Have you ever wondered why your laptop takes 2-3 minutes or more to boot up while your friend's or colleague's system is ready to use less than a minute after pressing the “Power” button?  It's probably because your system uses an old-style magnetic drive to store the operating system (OS) and user files, etc., while the one you're comparing is equipped with a solid state drive or SSD – a much faster option that's increasingly popular in today's laptops.

When they were first introduced, flash memory-based SSDs were a revelation, replacing the traditional hard disk drive (HDD) that had to spin around to position its mechanical reading arm at the location of each discrete bit of data. In contrast, SSDs store data in fast-access flash memory for near-immediate availability.  You'll never wait very long to start working on a laptop with an SSD drive. On Lenovo's best solid state laptops, boot-ups take seconds rather than minutes, and calling up user files such as documents and photos is equally quick.

What's the benefit of an SSD drive for a laptop?

Ready to shop for an SSD laptop? This page shows ONLY Lenovo laptops with SSD drives. Dig deeper into these offers and you'll find there are lots of advantages to today's best SSD laptops -- and incredibly fast boot times are just the start of it:

• Durability: SSD drives for laptops have no moving parts, making them very durable. Earlier solutions are more susceptible to damage and data loss when dropped or bumped too hard.
• Small size: Their compact size and lack of mechanical parts make SSDs smaller and lighter than traditional HDDs. This makes them ideal for use in ultraportable systems such as laptops.
• Quiet, cool operation: With no reading arms to move or disks to spin, laptops with SSD drives are known to run quietly. They also generate less heat than HDD-equipped systems.

SSDs typically cost more, especially in large volumes of 500 GB or more. Still, many users today use the cloud to save their favorite files – family pictures, active game environments, etc. – so for them, there's less need for multiple terabytes of onboard storage.  It's also possible to buy economical dual-drive systems that pair a relatively small SSD (to store the data you use most, such as boot-up routines) with a larger, traditional HDD for the files you access less often.