13" or 15" MBP for Photoshop and Painter

[friendo]

I use Photoshop and Painter on my 17" Dell Precision Mobile WorkStation M90. Lately I've been getting some shoulder numbness from lugging it around. My co-worker has a 17" MBP and he loves it. Its much lighter then my laptop and he doesn't seem to have any issues with it. I thought about getting the 17" but I would like something smaller lighter.

I'm not sure if I should get the 15" or the 13". If I got the 13", I would use a monitor for it. But I'm a bit worried about processing speed with the software I use.

What do you guys suggest, is it the 13" or 15"?

 

[spinnerlys]

The 13" isn't that much slower than the 15" model, so no big hiccups could be expected.
The only missing thing is the dedicated graphics card in the higher 15" models, which could come in handy with large images/drawings.

I have a 15" MBP and almost always use the 9400m with 12MP RAW photos in Photoshop.

 

[Frosties]

If it's only the shoulder numbness from carrying it in the hand why not do a big save and buy a bag for your computer. I like Apple computers but changing your hardware and your software because of this seems a bit much. Then again it could be the right choice for you but I look at it and see a big cost.

 

[Andrew K.]

15" has a better and bigger screen ( the 2"make a difference) an the 2 graphics cards. I switched fr a 13" to a 15" doing similiar stuff and love my Macbook Pro.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

If you are going to be hooking up an ext. monitor then 13" should be fine as long as you aren't doing any major 3D work. Think of all the older Intel machines out there running CS3 just fine. Also keep in mind if you go 15" for speed you'll want to go for the more expensive middle model since the "low end" 15" doesn't have a dedicated video card and is essentially the same as the 13" w/ a bigger screen and slightly faster processor.

Of course it's always smart to check sites like barefeats and Macworld that have extensive benchmarks to compare machines.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

15" has a better and bigger screen ( the 2"make a difference) an the 2 graphics cards. I switched fr a 13" to a 15" doing similiar stuff and love my Macbook Pro.

FWIW the entry level 15" MPB doesn't have dual graphics anymore. It only has integrated. To get integrated + dedicated video you have to jump to the middle model which is nearly 70% more expensive than the entry 13".