Buying my first Mac, which MBP?

I mostly surf the internet and use word processors or watch movies.

However, I do some Excel spreadsheet development and I'm also interested in developing some of my ideas for the iPhone/iPad dev program. In addition, I do some Photoshop work and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of CS5. Finally, I have been known to dabble in Battlefield 2 and I could be swayed by a laptop that can run Battlefield 2 Bad Company 2 smoothly at decent settings.

This second batch of applications are behind my consideration of the hi-res 15" MBP, but I remain curious as to what seasoned Mac users are confident I can squeeze out of a 13" MBP (either the new ones or even the refurbs). I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Well apart from BF2, any on those macs you listed would rock at the tasks you want. Including CS5. So there's no real issue there. Sure i5/7 would be faster but C2D would get the job done jsut nicely. i5/7 is a little more future proof though.
Heck my old C2D imac would do all those tasks really well.

But for BF2. Just pick one that has a GPU that meets or exceeds the gpu requirement for BF2. So in short you are looking at 3 things when choosing your macbook.

1. C2D or i series? Both do the jobs you want well. Just one is a little more future proof then the other.

2. What gpu do you need for BF2? That will sway your decision I am sure.

3. Price. What can you afford? (I'm don't want to know I'm just saying this is something you have to think of).

based on the application, surfing the internet, word processing and watching movies the 13" refurb will get the job done for cheap... so I voted for it

I agree, except for the photoshop and gaming.

I would consider, AT LEAST, getting the new 13in pro. It remains to be seen how it will compare using PS, but it should do quite well, considering the graphics update. If you'll be doing some fairly heavy editing, though, and you want a little more future-proofing, I would suggest going to the i5 15 inch, for the larger screen and the faster processor. Personally, for your needs, I think anything else would be overkill.