - for the first two. After that you're back at the dealership every 5,000k getting another piece of the car thats fallen off replaced.

Dig it?

Yeah, i guess you're right.
I wouldn't spend $300+ for quicker boot times anyway.