At this point it sounds like you may have made up your mind, but I figured I'd throw in my two cents. I did my undergrad in Computer Engineering and am now a grad student in Electrical. The types of applications I've had to run are usually not incredibly graphics intensive (at the most, 2D circuit layout programs) but depending on the work you're doing you may want something with a bit of umph for running lots of Matlab simulations. Regarding computer labs, at least in my experience that could be hit or miss. Depending on how up-to-date they are and how much funding they have to throw at them it's possible your new laptop will have more processing power than the lab computers, I know that was the case at UMass 5 or so years ago. Also, I found that sometimes I really didn't want to sit in the crowded computer lab for hours on end with the food and drink police making surprise visits to grab your coffee and throw it in the trash (yes, I actually witnessed several incidences of that). It was quite liberating to be able to do work on my own laptop somewhere off campus, just to get away from it all.
Also, consider this. With Snow Leopard and grand central there may be reasons other than gaming to get souped up graphics cards. Grand central, from what I understand, will essentially make available the processing cores in the graphics card for general purpose processing, so maybe you'll have some application that isn't really graphics intensive but could benefit from more processor cores (again, Matlab simulations come to mind here... words can not accurately convey just how many Matlab simulations I have had to run over the course of my education ;-) )
That all being said, I'm really not sure how much of a boost you'd get in grand central with the extra graphics power in the MBP, so it may or may not be worth for that.
If you're going to do any type of CAD work I would strongly recommend going with the MBP just for the larger screen. Yes, you can always use an external monitor, but I really like being able to do work when I'm away from my home-base. It's nice to not have to limit yourself to your dorm/apartment/computer lab, sometimes you just want a change of scenery, ya know?
The extra money is definitely something to consider, but you're not going to regret getting the MBP if you go that route. You may not regret a MB either, depending on your usage, a lot of the benefits of the pro are dependent on personal usage, as I've kind of touched on.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling and hope that kind of helps. good luck with engineering, but also make sure to take time over the next 4 years to do non-engineering things as well, in many ways those non-engineering activities will pay off more than the actual degree ;-)
Also, consider this. With Snow Leopard and grand central there may be reasons other than gaming to get souped up graphics cards. Grand central, from what I understand, will essentially make available the processing cores in the graphics card for general purpose processing, so maybe you'll have some application that isn't really graphics intensive but could benefit from more processor cores (again, Matlab simulations come to mind here... words can not accurately convey just how many Matlab simulations I have had to run over the course of my education ;-) )
That all being said, I'm really not sure how much of a boost you'd get in grand central with the extra graphics power in the MBP, so it may or may not be worth for that.
If you're going to do any type of CAD work I would strongly recommend going with the MBP just for the larger screen. Yes, you can always use an external monitor, but I really like being able to do work when I'm away from my home-base. It's nice to not have to limit yourself to your dorm/apartment/computer lab, sometimes you just want a change of scenery, ya know?
The extra money is definitely something to consider, but you're not going to regret getting the MBP if you go that route. You may not regret a MB either, depending on your usage, a lot of the benefits of the pro are dependent on personal usage, as I've kind of touched on.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling and hope that kind of helps. good luck with engineering, but also make sure to take time over the next 4 years to do non-engineering things as well, in many ways those non-engineering activities will pay off more than the actual degree ;-)
