IMO, some SSD drives are clearly better performers, but right now, they do not justify the cost. They're more likely to withstand drops and other shocks, but, other parts in a laptop aren't as reliable as an SSD drive. A drop/jolt with enough force to botch an HDD is probably going to spell disaster with some of the other laptop components, the screen being a large factor. SSD owners right now are considered early adopters. "Early adopter" is often times a nice way to say "beta tester". There's lower power consumption, which will boost a laptop battery's life, and that's always a plus. But most competitively priced (read: under $150) drives will come with very low read/write times. So if that's an even trade off for you, it sounds like you've got to decide how much you want to spend.
I have an Asus EEE PC 1000HE that can last up to about 8 hours with a regular 160GB notebook HDD in it. I can easily pick it up, fold the screen, and put it under my arm to move to another room while it's still on. As soon as I have to fold it up and put it in my back pack, it's as simple as putting it into standby, and tossing it in my backpack.
I personally won't buy an SSD for a couple years. For casual users, it's simply not worth it. It's new fangled technology that always yields a lofty price tag. Give it time, the SSD market will become very competitive, at which time, us consumers can cash in.
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