Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

15" HR or 17"

P

puma1552

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2008
5,559
1,948
A friend of mine is looking to get a Macbook Pro. She can't decide between the 15" with HR or the 17" (price doesn't matter). She thinks the 13" is ugly without the speaker grilles, so don't suggest it--she won't listen.

She doesn't do any photography or anything like I do so her need for the expresscard is moot. She really just does the usual basic things, no photo/video/screen real estate intensive tasks. A third USB port may come in handy for her though.

That said, she also has an external monitor (22" or 25" maybe?) she wants to plug the machine into.

The other thing is that the machine can stay docked at her desk, as she doesn't use it for work as her job gave her a Thinkpad to use. She isn't planning on running in clamshell--she will have both screens running at all times.

I told her it really doesn't matter for her uses, that both machines will meet her needs just fine so to me it doesn't matter which one she gets, but she asked me to start a poll here. Surprisingly I searched for quite a bit figuring surely there would be comparisons between the two but I couldn't find anything.

So what would you get, the 15 HR or the 17?

EDIT: OK, poll options never showed up for some reason...
 
Are the 17 inch computers more flimsy than the smaller ones? I know there's definitely a loss of solid feel going from a 13" to a 15"--both feel good but the 13" feels rock solid by comparison.
 
Here are differences of Top 15" and 17" with same processor...

They are exactly the same hardware wise...2.66ghz, whatever ram, same graphics, same displays...

15" has...
2 USB
SD slot

17" has...
No sd slot
Expresscard Slot
3 USB

so its basically whether she needs sd or expresscard and whether she wants 17inch screen or 15inch screen...Usb can easily be fixed with a $10 hub
 
I had a 17" HP before moving to Macs. My first and now 2nd is a 15MBP. Much more protable and I have it hooked up to a 23" ACD. I think that would be the way to go, IMO.
 
If I were in her situation, I would definitely go with a high-res 15" MBP. I'm presuming that she is looking at an MBP at least in part because of portability. The 15" MBP is more portable and the high-res offers plenty of screen real estate when not docked into her monitor.
 
17" I personally prefer it also not everyone gets on with the 15" hi res. The full Hd screen is amazing and also you can place a multi card reader in the express card slot. I have one in mine and it stays in there, always.
 
shoppy said:
17" I personally prefer it also not everyone gets on with the 15" hi res. The full Hd screen is amazing and also you can place a multi card reader in the express card slot. I have one in mine and it stays in there, always.
Click to expand...

The 17" has a 1080p screen?

Then in theory shouldn't the 15" HR too since they are both about the same ppi?

Forgive me if I'm not understanding.
 
puma1552 said:
A friend of mine is looking to get a Macbook Pro. She can't decide between the 15" with HR or the 17" (price doesn't matter). She thinks the 13" is ugly without the speaker grilles, so don't suggest it--she won't listen.

She doesn't do any photography or anything like I do so her need for the expresscard is moot. She really just does the usual basic things, no photo/video/screen real estate intensive tasks. A third USB port may come in handy for her though.

That said, she also has an external monitor (22" or 25" maybe?) she wants to plug the machine into.

The other thing is that the machine can stay docked at her desk, as she doesn't use it for work as her job gave her a Thinkpad to use. She isn't planning on running in clamshell--she will have both screens running at all times.

I told her it really doesn't matter for her uses, that both machines will meet her needs just fine so to me it doesn't matter which one she gets, but she asked me to start a poll here. Surprisingly I searched for quite a bit figuring surely there would be comparisons between the two but I couldn't find anything.

So what would you get, the 15 HR or the 17?

EDIT: OK, poll options never showed up for some reason...
Click to expand...

im too used to 1920 x 1200. When ever im on the road, i would hate not having the resolution of the 17inch
 
Hey

i own a 2010 15" high res 2.66 ghz i7, with the 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive, and i do love it but i find the holes for the speakers ugly! i owned a 13 macbook for years and it is an amazing machine! but i do need the processing power for photo/video/music editing so the i7 was my seller, i guess i would vote for the 15" but external monitors look so dull in comparison to the macbooks screens >_< its truly sad that you have to buy a apple monitor to match the vibrancy.


the 15" does not have a 1080p screen its 1680x 1050 although its damn close. and looks AMAZING
 
puma1552 said:
The 17" has a 1080p screen?

Then in theory shouldn't the 15" HR too since they are both about the same ppi?

Forgive me if I'm not understanding.
Click to expand...

The HR 15" is 1680x1050 , not quite Full HD but close enough especially for the size of the screen.

I debated this same thing for about a month. I have the 15" HR MBP. One other thing to consider is the speaker quality. The sound out of the 15" is nice but the 17" MBP sounds a lot better. Doesn't matter if you use external speakers though.

15" is the right size for many. Some people find reading hard even on the HR 15". 17" would be a horrible choice for people with bad eyes, at least at full resolution.
 
iphone1 said:
The HR 15" is 1680x1050 , not quite Full HD but close enough especially for the size of the screen.

I debated this same thing for about a month. I have the 15" HR MBP. One other thing to consider is the speaker quality. The sound out of the 15" is nice but the 17" MBP sounds a lot better. Doesn't matter if you use external speakers though.

15" is the right size for many. Some people find reading hard even on the HR 15". 17" would be a horrible choice for people with bad eyes, at least at full resolution.
Click to expand...

OK, cool, I finally looked up full HD on google...had no idea the 1080 had to do with 1080 lines of pixels, always thought it wasn't HD unless you were getting some type of HD signal from somewhere...interesting that the 24" display is technically HD too.

Yeah I think (though not sure) that her display presumably has speakers so the speakers would/should be moot too. She's pretty torn so far since she thinks the 15 inch looks the best but thinks the 17 inch is just so prime with the size of the screen and the fact she doesn't need to take it out of the house everyday.
 
I would recommend her going with the 17" over the 15" HR. Better screen, better speakers and you say she isn't going to be moving it around so much and mainly on a desk. If I was using 80% plus of time on a desk I would go with 17" no question. Its the ultimate apple notebook.

15" IMO is kinda the average Joe, people buy it who can't decide between the smallest and the biggest, its human nature to automatically choose the middle.
 
it's the same dilemma i had when i was buying my mbp.
the 17 is only about the screen which is fantastic.
but overall i prefere the 15 with full hd external monitor.
 
So, no special uses... no portability required... she has a monitor already... she has another laptop already...

Why is she buying a MBP?!

Surely a Mac mini would do everything she needs and more. And it would cost A LOT less, (better for the environment too).

If it's just an image thing, tell her to buy the one that is the prettiest.
 
How is the quality of the panels themselves on the 17s? I know at least with the 15s you are always playing the Apple panel lottery in terms of getting a good one with even backlighting, no yellowing, and no dead pixels...is the same true for the 17s or have the 17" screens generally been good, quality-wise? Haven't found much in search which I guess is good...? I've just seen a few posts about how good the 9CCD/9CCE panels are.
 
puma1552 said:
How is the quality of the panels themselves on the 17s? I know at least with the 15s you are always playing the Apple panel lottery in terms of getting a good one with even backlighting, no yellowing, and no dead pixels...is the same true for the 17s or have the 17" screens generally been good, quality-wise? Haven't found much in search which I guess is good...? I've just seen a few posts about how good the 9CCD/9CCE panels are.
Click to expand...

anyone?
 
The 17" does have better sound, and a better screen (as previously stated). Money no object, it would be my choice. Many times I wish I had the 1920x1200 and larger size.

Curious, it is a rather expensive computer, what are her needs for this machine?
 
1920x1080 is 1080p full resolution...the 17" MacBook Pro is 1920x1200 (16:10 aspect ratio, while 1080p is 16:9). The 15" High Resolution MacBook Pro is 1680x1050 resolution, while the regular 15" is 1440x900 resolution. I have looked all the models over several times at the Apple Store, compared them, and really did some deep thinking. I decided that I like having the full resolution of the 17", but I like having the portability and size of the 15", I thought the 17" was just too big to carry around and put in my lap. The 15" was just perfect for size, and the high resolution matte display was the best of both worlds. I think that is the model I will be getting, the 15" antiglare high resolution with 8GB of RAM and an SSD.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back