Well, the glossy MBP, the colours are richer, and a matte will never look as rich as a glossy one. But, the reflections were just too irritating - when I do work, there is windows around, and I really hate having to angle down the display to stop reflections.
Don't get me wrong, the glossy screen is brilliant. But having glass on top of a glossy panel really isn't a good idea in terms of reflections, and that's why I got the matte one.
Mine is the 2.8GHz model. It is really cool, right now, I am listening to music, browsing the web etc and the temp is 48'C. In a warm room, that temperature would be around 55'C. When encoding video, temps will never get above 80'C. The whole unit, even when the CPU is at 80'C, is still cool.
It will get warm, but compared to the original MBP, it'll never be hot enough to half cook an egg
I have to agree. I struggled with glossy vs anti-glare for a month before ordering my new 17" MBP a few weeks ago. I think I drove the Apple Store guys nuts showing up a few times a week and monopolizing two MBP's by putting them side by side and running through applications. My two cents worth......
I really wanted to like the glossy screen. For me, the aesthetics are better with the edge to edge glass and the black border. I have to agree with those who say the machine looks better with the black keys and black border. I think that must be the look the design team was focused on. And there is no doubt that under optimal conditions the glossy screen can look beautiful. Colors appear more saturated and blacks are deeper just as everyone says and brightness appears to be a notch higher than the anti-glare screen. But.....
Colors can look over saturated when placed next to the anti-glare screen just like many people have noted. Greens and reds are especially unnatural which shows up in caucasian skin tones and pretty much every sort of outdoor photo.
Glare is a real problem for me. While I acknowledge that a slight change in screen angle can eliminate most reflections from say a window behind you, it often results in picking up new reflections from the aluminum finish of the machine itself or the backlit keyboard. Even when you have a light background on the main screen area, the glassy black border picked up reflections from everything in the room including the shirt I was wearing and my hand movements. If you're only watching movies, or browsing You Tube videos this is probably not a big issue. But I watch movies on my home theater not a 17" laptop screen. If you're editing still or moving images, it's a huge PITB.
The anti-glare screen on the other hand is more subdued. There is less initial "wow" factor from colors that "pop" and blacks are excellent but not as good as the glossy screen. But, colors are also much closer to reality and the output you get from a photo printer.
In addition, glare is just about totally eliminated which frees you up to work anywhere with the MBP in any position you choose. Since a lot of my editing takes place with my back to a 12' row of windows, this is huge for me. I admit that the anti-glare screen does not fare well outdoors in direct sunlight. But then again the glossy screen isn't exactly like E-ink in direct sun either. And, I've used a laptop outside about two times in my entire life so that wasn't a consideration for me.
Also, for 90% of my use the anti-glare screen just seems easier on my eyes for text. There is zero dodging and squinting to deal with reflections on the screen with the super small fonts that result from the high resolution of this screen. It's just more comfortable under a wider range of conditions for long periods of use.
As for aesthetics, I don't really like the aluminum bezel as much as the black border. But, I will trade looks for comfort and accuracy any day.
So in conclusion, if you're looking to make a fashion statement or using your MBP primarily for entertainment, I would think that the glossy screen is the best choice. If on the other hand, you spend hours per day editing images or doing other work related tasks, you're better off with the slightly less pretty, more accurate, and more comfortable anti-glare screen.