--snip--
well, set aside the pride and all. if you are not a developer, there's no reason for you to download such heavy data. am using electrum right now for my btc holdings. light and txs are fast as well.
I'll have to remind privacy concern is also valid reason to run full node. For example, you don't want random electrum server know list of address belong to same person.
Maybe AmoreJaz means if don't run a full node, and just use the core wallet just store the fund.