Hi xako,
First of all, if your laptop is this one,
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G50V/specifications/ it is not that old, in my personal opinion.
Secondly, I would say that when upgrading an HDD to an SSD, you would most definitely see a noticeable increase of performance,
even on your G50V.
Generally, SSDs can produce a four- or fivefold jump in speed, because of their H/W, (they have NO mechanical parts).
I cannot guarantee how much boost you will see, because frankly, it depends on other factors as well.
Like, your laptop's SATA controller's speed, the OS you have, total physical memory, etc.
From ASUS, the G50V comes with 2 GB or memory (max 4 supported) and comes with Windows Vista by default.
My guess is that the G50V does not support the SATA III/6Gbps drives, but still, the SSD will run at the SATA II/3Gbps
(since SSDs are backwards compatible).
So, back to the other factors:
If you have 4GB of RAM, then it would be enough for running Windows 7 smoothly enough.
If not already done, remove Windows Vista (which came with the laptop), because mainly it is by far, the worst OS ever,
as it needs a TON of resources, in my personal opinion always.
Now, with the SSD running Windows 7, and with 4GB RAM, this setup will surely give you faster boot-up time and everything
will run much faster than with the HDD.
But even of you have just 2GB RAM, i would still suggest you install Windows 7 over Vista!
(Also, as a side bonus, the SSD uses less power than a HDD - no physical parts -, so you would have some better battery
efficiency as well)
Note:
The only downside to swapping to an SSD is the cost and size. Although they are getting cheaper lately.
This is something you need to consider, depending on how much data (GB) you need for your apps/games/files/etc.
But since i've noticed that your laptop (G50V) has 2 disk slots (disk bays), this is excellent in your case.
You can go ahead and install the SSD of your choice in one slot, keep your existing HDD in the other slot and use it
as a secondary drive for you data/files/games or whatever.
What i have done myself (with the dual disk setup) was, i installed Win7 OS + Basic Apps only on the SSD, and use the
2nd drive (HDD), for keeping my documents/pictures/games etc.
If for any reason, you would like any game or app to start-up faster (because you use it frequently) you can always install
it on the SSD drive instead of the HDD.
SOS - IMPORTANT:
When using an SSD though, you must always keep in mind that it's speed and efficiency will remain constant as long as
about 5-7% of its total size is free (not used). If you google this up, and read a bit you will see that this is a valid issue.
So, if you buy an 120GB SSD, you will effectively have 111GB to use, and not 120GB.
Personally, i have purchased 2 SSDs from Samsung, the EVO 840 series, and i am by far still pleased.
They may be a little pricey, but you should find a 250GB size for about 150-180 US.
Still, if 100 is your limit, you could always go to a 120GB sized one (since you got your other HDD for your data).
Finally, to sum it up,
yes it is totally worth it to upgrade to an SSD even for 100 US, and
yes, even for your G50V.Later on, when you save up some more money, you can always swap it in your new laptop or desktop and enjoy its performance!
Let me know if you have any more questions.
BR,
Eros