Arstechnica Benchmarks the SSD equipped MBA. Conclusion: Meh.

[Chupa Chupa]

Their benchmarks show the SSD equipped is only marginally faster than the HD version and battery life improvement a scant 10% (Scant considering the SSD option alone is also the same price as a MB ). So looks like the only reason to get the SSD right now is for bragging rights.

Here is their final conclusion:

The $1,300 question is whether the SSD is worth the extra cash. The answer seems to be no. I experienced only moderate gains in battery life and not very noticeable speed differences. The one major benefit of the SSD model is that it doesn't cause the same types of slowdowns as the HDD model during times of high disk activity, and that's certainly a huge plus. Speedy read times are great, too, but they are balanced out by pokey write times.

Still, even if it's more usable, it's hard to justify the huge price difference for the SSD model. If you've got an extra $1,300 to blow and, for some reason, haven't just bought a second computer with it, perhaps the SSD model is for you. For anyone else looking to buy an Air, the HDD model appears to provide the most bang for the buck.

Entire article and benchmarks: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/...view.ars/2

[Filliam H. Muffman]

There might have been a little more difference in battery life if they were comparing it to a 2.5" drive. The 1.8" drives were designed for long battery life in iPods so I would not really expect a SSD to really improve it much. Maybe the next MacBook Pro will have it as an option and show a bigger difference.

[Kramerica]

Strange results with the battery - many others reporting 4-5 hrs.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

MacWorld said "I found that it held a charge for roughly three hours total."
http://www.macworld.com/article/131864/2...okair.html

[Article Accelerator]

Here's Macworld's test of the SSD-equipped MBAir:

http://www.macworld.com/article/131993/2...mbair.html

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Anandtech tests MBA with SSD, gets 2h 43m of runtime with "heavy" use, 4h 27m with power saving maximized.

"Apple's 5 hour claim is laughable but not as much as I expected."
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3220

[Bill in NC]

The article shows just what a poor choice Apple made in going with an iPod hard drive, even though it is top-of-the-line (4200RPM instead of 3600RPM) instead of a cheap conventional 5400RPM 2.5" drive.

"The one major benefit of the SSD model is that it doesn't cause the same types of slowdowns as the HDD model during times of high disk activity, and that's certainly a huge plus."