i7 Dual-Core Hyperthreaded vs True Quad-Core

Hi guys, I am looking at buying my first Mac, but am unsure which one to pick.....

I found one with the following specs:


Macbook Pro 15" (Mid-2010)

2.66ghz i7 Dual-Core
8GB RAM
Nvidia 330m 512MB VRAM
80GB SSD
Matte display

How much do you think the above model is worth?

I really wanted a Quad-Core i7, but how much difference is there between say, a 2.0ghz i7 Quad-Core, and this 2.66ghz i7 Dual-Core?

From what I understand, the i7 has hyperthreading technology, so even with a Dual-Core processor, the computer sees 4 cores, right?

How much extra would you pay for a true Quad-Core machine? I'm trying to decide if the cost savings of buying the Dual-Core is with the sacrifice in number or cores?

This one DOES have the SSD, which I really like - and if I was to buy a Quad-Core machine, I would probably have to pay another couple hundred extra to upgrade to a SSD....

I'm going to use it for photo/video editing, and want something that will last a number of years, and be FAST.....

The computer will see 2 physical cores and 2 logical cores on the dual core if I recall correctly. Since you'll be doing video/photo editing I'd go with the quad core, which also comes with hyper-threading.