re: I hadn't seen an IDE (PATA) SSD on the market.
I think they are around since 2007 or so. However reviews weren't that good and prices way too high. Well, still are too high if you go for a quality Laptop SSD solution.

I bought mine from memoryc.com (99Pounds / about $170 + shipping)

PS:
My empeg just sits below a double din Pioneer AVIC-HD1BT unit (Hehe, the only thing of real financial value in my old Subaru I guess). Anyway it gets a little hot there, and my recent hd crash might be related to this. (It's not the first time). So I figured the extra cost for a SSD drive might also be cheaper in the long run and the upper unit could also benefit from the lesser heat coming up.