I think I'm going to skip the whole HD encryption...instead I think I'm going to go with an encrypted dropbox folder that automatically decrypts via software on both machines...
My thoughts here are that I don't want to take the time to figure out the encryption and to do a whole new Windows install right now...too busy. Once I get this machine, I need it to be able to do basic work (Office, a couple programs for research, and dropbox) pretty much out of the box (as in it comes in on Thursday and I plan on using it for my dissertation on Friday).
I'll add more programs as I have time and maybe over the summer I'll do a reinstall and fully encrypt it.