[mothered]

my laptop (link) has four times the storage. Given, it is disc, but is SSD really needed in a laptop?

Depending on one's data storage needs, generally speaking, a 1TB HDD will suffice most user's needs.

In terms of an SSD In a lappy, opting for a smaller capacity as the "Boot Drive" will significantly Increase boot times/performance. As a "Data Disk", Read & Write (I/O) operations are blazingly quicker than magnetic HDDs. The SSD will also run cooler, less prone to bad sectors (non-movable parts, dealing with pages & blocks), less wear & tear and the list goes on.

Of course, the longevity and performance of a given SSD does depend on the type of NAND Flash Memory- SLC, eSLC, MLC, eMLC & TLC. All of which are great In one aspect, but somewhat of a letdown In another. Selecting the correct type should be based on whether It's an Enterprise organization with heavy Read/Write operations, or simply a home user with minimal demands on the Disk Itself.