I remember reading a while ago, a review on an Asus netbook, that compared performance between having the default 160GB 7200rpm drive vs a 80GB Intel SSD. Unfortunately, I can't find the review. (It was with one of the then-new 10" models and at launch of the Intel X25-Ms).
But from memory, it came down to, yes the SSD will provide power saving, but the increase in performance is not that you would get if you did the same on a mid-range laptop or desktop. You do get a speed up with the SSD, but as the Intel Atom is simple too slow to take real advantage you don't get that much of a speed up. And I do remember 1 test (multi-threaded mp3 encode), the SSD ended up being slower overall. Why? The Atom was being hit so heavily with IRQs from the drive controller it spent more time context switching between the mp3 encode and handling the drive requests, that it slowed down the encode. (The IRQs stole what limited CPU resources from the encode, resulting in a overall slower result).
Overall, the conclusion was, yes the SSD improves overall system performance, but not as much as one would expect or even see if they did the same in a C2D laptop or desktop. And for the cost of the SSD, it doesn't make it look that attractive when the SSD is worth more than the netbook. (But remember, the article was a few years ago so SSD pricing has improved).
Would I go with an SSD in a Netbook? Yes, for the following reasons:
1. Use less power overall, extending battery time by up to 10%. (I love my 7-8hrs on battery, getting another 10% would be very nice).
2. Quite, and cooler. (But that's not much of an issue in my Asus netbook, don't know about the Acer setup).
3. Good performance increase in regards to system responsiveness when opening applications and working with documents. Quicker boot times.
4. Cheap enough, that a smaller SSD would offer a good performance return for the $.
5. Should be more reliable in the event of accidentally dropping the netbook.
