Macbook Pro recommendation

Hello folks, nerds, cracks and fellow musicians,
i am planning to buy a new 15' Macbook Pro. Budget is limited to the bare necessities.
*My main interest is to have a smooth performance with Logic.*
My Questions:
Which one will do the job better: The i5 with 8GB's or the i7 with 4GB's? (I certainly will buy a fast 7.200 rpm HD).
I am hesitating to buy 8GB's because additional RAM is very expensive for the Macbooks - at least from Apple (cough, cough...) Maybe better upgrade later? Or should i buy the 8GB's right from the start for some reason?
What advantages has the i7 CPU over the i5 that come into play when i run Logic?
Will the 800' Firewire work flawlessly with a simple adaptor down to the 400' Firewire or do i need an expensive cable? I have a Tascam Fireone with a FW400 connection.
Anything else i forgot? Does anyone recommend the 3 year guarantee?
Thanks in advance for any responses.
Yours,
Fox

tnx for answer.
Of course the extra 4G will be cheaper to buy with the machine if one buys the 8G's upgrade later *from apple* (hrhrhr). Is it a deadly sin to confess in this forum i would probably not do this?
I didn't know the i5 and i7 are that similar. That should point me into the "less CPU - more RAM" balance. However, even with my recent Macbook (2G's) i never ran into serious RAM issues, but i get CPU overloads on a regular base. I should further mention i am using Mainstage for some stage performances.
I would for sure buy the care plan from apple if this was the 1st generation of new Macbooks, but since they are out for some time now... "mandatory" is a strong word. "Mandatory" i would like to have 1st: Reliability. 2nd: Reliability, 3rd: (Guess what - right!) Reliability. Then comes everything else.
My current plan is to buy the MBP 15', widescreen antiglare (now that's mandatory but plays no role for Logic), 500 Gig fast HD. Everything else may or may not be an option. However, i am considering the i7 model because it has 512MB's of graphic card memory, too.
Thanks for your answer.
Fox

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