The shock protection you get from a SSD is far more substantial than that of a HDD and so the SSD is better suited for mobile usage IMO. The 350 (occasionally up to 400) running and 1000 not is the maximum of all HDDs. However, SSDs are in the 1500 range, running or not. Most people put their computer to sleep when going from class to class or job site to job site, and so the hard disk may still be running at the time in which a fall is most likely to happen. I do agree that in order to kill a modern hard drive, it would have to be a pretty nasty fall (and not a train ride or anything like that), but my point is that for the best overall protection, a SSD is, hands down, the best way to go if money permits.