i have a MBP 2.33 with 3gb ram, one 200gb/7200rpm, one 100gb/7200rpm (instead of the superdrive, i use a firewire powered lacie if i need it)....it is the fastest mac i have ever had...of course the desktops are faster...but i can work on my P30 files in CS3 in real time....that is good enough for me.....i wish i could fit 4gb ram like the latest MBPs, but the small processor step isn't enough for me to upgrade....this MBP is simply fantastic.....FW800, i use a EIZO 24 in the studio....when shooting tethered i use the eizo, or just unplug everything and walk around with the MBP....my last G4 powerbook was the 17" and it was a little too large to carry around all the time....great to work on, but a little too big....the 15" seems to be the right size, big enough, but compact and still manageable and still feels sturdy (grabing the 17 with one hand is not a good idea...it feels floppy..maybe because it is also thinner?)
i just put in the 200gb/7200rpm travelstar and it actually is desktop performance.....the second drive is nice to have, i am looking into SSD for system and startup with the second right now...that way i can have the 200 just for shooting....did i mention that it is fast? it feels about 30% faster thent he 100...which was the fastest travelstar/2.5" drive so far......
the 4gb ram come in really handy when: shooting tethered into LR (C1 and LR open files get copied right away...the 200 helps with that as well...
i used to have a powerbook and desktop...but it is so much more convenient to have everything on one machine....and the MBPs can really handle it......
if i was doing video...no question, the desktop is the way to go...