I agree with Crimson as well. I just (two days ago) got a new 15' MBP. I opted for the i7 with antiglare and did not pay Apple for either the memory or storage. Here's why:

On an educational discount the Apple memory was $360 to boost from 4gb to 8gb. Otherworldcomputing sells 8gb kits for $179, no tax, no shipping. Apple only offers a 500gb hard drive. I really need a 1tb so went with the base hard drive and will get the 1tb for around $100. The only thing to watch out for is that you need to make sure the drive will fit in the drive bay. Some will fit, some won't. I just got a Toshiba Canvio portable 1tb for backup from Dell for $94. Haven't checked if it will fit or not but if it does I may watch for the same deal again. The upgrade to the 7200rpm 500gb drive is a mere $45, but to get the 512 SSD will cost you $1125 and that's educational discount. Not worth it at this point. [Edit: Oh, and it is sooooo easy to upgrade both memory and storage, even in the so-called sealed units. Ten screws and there's the memory. A few more and out pops the hard drive. Simple. Any computer store has the screwdriver set for $10 or less]

I did go for the one extra expense other than the i7 and that is the Anti Glare screen. I've been very hesitant about it given how much I like the glossy on my 13 Alum. Macbook, but this is a work computer that will be outside alot. After two days with this machine, I must admit that I completely fell in love with Apple's antiglare. The hi-res kicks butt.