i5? I would never get the 17" without the i7(which is optional for it)! I'm currently contemplating almost the same thing with my 15" that's about 12 months old. I love the new specs, but it would be foolish of me to waste money on upgrading something that really hasn't given me a lot of problems, or has even let me reach it's peak performance(what it was designed to do…) yet. In your case, I would consider the exchange because, depending on which 17" model price you have, you might get away with paying little to nothing extra for something that is better than what you have.
The only reason I wish to upgrade is just so I can have a better graphics card, my battery has been excellent, and my processor(2.4ghz) has not left me wanting more! The 330m with 512 memory is making me drool though…