I was in the same boat as you, and I also use my laptop for about the same purposes (no gaming, CAD, etc.).

I eventually decided to go with the SXGA+ screen. I love all of the real estate on the screen, and the graphics are very crisp and clean.

FWIW, I bought the Asus Z96Js.

T2500 2GHz proc (mounted with Arctic 5 Silver thermal compound)
15.4" SXGA+ glossy screen
ATI x1600 256mb video card
DVD burner
2GB ram
120gb hd
a/b/g wireless + Bluetooth 2.0

Definite overkill for my needs, but I wanted some future-proofing (no plans to upgrade to Vista anytime soon), and I got a phenomenal deal on the processor. Vendor installed proc and burner, I purchased the RAM and HD seperately and installed myself. Spent $1199 total on the whole thing.