1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,840 If you're looking for a cheap laptop, you've probably seen that many of them have something 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:10,720 called EMMC storage. But that spec sheet typically doesn't do a good job of explaining exactly what 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:16,480 that is. So is it some extreme cost-cutting measure that you should avoid like the plague, 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:22,400 or cannot think for EMMC actually be a good idea? Well, EMMC actually stands for Embedded 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:27,360 Multimedia Card, which probably sounds like something you'd insert into a digital camera 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:32,000 back when that was popular. And it turns out that that's actually kind of true. 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:38,560 The original EMMC came out back in 1997 and was indeed common in standalone digital cameras. 8 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,120 EMMC was later improved upon and had copy protection added, with the result being the 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:49,280 more familiar SD card. But the original EMMC standard stuck around. The EMMC storage in that 10 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,920 laptop that you've been eyeballing is essentially an EMMC version that's soldered directly onto 11 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:59,840 the laptop's motherboard instead of being an actual card that you can eject. So it's kind of 12 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:05,600 like a little built-in SSD. But why do lower-end laptops use EMMC instead of just putting in an 13 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:12,400 actual SSD considering how cheap and common SSDs have become? Well, even though SSDs are now standard 14 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:17,200 in most laptops rather than the luxury they used to be, EMMC is still the cheaper option. 15 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:22,800 The NAND flash memory that actually stores the data inside EMMC doesn't have the same longevity 16 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:28,000 as what you'd find inside of a proper SSD. That is to say, it wears out faster due to simpler 17 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,440 firmware and lower quality hardware. EMMC also doesn't tend to give you as much storage capacity, 18 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,320 as many laptops that include it only have 32 or 64 gigabytes for you to work with, 19 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:43,840 which isn't a lot for Windows 11. But are the drawbacks of EMMC so severe that we recommend 20 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,920 staying away from it entirely? The thing to remember about EMMC is that even though it 21 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:53,440 isn't the same as a SATA or NVMe SSD, it's still solid-state storage that's going to give you many 22 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,400 of the same benefits. Because of its cost-effectiveness, laptop manufacturers have been able to replace 23 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:03,120 those painfully slow mechanical hard drives you used to find in budget models with EMMCs. 24 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:09,040 And make no mistake, although these low-end laptops still come with slimmed-down processors and 25 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:15,120 limited amounts of RAM, those spinning hard drives were THE biggest bottleneck in such systems just 26 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:20,960 a few years ago. So swapping those out with EMMC removes this bottleneck without breaking the bank. 27 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:27,360 From that perspective, EMMC storage is an absolute win. But EMMCs top out at around 400 28 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:33,600 megabytes per second of sequential read speeds, with some implementations being well below that, 29 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,480 meaning they'll be significantly slower for large file transfers than even a cheap SATA SSD. 30 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:43,200 But more importantly, random reads, which is a more relevant stat for day-to-day use, 31 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,840 will also be around half of what you get with an SSD, or even a bit lower. 32 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,720 However, here's the thing to remember. Unless you're really trying to put a cheap system 33 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:59,360 through its paces, it shouldn't end up mattering too much. Laptops with EMMC are meant for more, 34 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,440 you know, watching YouTube, typing reports, wasting time on social media, those kinds of 35 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:10,160 use cases that won't tax the PC all that much. Trying to do anything heavy like gaming, streaming, 36 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:16,080 or content creation will probably push the system's other components well beyond their limits as well. 37 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:23,360 So for a cheap laptop, EMMC makes a lot of sense, as you wouldn't be buying it for demanding 38 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,920 applications anyway, nor would you be hitting it so hard that it would quickly wear out. 39 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:34,960 But Anthony, what about the base model Steam Deck? That thing is meant for gaming, and it has EMMC. 40 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:40,080 Well, EMMC is mostly going to slow down your load times in those games on the Steam Deck, 41 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,440 but shouldn't affect actual game performance too much once you get in. 42 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,080 Sometimes just having a bit more patience can save you a significant amount of money. 43 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,760 I can't even tell you how much money I've wasted on express food delivery just so I can 44 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:58,800 get my chicken poppers before halftime ends. Well, I don't watch sports, but still the same thing. 45 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,320 Thanks for watching guys, like, dislike, check out some of our other videos, comment with 46 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,120 video suggestions down below, and don't forget to subscribe and follow.