Trade in Mac Pro for Macbook Pro good deal?

[Europe calling]

Hi,
I am changing my workfield from desktop to mobile.

I can probably can exchange my Mac Pro (2x 2.66 dual core Xeon, 3 Gig RAM, two harddrives, 250 and 500 Gigs) that i bought in september 2007 at an Apple reseller for a new, previous model Macbook Pro (15.4", 2.5 Ghz, 2 Gig RAM, 250 Gb HDD, matte screen) without having to pay extra money.
(It's on sale for 1399 euro now) Would this be a good deal

I don't want the latest model because of its glossy screen and it not being compatible with my 23" ACD as my main screen.

How is your experience working with a laptop, compared to a desktop machine anyway?
Will i experience a lot of difference in speed? I mostly work with CS3.
Is backing up wirelessly possible/advisable?

 

[Blue Velvet]

I use a MBP with an external monitor and external keyboard for print design work. The MBP is open on a stand which gives additional cooling and enables a two-screen setup which is handy for palettes and the like.

CS3 was slow and a bit jerky, particularly switching between apps and using Bridge, until I upgraded from 2Gbs of RAM to the max of 3Gbs (it's a 2.33 SR) which made all the difference, so maxing it out to 4gb is best. The biggest bottleneck on mine is the hard drive, especially when it's using a lot of scratch space for Photoshop; I'll be putting a 7200rpm 320gb in mine next year, so go for the faster drive.

I've got an Airport Express which I connected a hard drive to, but it was far too slow in backing up for my liking, especially with large files, so I got a FW800 external drive on a long lead just for Time Machine. The Lacie Quadra is handy because it's got an auto setting which turns the drive on and off when you put the Mac to sleep. Set and forget.

I would compare using my 2.33 17" as about 15-25% snappier than using a 2.5 dual G5 Mac Pro, a machine I have had a lot of experience with. You will probably see a slight step down in performance from what you're currently used to, possibly due to front side bus speeds and 1.5gb SATA drives. There are probably some benchmark sites out there that can help you compare.

However, the gains are: mobility if you need it, less noise, takes up less space, unlike iMac you get a choice of display if you want it.

 

[kabunaru]

I would compare using my 2.33 17" as about 15-25% snappier than using a 2.5 dual G5 Mac Pro,

I think you mean 2.5GHz Dual PowerMac G5.

Europe calling, If I were you, I would keep the Mac Pro unless you need portability.