Which would you keep?

[zackkmac]

Hi everyone. I just received my BTO 15" MBP today. I love everything about it, except the speakers. Coming from an early 2011 17", they are so tinny. And I use the speakers a lot, so it is pretty important to me. My BTO option was the hi-res antiglare screen.

Here are the specs:
2.3GHz Intel i7 quad-core processor
512GB SSD
16GB RAM
Hi-res Antiglare display
USB 3.0
Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 384MB RAM

I have a brand new, unopened 17" in my closet and here are its specs:

2.5GHz Intel i7 quad-core processor
512GB SSD
16GB RAM
Hi-res Antiglare display
USB 2.0
Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 1GB RAM
AppleCare until 2015


Now, the price difference is no matter to me. I love the portability of the 15", but I do not love the speakers. I have gotten used to carrying around a 17" so that's no issue either.

So, which one would you pick and why? Your help is appreciated!

[jdechko]

If you love the portability of the 15", keep that and consider buying a good pair of headphones or a quality set of speakers (DAC + Bookshelf maybe). You'll end up with even better sound.

[martinm0]

Originally Posted by jdechko

If you love the portability of the 15", keep that and consider buying a good pair of headphones or a quality set of speakers (DAC + Bookshelf maybe). You'll end up with even better sound.

I second this response. I don't bother focusing on internal speakers on any device as I know it will sound tons better with a decent set of headphones or speakers (and I really, really like speakers, so any excuse to buy a new set and I'm sold!)

If that's the only hold up, I'd stick with the 15" and return the 17". If you demand that larger, higher resolution screen from the 17", that's really all the pros I see for that machine.

[Yebubbleman]

Originally Posted by zackkmac

Hi everyone. I just received my BTO 15" MBP today. I love everything about it, except the speakers. Coming from an early 2011 17", they are so tinny. And I use the speakers a lot, so it is pretty important to me. My BTO option was the hi-res antiglare screen.

Here are the specs:
2.3GHz Intel i7 quad-core processor
512GB SSD
16GB RAM
Hi-res Antiglare display
USB 3.0
Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 384MB RAM

I have a brand new, unopened 17" in my closet and here are its specs:

2.5GHz Intel i7 quad-core processor
512GB SSD
16GB RAM
Hi-res Antiglare display
USB 2.0
Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 1GB RAM
AppleCare until 2015


Now, the price difference is no matter to me. I love the portability of the 15", but I do not love the speakers. I have gotten used to carrying around a 17" so that's no issue either.

So, which one would you pick and why? Your help is appreciated!

The sound won't be much better on the 17" and the Intel hardware is superior on the 15" because it's one hardware generation newer. I'd say go with the 15" unless you (a) want your money back, (b) don't care about the speed disparity (though you do have increased Cache on the 17"), and/or (c) want the larger screen.

[zackkmac]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think my biggest concern is that the graphics on the 15" are a generation newer like mentioned. I'm not sure where I'll notice this difference though, because comparing my early 2011 17" to this 15" I don't notice anything yet. Also the USB 3.0 is a plus, but I never plug anything into my laptop except my iPhone, which is only USB 2.0, and my backup drive which is ThunderBolt.

I do like the improved portability of the 15" however the 17" is no problem for me to carry. I mainly ordered the 15" because of the updated components and the anti-glare screen.

On a side note, I noticed that the 500GB HD the 15" came with is faulty and right now the laptop is already unusable.