ATA vs. Solid State HD

Hello,
On the Apple Store site it says under MacBook Pro hard drive options "..Or you can choose a solid-state drive that offers greater durability."
Is the only advantage of solid state durability? I can't imagine spending an additional $750 for more durability. I've have yet to be dissatisfied with the durability of a regular ATA drive.
Is there a performance difference? Is it worth the difference in price? Is this a situation like with RAM, when one can save an incredible amount by buying elsewhere (like Crucial) and not through Apple? If so, where?
Thanks.

pianoman1976 wrote:
Is the only advantage of solid state durability? I can't imagine spending an additional $750 for more durability. I've have yet to be dissatisfied with the durability of a regular ATA drive.
The reason SSDs are durable is right there in the name: Solid State Drive. They have no moving parts. Hazards that a spinning hard drive is susceptible to, such as a head crash, do not exist with an SSD. It is basically a set of flash memory chips.
Is there a performance difference?
Oh, yes. SSDs are much faster than hard drives in most respects because you don't need to wait for right sector to spin under the head. Since it's all chips, you just go get the data. Boot times are incredibly fast. The only weak point of SSDs seems to be sustained writes.
Is it worth the difference in price?
For most people, not right now. SSDs are new technology and are at the early-adopter part of the price-benefit curve (translation: expensive). If you wait a couple years, they will be MUCH cheaper. Think of how an 8GB iPod touch costs about the same as a 120GB iPod Classic. Much of the reason is because the touch uses solid state memory and the Classic uses a traditional hard drive.
An SSD is only worth it now if you need performance and durability a lot more than you need space.
Is this a situation like with RAM, when one can save an incredible amount by buying elsewhere (like Crucial) and not through Apple?
No. SSDs are expensive everywhere right now. There are cheaper brands, but I read that they use a controller hardware that results in inferior performance. Again, just wait a while until there is more volume, diversity, and refined technology, and the prices will come down.

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