I have a BSE on my 2010 13" MBP. It's a shiny skin, and feels smooth but not "rubbery." If you press your fingernail into it, then you can feel some softness, but as far as just sliding your hand over it, no. (I have heard that some of the others can feel almost tacky, is why I mention it.) It basically looks like the Mac has been clearcoated/shiny.
I like the shiny, but the Wrapsol sounds nice too. It's more of a matte finish so it depends on what you are looking for aesthetically. It also doesn't cover the sides, I don't think (?). It seems each of the clear skins have slightly different details (shiny or not, cover the apple or not, cover sides or not, etc.)
I did not have iStat downloaded before I put the skin on, so I can't directly compare (I put the skin on when it was brand new last month); but I can say that my temps seem to be in line with other people's who have reported them.
Typically around 39º C -- at idle
MId-to high 40sº C -- typical light use
Low 50sº C -- Nine million Firefox tabs open
Mid-to-high-50sº C -- add a couple of flash videos from YouTube
60sº to low 70ºs C -- video chat
These temps are with an ambient temperature of about 70º F
I find that most of the heat seems to come out the openings by the hinge (I believe that's where the fan pushes it out), and then the area above the 6 and 7 conducts some heat - it is still "naked" aluminum. The bottom center by the hinge gets a bit warm too, and is covered in BSE, but not meltingly hot.
Although the aluminum supposedly conducts the heat, and so you would expect it would get hotter covered up, I don't think it's probably much to speak of. One data point I have: A friend has my former 2010 MB. That has the same processor, same OS, basically same programs as my MBP. Only real difference is MB has 2g RAM and MBP has 4g of RAM. MB is plastic bodied of course. When we were video chatting we tried various combinations of programs open or closed (keeping our computers "matched"), and the plastic MB was always cooler by about 5ºC.
Now maybe the MB just has better thermal paste or something, who knows. It's a sample size of one. But if the aluminum were SUCH a huge advantage you would think that the 13" MB's would be "known" for running hotter than the 13" MBPs.
I did some poking around, like you are doing, before putting the BSE on my MBP. I didn't find any compelling evidence that it would be a problem. I suppose if one wanted to be *really* anal about it, one could just not put the skin on the bottom (there is no heat in the lid).
I initially wanted (and even bought... must sell that) a Speck See-Thru case for my MBP. But even as I was buying it, I was resenting the added 1# of weight and the added thickness. Shoot, it would have been nearly as big and heavy as my old iBook 14". The one thing I would have liked about it is I could have used sandpaper to smooth off the front/top edge, by the palmrest, in order to get around the sharp-edged Mac design there. I still may run the BSE palm rest skin around that edge (have not used it yet as I used a Moshi Palm Guard). Also, of course, the Speck case provides dent protection, which a skin does not, if that is a priority for you.
Anyway, before I unwrapped the Speck I found out about the clear skins. So I researched those and decided the BSE was the best one for me. I relied quite a bit on AlphaDogg's review, which I have since added to. You might look that up if you are considering a skin. I believe AD may be going to write up a review for the Wrapsol. That would be interesting since AD formerly had a BSE.
Miss Terri
I'm leaning towards getting the Wrapsol now.