Pros and Cons of mSATA and M.2 SSD Drives

[IdeaStormer]

After a batch of systems with mSATA drives I have found a list of pro's and con's:

 

Pros (first as always)

 

* Small size, meaning it takes less space in your rig

* No cables to clutter your case

* Better performance (in theory at least)

 

Cons

 

* Installation/Removal can be a pain in the rear if their slots are covered by PCIe cards, like a wide two slot video card

* Tiny screws used to mount them can fall during install/removal and fall in the worst spots

* When having issues with them you can't just plug them into another system/port (assuming you only have one)

* Need to buy an additional mSATA or M.2 converter to mount them outside the system's provided ports for those devices.

 

 

Obviously, I'm in the middle of a debug session with an mSATA drive and partially hating having gotten them at the moment, I need the converter to more easily test/debug.

[Lord Pantaloons]

The tiny screw issue is easily fixed with a magnetic screwdriver

[IdeaStormer]

The tiny screw issue is easily fixed with a magnetic screwdriver

 

Yea, have you tried it? Note, even taping your hand/arm while moving in for the install will knock the screw out, the screws are very small so not that much surface area to magnetize to.