Why Packaging Is Important
Most of us tend to shop online for products. Sometimes, though, the need for a product in-hand outweighs our desire to save a few dollars. Either way, the retail packaging is an important consideration, regardless of where you purchase from.
Online orders require shipping, and nothing's worse than waiting on a package to arrive only to find the product damaged. In our consumer reviews, we look at how companies package their retail SSDs and hard disks. Solid-state drives are immune to vibration for the most part. Advances in hard drive technology have increased the amount of vibration allowed with the HDD powered down. But we still like to see some form of vibration-absorbing material used in the package.
With SSDs, performance varies by capacity point. Smaller drives tend to be slower than larger ones, even in the same family. Some vendors publish specifications for each model, but others only list maximum performance from the series, presenting a best-case scenario. The 128 and even 256GB implementations are usually slower than the 512GB and 1TB versions.
When we shop in a retail store, most of us want to see product information. Again, some drive include specifications on the box, while others list the bare minimum. When we talk about what is included or not, we're hoping to compel manufacturers to be more informative with their customers.
