Transferring whole disk image from HDD to SSD

You will want to use a "cloning" app. Acronis makes one.
If you buy an intel ssd. you can download an app that does the job for an Intel SSD. Other vendors may have laptop kits which include a usb adapter to the ssd. You clone the boot hard drive to the ssd, remove your old hard drive, and replace it with the SSD.
Do be careful that the ssd is large enough to hold an exact image of the hard drive.