Dilema! MBP 13" at 2/3 the price. Is it a good deal, having already a C2D?

[Pingolo]

Hi there!

I have this dilema. I'm considering buying a MBP 13", but I'm not sure if it will fit my needs at all. Would you guys help me with the decision?

I have a 4 year old Samsung laptop with the following specs:
- Core 2 Duo T5600 @ 1,86 Ghz
- 3 Gb Ram
- 15" Screen, 1280x800
- Nvidia GeForce Go 7400, 256Mb (not shared)
- 160 GB HD
- 1 hour battery life (currently)
- 2,7 Kg

I think now's the time for a change, since my laptop is getting old and I'm really sick of carrying it arround all day. I was considering the MBP 13" because I really like its design, mobility and battery life. However I'm concerned about if it will fit my needs when it comes to power.

Besides normal use, I'd like to run:
- Poser (3D rendering - heavy use)
- Photoshop (normal use)
- Fireworks (heavy use)
- No gaming nor video editing

I'm currently capable of all that with my current laptop. Will the MBP 13 be able to handle that?

Besides, I have this other questions:
- 1280x800 pixels of resolution for a 15" screen is not enough. Is it for a 13"?
- Is the MBP's Nvidia an acceptable graphics card (since memory is shared) ?
- Since I already have a Core 2 Duo at 1,86 Ghz, will I notice much difference with the MBP 2,44 or 2,64? Here's a comparison chart (http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=40380,35568,27254,) What do you think?
- Is it worth it to pay $300 for such a little increment in power (low-high end MBP)?

Finally, and maybe the most important part. I'm from Spain, but I'll stay in the US till Christmas. Since I'm in a college I have this student discount, which added to the currency exchange, I could get the low-end MPB 13" for just 800€, 2/3 the price I would pay for in Spain. This is really a good deal. In fact I'd like to wait for the update and maybe get an Core i5, but as I read, it's not planned till 2011 and I wouldn't be able to buy it in this conditions.

So in conclusion the thing is, is it worth it to buy a MBP 13" at that price even if it's not a real improvement compared with what I already have? I'd like to hear your oppinions.

Thank you guys in advance!

Ferran

PS: I'm not considering buying a 15" MBP because I think it's not enough portable for me.

 

[aeboi]

It's capable of those tasks and the 320M is a very capable GPU for what it is. You would definitely see an improvement over your current laptop. Fireworks and photoshop run fluidly on mine(probably better with more ram) but I haven't used poser 8 on it. The price of the high end 13" is not worth it over the base 13". Spend that money on 8GB of ram since it would indeed help in rendering. The resolution issue is subjective, you should probably try it out yourself. It may or may not be enough real estate for your needs. It's fine for when I edit on the go but my friend for example couldn't go without a high res screen.