in months upon months of research from maximumpc and elsewhere everywhere i read said an ssd is more reliable. and based on my personal experience that is true. i have had 4 ipods fail due to hd issues, while i still have a flash usb drive from about 5-6 years ago. just due to the fact that there are no moving parts there is a lot less to fail. i mean think about a 7500rpm drive running for an entire year, thats a shit ton of movement and stuff will just wear out regardless of how well it is made or whatever. i don't know thats just what i read, but either way even if it wasn't as reliable i will take much faster speeds with slightly less reliability anyway, even though i think it is more reliable.