I've owned an early 2011 15" (2.2 GHz, non HiRes) and a late 2011 13" (2.8 Ghz) for about 3 weeks now. I couldn't decide if I wanted a 13" or 15" so I bought one of each. Reading any posts on the web were basically "YMMV", so I thought I'd just write my experience having owned both at the same time.
I do development - a lot of ssh'ing to remote servers and also local Perl and Java (intelliJ) work. Just recently started using XCode for iPhone/iPad apps. I travel about an hour each way on a bus+subway to/from work (NYC). Carry the laptop in a small Camelbak bag
eek
I loved having both since it was a great way to encourage continuous work as the two gave different user experiences and I would therefore switch off and feel a little refreshed.
I ended up keeping the 15". Sometimes it's annoying having to bring your laptop home especially if you have plans in the evening, but I thought that wasn't enough reason to have two laptops (have one at home if I decided to leave the one I brought to work). I had a Mini at home and sold that once I got these two laptops.
-biggest con for the 13" was the heat; it would get hot easily and the fans would kick in immediately whenever I watched a Flash video (my current job does live video streaming so I'm continuously checking streams); my 15" rarely kicks in the fans (really only when I secure deleted something in the Trash and occasionally when playing Counter Strike) though it does get warm when watching videos for long periods of time - maybe it was just my 13" specifically...when the fans kicked in, I couldn't feel, with my hands, where the air would be coming out (air just goes in?)
-13" screen was fine for even working all day in ~4 terminal windows + intelliJ + IM + email
-weight/size difference didn't seem noticeable though I think mentally I definitely felt a little better whenever I put the 13" in my backpack (placebo effect?); I'm 5'11" and a [slightly] athletic build, so that could be worth mentioning (?) - walking avg ~0.5 mi each way with either on didn't have me caring much about weight either way - my pack consisted of MacBook Pro, charger, and iPad (usually)
-the keys on the 15" feel much better for some reason - looser/softer; the keys on the 13" are stiffer
-the 13" has a 7200 RPM HD and the 15" has a 5400, but in everyday tasks the 15" performed much quicker (probably not a surprise given quad core vs dual but I could have believed the 13" would be at least as snappy had I not tried both out, I mean you're not using all the clock speed all the time...)
-the 13" had much better battery life
-the 15" screen was noticeably larger whenever I went from working on the 13" to the 15"
-people have said the 15" has way better sound - not sure about that - you can definitely get it louder - the 13" didn't get loud at all and the 15" is just a little louder than that; I feel like my 2007 17" was much louder than either (shouldn't be listening through laptop speakers anyways, right?
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I do development - a lot of ssh'ing to remote servers and also local Perl and Java (intelliJ) work. Just recently started using XCode for iPhone/iPad apps. I travel about an hour each way on a bus+subway to/from work (NYC). Carry the laptop in a small Camelbak bag
I loved having both since it was a great way to encourage continuous work as the two gave different user experiences and I would therefore switch off and feel a little refreshed.
I ended up keeping the 15". Sometimes it's annoying having to bring your laptop home especially if you have plans in the evening, but I thought that wasn't enough reason to have two laptops (have one at home if I decided to leave the one I brought to work). I had a Mini at home and sold that once I got these two laptops.
-biggest con for the 13" was the heat; it would get hot easily and the fans would kick in immediately whenever I watched a Flash video (my current job does live video streaming so I'm continuously checking streams); my 15" rarely kicks in the fans (really only when I secure deleted something in the Trash and occasionally when playing Counter Strike) though it does get warm when watching videos for long periods of time - maybe it was just my 13" specifically...when the fans kicked in, I couldn't feel, with my hands, where the air would be coming out (air just goes in?)
-13" screen was fine for even working all day in ~4 terminal windows + intelliJ + IM + email
-weight/size difference didn't seem noticeable though I think mentally I definitely felt a little better whenever I put the 13" in my backpack (placebo effect?); I'm 5'11" and a [slightly] athletic build, so that could be worth mentioning (?) - walking avg ~0.5 mi each way with either on didn't have me caring much about weight either way - my pack consisted of MacBook Pro, charger, and iPad (usually)
-the keys on the 15" feel much better for some reason - looser/softer; the keys on the 13" are stiffer
-the 13" has a 7200 RPM HD and the 15" has a 5400, but in everyday tasks the 15" performed much quicker (probably not a surprise given quad core vs dual but I could have believed the 13" would be at least as snappy had I not tried both out, I mean you're not using all the clock speed all the time...)
-the 13" had much better battery life
-the 15" screen was noticeably larger whenever I went from working on the 13" to the 15"
-people have said the 15" has way better sound - not sure about that - you can definitely get it louder - the 13" didn't get loud at all and the 15" is just a little louder than that; I feel like my 2007 17" was much louder than either (shouldn't be listening through laptop speakers anyways, right?