System migration / Cloning - Copying to temp HDD then copy back to new Mac

Question

Well, what I need...
An instruction how and using what to copy/clone my system firstly to external USB drive then to other (same) Macbook.
Precisely, I have MacBook black one, 80Gb, external HDD is 120Gb... used space on OS X (10.4.8) partition is 34Gb and full partition around 75Gb formatted.
What I want is to clone/copy system and user files (those 34Gb, not the entire partiton, cuz I'm limited with space on external HDD) to external HDD then to move it back (bootable if possible) to new a Macbook, a few weeks later.
I tried SuperDuper, image from it is always like whole partition, full 75Gb and it crashes cuz, right, there not enough free space. Is there any other utility or how to set SuperDuper to exclude that free space (40Gb) on system partition in image file??
Other idea I had is to repartitionate system drive to 2 partitions, one with 35Gb system files and other one empty, then to clone only the first one, but I'm not sure is it safe to do that trick.
I'm a new Mac user so please gimme some helpful ideas. Appreciate your time for reading this and thinking about my prob. Thanks.

Answer 1

OK, here's a slightly different Migration question. The situation:
PBG4 w/broken screen, running an external (duh) Samsung monitor. This is my shop PB, it's currently masquerading as an immobile desktop.
Identical PBG4 with no problems. Mostly keep at home, but also on the road.
BOTH PBs have the same dual (Airport/Comcast cable modem for home, Ethernet/SBC DSL for the shop) network settings, user settings, etc., and BOTH receive mail from my Comcast AND SBC accounts.
LaCie 320GB external Firewire drive with OS X 10.4.9 installed.
I wanted a way to keep my work and home PBs synced -- especially Mail -- without dragging the home PBG4 back and forth. Yes, I KNOW it's a portable, but as I sometimes ride my bike to work, I'd rather risk the loss of a $240.00 FireWire drive than an I-don't-know-how-much PB -- plus, the FireWire drive is a much smaller package to carry.
I used Migration Assistant to copy the "home" PB's "Users, Applications, Network and Machine Settings, Files, and Volumes" (just like the Migration Assistant Intro says) to the FireWire drive, then selected the FireWire drive in System Preferences as the Startup Disk.
The FireWire drive booted up both the shop AND home PBs just fine, but I had the following problems:
1. The network and machine settings I had transferred from my "home" PB to the FireWire drive didn't "take" when I used the FireWire drive to boot up the shop PB. Neither my home Airport/Comcast cable nor shop Ethernet/SBC DSL settings were available as choices in the Network Preferences Pane. To use my shop (SBC DSL) connection while running off the System on the FireWire drive, I had to manually reconfigure the settings, always a RPITA.
2. I decided -- probably foolishly -- to try it the other way 'round: I booted up from the shop PB's internal HD, and used Migration Assistant to transfer the "shop" PBs settings, etc. to the FireWire drive. Are you dizzy yet? I must have been, because -- just as an experiment -- I tried booting the "home" PB from the FireWire drive. Once again, the PB booted up just fine; but once again, neither the home nor shop network settings were available as choices. As an added joy, I ended up with a ton of duplicate files and folders on the FireWire drive, labeled "(from old Mac)" including my ENTIRE 25+GB iTunes library. Thank God it was 320Gig!
I'd really like to keep the two PBs synced as regards mail and new or updated files (and settings), but I seem to have over-thought (or UNDER-thought!) the means of doing so.
What am I doing wrong here, and what's the BEST way to keep my two PBs (AND the FireWire drive) all singing the same tune, especially as regards mail, settings, and docs?
Thanks!
Bart Brown
PBG4 Mac OS X (10.4.9) Two PBG4s, one 320GB external FireWire drive