SSDs are a clearly superior drive format, but they’re more expensive per gigabyte than their platter-based hard disk drives. The natural middle ground is to get an SSD for your Windows installation ...
I'm changing a HDD on a Compaq machine (from the original 30GB to a used 160GB Barracuda) and during the XP setup phase, it's taking an unusually long time to perform an HD format (not quick format) ...