Final laptop advice -- 13" vs 15" Mac Book Pro.

[mattbell]

I'm planning on getting a MacBook Pro to replace my aging laptop and perhaps my desktop as well.  (Covered earlier in this post)

I'm thinking that most (say, 80%) of my computing will still be done at home in front of my two huge monitors.  However, I'm sick of dragging my aging laptop along when I need to go somewhere else -- I want something good. 

I'm trying to decide between the 13" and the 15" Mac Book Pro.  I'm leaning toward the 13" as it's smaller and lighter, but the 15" has a good bit more screen real estate.  The 17" feels way too big and heavy.  Have any of you had regrets either way about the 13" or the 15" MBP?

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Why it might be hard to replace my desktop:

- The MBP only supports one external monitor.  To support two, I'd have to buy an additional piece of hardware (almost $200), and even then the combined resolution of the two monitors (3360x1050) may be too high for the graphics card.  I could replace the two monitors with one ginormous one, but I think I'd have to go all the way up to 30" to get as much space as I have now.  Plus, I like having a "central" monitor and a "side" monitor.  I can have itunes, email, or some other occasionally used window on the side monitor while having my work on the central monitor. 

- I have a lot of software that I don't have the original CDs for.  There's probably a way of handling some of this gracefully... except that I'd be jumping from Leopard to Snow Leopard.

If I don't replace my desktop, I'll need to figure out how to effectively share large amounts of data across the two machines.  I haven't used DropBox and its ilk for things beyond a few tens of megabytes. 
 
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Also, is there anyone at Apple who'd be willing to buy it on an employee discount for me?

Comments

[pjammer.livejournal.com]

I'd sit tight until they update the MBPro, it's due for a refresh any time now.

Even better than asking for an employee discount (which every apple employee is hit up for by all their friends), call in a favor and try to get in touch with a current Stanford student to get the Stanford discount (almost as good), and then SHIP it to a friend in Oregon (a state with zero sales tax resulting in a zero-tax transaction for you). FedEx it over to your home immediately, and net-net, you'll shave about $200 off the entire cost, round-trip .

That's what I did. I bought a box of chocolates for all parties involved (they were happy), I got a kickass top of the range computer (I'm happy), and the State of California is deprived of a boatload of taxes (which makes me VERY happy).

[catithat.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to get the ucsc student discount for you if you'd like. Lynn lives in oregon.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. I'm going to wait a month or so to see if the new model comes out, but I'll likely take you up on this.

[pjammer.livejournal.com]

If you want to buy me a box of chocolates for giving you this idea, gifts will be cheerfully accepted. ;)