Windows Developer MBP Questions

I'm coming from an entirely Windows and Linux background. I have never owned a Mac, and rarely used one. However, for my next laptop, I have been seriously considering a Mac Book Pro. I will be going into college next year in Computer Science as a programmer, focusing on Java and Windows .net programming. I plan on having my Windows desktop with me (custom built gaming rig) for whenever I feel like gaming or using Windows heavily.

Here is what I had planned to do:

Buy a Sandy Bridge 13in MBP when the refresh happens
Running Eclipse and Adobe CS5 (DW, PS and AI) under OSX
Install Windows 7 under Bootcamp (Visual Studio and Zune)
Eventually, before starting school, putting in a hybrid drive and another 4 gigs of ram

Under Windows, I really would only be running Visual Studio and Zune, games would be very limited. Most of the games I play are cross platform anyway (thank you Steam).

Money is somewhat tight, and the 13 inch is all I will be able to afford right now. Hence, my choice on 13 over 15 is based on cost, not due to weight or form factor. The upgrades I've listed are only proposed and may not happen.

My questions are:

Will the 13in be suitable for what I need? When I'm not in class, I will have an external monitor (21.5" 1920x1080) to connect to, but only if I need it. Would it actually be worth it for me to go with the 15" model? I felt that I would probably be fine, as my old laptop was 1280x800 across a 15" panel, so no matter I'm getting the same or more pixels, but I realize that the size is still a factor.

For my needs, would I be better off just using Win7 under VM Ware/Parallels/Virtual Box?

If I were only able to afford one of those upgrades, is the hybrid drive really as big of a performance boost as I've read? I've heard very mixed reviews on those drives in Mac's, so I'm wondering how my upgrades should be prioritized.

One last footnote: While I do state a few times that I won't be gaming very much, the GPU is still important to me. If the rumors that apple will be relying only on Sandy Bridge's graphics for the 13in model are true, can anyone speculate on the 3d performance of it? Compared to the 320m? I'd like to still be able to play some games at med-high settings and playable framerates on this machine for a while. Nothing crazy, and even if they kept with the 320m I would be fine, but hearing Intel and graphics together worries me a bit.

I know this type of "what should I do" thread is posted every 30 sec, but after reading over many of them I still haven't been able to find the answers to some of my questions. Thank you to all of you who are able to help, it really will have helped me.

 

Thanks for the input!

I do want to get this years model, since I do use my laptop heavily and I might be doing a web design internship this year where I will want the machine. I'm fine with it being a bit dated by college, as it only has to last me through the first year or so (which is all java anyway, nothing really on the Windows side). I was considering the portability as being a very large factor, though I've read in other threads that the 15" is fairly portable itself.

 

I know bumps are often frowned upon, and I apologize for this, but does anyone have any other recommendations on virtual machines/hybird drives? Or any information on how viable sandy bridge graphics will actually be?

I think I'll probably be going with the 13in and just using my external monitor I already have, but if anyone has a different side of the argument for or against the 15" model, I would love to hear it.

Thank again!

 

This sounds good! The mobility was a key factor in the decision to me, but I figured the 15" was still quite portable. Knowing that Visual Studio and Eclipse both work well is very good. I've used Aptana Studio on my netbook (very similar interface since it was built on eclipse) and while it wasn't comfortable, it was usable. Thank you very much for your insight!

 

Awesome, I was hoping that this would be easy to implement, and it seems that it will be. Thank you so much for your input!