SSD is simply better than HDD is real world.
It has been my experience over the last 3 days of heavy use that the SSD and its superior random access speeds lends itself to superior overall performance. I have moved back and forth from my 17" MBPro 2.6Ghz with 5400 RPM Seagate 320 GB (16 MB Cache) Drive and 4 GB RAM and my 1.8 Ghz SSD MBA and I find that for general work related tasks (i.e. opening and editing spreadsheets, editing charts and graphics and even Parallels for some legacy applications) are superior on the MBA with the SSD than the MBPro. I know if I fire up Final Cut or Photoshop that will not be the case. But for daily work it is superior. I also greatly appreciate the superior start-up/shutdown times. Of course this is simply subjective data, but it has been my experience. The MBA will work great for providing an effective platform for working while being mobile. My MBPro will always be the cornerstone.
Also it is important to point out that with a HDD system starting and shutting down the systems causes a significant amount of I/O which has a significant impact upon battery life.
It has been my experience over the last 3 days of heavy use that the SSD and its superior random access speeds lends itself to superior overall performance. I have moved back and forth from my 17" MBPro 2.6Ghz with 5400 RPM Seagate 320 GB (16 MB Cache) Drive and 4 GB RAM and my 1.8 Ghz SSD MBA and I find that for general work related tasks (i.e. opening and editing spreadsheets, editing charts and graphics and even Parallels for some legacy applications) are superior on the MBA with the SSD than the MBPro. I know if I fire up Final Cut or Photoshop that will not be the case. But for daily work it is superior. I also greatly appreciate the superior start-up/shutdown times. Of course this is simply subjective data, but it has been my experience. The MBA will work great for providing an effective platform for working while being mobile. My MBPro will always be the cornerstone.
Also it is important to point out that with a HDD system starting and shutting down the systems causes a significant amount of I/O which has a significant impact upon battery life.