FYI, I believe that MacBook is limited to 1.5Gbps SATA, as opposed to the newer 3.0Gbps.
The fastest SSDs can nearly max out the 3.0Gbps standard in terms of throughput. If you get one of those--like the Vertex--you'll be limited to a theoretical max of about 185 MB/s on 1.5Gbps SATA.
Still, that's about twice as fast as most hard drives. You'll also get the lower latency of an SSD and the improved random read and write speeds, which are really more important than sequential speeds on a day-to-day basis.
That said, the Intel X25-m is almost universally regarded as the best mainstream SSD. The retail price for a 160GB model is supposed to be $499, but shortages have driven the market price to over $600 last time I checked. Be sure to get the second gen model--it has a silver casing and G2 in the name.
The Vertex line is great as well, and available in larger capacities. The cost pet megabyte is comparable to the Intel (perhaps a bit cheaper, especially with the retailer overcharging for the X25). The Vertex used to sometimes cause problems, but I think they've been mostly ironed out with the new firmware and the recent batches.
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