HDD -vs- Solid State Drives

I'm trying to decide between two versions of the Eee PC: one with a 40 GB solid state drive, or another with a 160 GB hard drive. I've read that Solid State drives are more "shock" resistant than regular hard drives.

Is this really an advantage for real-life situations though? I don't know how well a regular hard drive can sustain minor shocks if it's moved/bumped while it's accessing data (I'm a life-long desktop PC guy). My fear is that it would corrupt data --- or worse --- physically damage hard drive components. With desktops, this was never an issue because the computer itself is rarely moved. Same goes with larger laptops, which tend to remain stationary while in operation. But netbooks are very light and small. I can imagine netbooks being bumped, jarred, and moved constantly --- sometimes while the hard drive is still being accessed.

Is my paranoia well-founded? Or am I right in thinking that hard drives are wholly inappropriate for these small netbooks?

I've read about many newer laptops "locking" the hard drive if they detect that they're falling. I think they just stop spinning and somehow prepare for the shock. Moving one while it's reading/writing shouldn't be a problem, as I've moved my old M305 around quite a bit while it's on, and the hard drive never failed on it. Minor shocks should be ok on a normal hard drive. But, if you're really worried about it and don't mind the loss of 120GB, then get the 40GB SSD.

Other way around.