500GB SSD; Intel 520, or Vertex 4(M)?

[AkG]

Honestly when dealing with most laptops the sata controller is going to be the bottleneck long before the drive. So personally I would look at a of couple things:
1) NAND type (toggle > ONFI 2....forget ONFI 1 drives not worth it unless its REALLY...really cheap)
2) Firmware stability (updating is a PITA that risks bricking a drive...so fewer GOOD ones > more often crap ones)
3) Reliability (no one wants a dud)
4) Customer Service (no one likes fighting with a company for a RMA)
5) Warranty (not just length but ease of use...and trust factor that they will be around in X years)

Intel has all 5. Samsung has all 5 (though there CS can be hit or miss...all depends on who you get on the phone sometimes). Crucial has all 5. If it was my rig my personal short list would look something like this:
Intel 520, Sammy 840 Pro, and dark horse Corsair Neutron GTX and maybe the Crucial M4

I really...really like drives that use the mfg'ers own NAND. They always skim the 'cream' for themselves.

Crucial M4 is getting long in the tooth but is still a GOOD drive w/ stable firmware (ie set it and forget it as updates will be few and far between)

Intel 520. Stable firmware. Excellent toolbox (for that 'just in case' security blanket). Great company to deal with. GOOD techs on the line...and you know that they are not going to go belly up before your warranty runs out...leaving you with a 5 yr USELESS warranty that no one will honour.

Samsung 840 PRO. Excellent toobox, NAND. Decent warranty. Still new so the firmware updates will happen more often then with the Intel...but it may turn out to be worth it...as I prefer Toggle Mode NAND over ONFi 2.

Corsair Neutron GTX is a new controller with good NAND. Its a beast...but is overkill for most laptops. Plus reliability/durability/firmware stability is ??? but its so damn good I'd be tempted to overlook it!...and Corsair are great to deal with when things go south.

Pick the one that is in your budget. If none are...the Sammy 830 should be getting cheaper PDQ! ANY of them would be great choices.

[JoelPack]

AkG already knocked this question out of the park, but I figured I'd stress a few points. If you care about reliability, there's no choice here, Intel is the way to go. I would go as far as saying OCZ and Intel are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to reliability, OCZ being one of the poorest when it comes to reliability and Intel among the best. I have an Intel drive myself, and I got it because so many people in my field recommended it for being reliable. As you mention, it does cost a lot more, but it costs more for a reason.

[chrisk]

Got the Intel 520 480GB. I tend to only format about 90% of the drive to help with wear leveling and such (not sure if its needed but just a habit I have gotten in to with SSDs).

I have popped Windows 8 Enterprise on it to test drive for a few days...missing a few drivers but a few nice surprises here and there.