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I have a mid-2010 MBP and I personally carry it around everywhere with me. It's just the right size IMO. Good size, great screen with the high-resolution option and you get decent battery life to boot! Also, you can enough oomph(especially with the latest refresh) to do just about anything you want. And can't forget about the discrete video card! I'd recommend to jump onto the 6750M with the high-res option. With the student discount, the price of the laptop isn't actually that bad.
 
I am a student and will be using my 15" MBP with Hi-res anti-glare and SSD as most my school books and textbooks. i think your better off either the extra power as in a few years time it will still be ok instead of (possibly?) just a pain!
 
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