I am going to buy a new MacBook Pro today.  I need something that can run CS6 speedily and CS7 when its out. I usually keep a laptop 2-3 years. I will mainly be using this to demo plug-ins at user groups and events and when I'm on the road. I have a 2010 model, 15" core i7 w/ 4GB RAM and it just chugs with AE CS6, and with all the plug-ins that I need to keep installed, it's just not cutting it.

So, today I'm going to buy a new one. I'm considering getting a 13" 2.9 GHz dual core i7 with 8GB memory. I wonder if stepping down from a 15" to a 13" will be a big deal? I used to run a 17"! I didn't notice the screen size difference much but the weight difference was huge. 

I'm wondering if any of you are running AE CS6 on one of these or can recommend a what I should get with it? Does it run pretty smoothly, not chugging along? Any issues with plugging it into projection systems? Retina display or no? The retina displays are only 2.5Ghz core i5 on the 13". A friend of mine says not to get the retina display but I don't remember why he said not to.

Thanks in advance for your help. I am not really a hardware person and I just don't know what to choose!