vertex 4.

plextor m3 pro?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5851/plextor...o-256gb-review/

Vertex 3 was more expensive to manufacture back then. Regardless of whether Vertex 3 shares the same cheaper components internally with the Vertex 4, it will still be priced according to how much it costs when it first came out with normal price reduction over a few months afterwards.

Vertex 4 is on a different controller, Indilnx Everest 2 which is a derivation of the Marvell controller which is more stable and reliable but slightly slower. The Vertex 3 uses the Sandforce SF-2281 which although is faster in some tests, are very unstable in the early days. I don't know about your Vertex 3 but it just so happens that it is one of the most unstable Sandforce drives out there. Given a choice right now, I'll go for the Vertex 4 over Vertex 3 which the Vertex 4 has shown improvements in speed from firmware updates.

1. Random BSOD without any particular reason.
2. Possible of data corruption.
3. Firmware update for count-less time and yet same issue.
4. Give up and try to use other brand SSD.

But Intel Sandforce has been prove stable, AFAIK, but it's still quite new so... "waiting game"?
Anyway it's up to you to choose, but most people here would recommend something stable rather than got frustrated with complaint threads later.