I put those exactly same tires on 300 miles ago and just got my first flat yesterday thanks to a 4 inch tall pointy rock that I got my front tire to avoid but not the rear. I ride almost daily through downtown minneapolis and it's northern suburbs (See: glass everywhere) and these tires seem fairly good at avoiding flats to me.
As for patching, go get yourself a novara brand patch kit from REI for $2. It comes with 10 patches, glue, and sand paper. Heck, even if it saves 1 tube of the 10 patches you've saved money. And it takes maybe 5 minutes to patch a tube. I'd patch, but then again I always carry a spare tube around so if my patch skills are less than I think I can still get home.

Andrew