Apple announces 17 inch MacBook Pro

Apple announced the 17 inch MacBook Pro today (which will begin shipping next week) fixes a couple of the criticisms of the 15 inch MacBook Pro by offering 3 USB 2.0 ports (instead of 2), a Firewire 800 port (along with a Firewire 400 port) and a 8X DL Superdrive (instead of just a 4X Superdrive). It has a screen res of 1680 x 1050 (same as 17-inch Powerbook), and a 120 GB hard drive. Considering that a 2.16 GHz 15-inch will cost the same as a 17-inch GHz MacBook Pro, the 17 inch MacBook Pro looks like quite the bargain for professionals. Weighing in at 6.8 pounds, (0.1 pounds lighter than the PowerBook G4 17-inch), the 17 inch also has a larger battery, providing up to 5.5 hours of battery life (as opposed to 4.5 on the 15 inch MacBook Pro).
Previously, I didn't see much value in getting the 17-inch Powerbook, which was essentially trading the weight of the larger battery for additional screen size. The additional features when compared to the 15-inch bear consideration if upgrading any options on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.