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

15 inch enough?

M

mladenz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
136
0
sup guys,

Well im working on a goddamn windows laptop atm, and im about to trow it out the window, it frustrates me! Had a flight trip and couldnt bring my imac with me.

But anyway.... Im also one of the waiters for the new macbook pro's. I need it for work(i'm a designer) and school.
I always thought the 15inch mbp would do me just fine, as im now trying to do some work on a 17 inch atm, im asking myself if i shouldnt get the 17inch because of the workspace or is the 15inch good enough? And is the extra money worth it, i mean it kinda allot of money you know.

thanks,

Mladenz
 
well, have you considered an external monitor? if you get the 15in, you can get an external that is 30inches and work on both. but if your going to be using it more on the road, than 15 should be fine for you.
 
I agree with iwuzbord. If you are travelling a lot, in other words, if portability is an issue, get the 15 inch - the 17 inch is quite a bit of computer to have to lug around the place. If you do not require portability that much, then the 17 inch is fine. However, if you really need an extra bit of screen, and you have the 15 inch, an external monitor should do the trick.
Cheers and good luck
 
Just a little something to add to what everyone else has said,

If you're using the machine for school, get the 15"; you'll have a hard time fitting the 17" on a classroom desk.
 
Buy an external monitor. I think it would be best because if you are on the road, you won't do alot of work, you can always plug in your external monitor at home where you will sitting there for a few hours working. :)
 
thanks for the replies, really appreciated.

Well i have my 24inch imac at home, and the real reason im buying the MBP is because i have to take it to school and my second home in a foreign country, so the imac is kinda big to take with me all the time.

So ill guess il go with the 15 inch, but is the 2inch that big of a difference?
 
mladenz said:
thanks for the replies, really appreciated.

Well i have my 24inch imac at home, and the real reason im buying the MBP is because i have to take it to school and my second home in a foreign country, so the imac is kinda big to take with me all the time.

So ill guess il go with the 15 inch, but is the 2inch that big of a difference?
Click to expand...

It's not necessarily the screen size itself but the screen real estate as determined by the display resolution. The current 15" MBP has a 1440x900 resolution, the MBP 17" offers 1680x1050 or 1920x1200. The higher the resolution the greater the ability to work on multiple documents side by side. Some PC OEMs offer low end 17" systems with 1440x900 or even 1280x800 resolution. Just makes everything bigger. Does not offer additional workspace.

I modified my 15inch to take a 1920x1200 LCD and can work on 2 Word documents side by side at 150% in each document. The text size is fine with me. Depending on your vision, some people may think a 1920x1200 display on a 15" laptop is too small.

Several PC OEMs offer this as an option in addition to 1680x1050 on their 15" models. Hopefully, Apple will offer such options with the new revision.

Just more food for thought.

Cheers,
 
I am working on a loaner Dell E6500 15" laptop as I speak right now with a 1920 x 1200 screen resolution and I love it. I know people say 15" is too small for this resolution but I can see it clearly and allows the system to still be pretty portable. I would take screen resolution any day if you plan on having many windows open at one time or work with large spreadsheets.
 
A 15 is pretty nice (esp against the smaller 13 and lamer resolution). On the go, I think it'll be enough to satisfy your general needs outside. (is it going to be your primary? If it is, then maybe you could justify the 17...)

I don't personally think that a 17 isn't portable, it's just not fun to use in a automobile.

Honestly, if you do get the 17, I don't think you'll regret it, it's pretty stunning. And the 15 isn't something to cry over either.
 
I agree with the thread consensus, go with the 15". It is plenty big. I was originally going to buy the 17" MBP, but after seeing it in person at an Apple Store, I went with the 15" because of size and weight concerns. If you need the extra space, buy a monitor and hook it up to your MBP when not on the road.
 
cwalex18 said:
I agree with the thread consensus, go with the 15". It is plenty big. I was originally going to buy the 17" MBP, but after seeing it in person at an Apple Store, I went with the 15" because of size and weight concerns. If you need the extra space, buy a monitor and hook it up to your MBP when not on the road.
Click to expand...

I think it really depends on what the OP will be doing on a regular basis. He talked about the extra workspace but we don't have much info as to how the OP plans on using his computer.

Between my work laptop (HP 15" 1680x1050) and this modified MBP (1920x1200) I really can't imagine going back to 1440x900. I can get so much more information on the screen. Drag and drop is much easier (of course that could just be my lack of shortcuts use at play).

Besides the 17" is only 1.4 lbs heavier and a refurb 17" is $1899. If there wasn't all this FUD about the nVidia chipset, getting a refurb 17" would be an option.

Cheers,
 
I have a 15" mbp and although the screen is good for browsing and itunes etc I just wish there were a little more real estate for editing. Final cut is a bit cramped when using just the laptop screen, which is sort of understandable, but there are many pc 15" laptops that offer a higher resolution screen and sell for much less.
 
i'm going with the 17 inch. i use final cut studio a lot and don't mind the laptop being a bit bigger to carry around!
 
I think the 17" is a good idea as well, although I'd personally carry around the 15". The problem for me isn't the size of the 17" laptop. The 17" MBP isn't very big for what you're getting, nor is it THAT heavy.

The problem is the size of the bag you need to carry it well. Regardless of how light your laptop is, your laptop backpack would need to be massive to carry it, bigger than conventional backpacks. It would also require massive shoulder bags, so I probably wouldn't get one of those unless it was a business briefcase.

panzer06 said:
It's not necessarily the screen size itself but the screen real estate as determined by the display resolution. The current 15" MBP has a 1440x900 resolution, the MBP 17" offers 1680x1050 or 1920x1200. The higher the resolution the greater the ability to work on multiple documents side by side. Some PC OEMs offer low end 17" systems with 1440x900 or even 1280x800 resolution. Just makes everything bigger. Does not offer additional workspace.
Click to expand...

God I hope Apple does this soon. I'm waiting to buy a 15", or 15"/16" when they go to 16:9 ratio, as long as the resolution is 1920x1080 or 1920x1200. In fact, I hope it's 16" as per the trend with new laptops from the major manufacturers, as the higher resolution will be easier to tolerate. And yes, there's enough of a difference between 15", 16", and 17" that it matters, although the effect of 1" certainly matters more for smaller screen sizes.
 
I downgraded to a 15" and a macbook air, but sold of my 15" and went back to a 17". To me IMHO it is the perfect balance of laptop and desktop in one and suits me for every one of my needs.
 
I went from the 30" Cinema Display hooked to dual 2.5 PPC liquid cooled to a temporary 17" iMac, to a 13" MacBook, then to a 13" MacBook Air.

I didn't miss the larger screen until about 3 years later. I mean, I missed it, but I wasn't less productive until 3 years later. I ended up buying a 23" original cinema display and QS off a local.
 
ajthomason said:
I have the 17" - my next laptop will be a 15".

When at home, I use it with an external monitor and it's just too big to carry around every day. I've bought an Eee to tide me over until I trade in this one for something smaller - if you're going to be carrying it around a lot, get the 15".
Click to expand...

I have a 15in. and my next notebook will be a 17in.

But i guess everyone has there reasons.
 
I'm going to be getting the 15" MBP after the update, it would be that much better if Apple ups the resolution. I'm really hoping for at least 1650x1050, even 1920x1200 would be awesome.
 
My 2 cents is if you are going to do a lot of walking with the laptop, then you may want to get the 15, otherwise if the extent of your lap top travels is a quick house to car to class room and back, then the 17" won't be that much more to carry around.
 
I walk around with my 17 inch MBP, all of my school books and school supplies in my backpack all day throughout the week and it doesn't bother me at all. You get used to the weight and it gives you a workout. I'd say get the 17 inch.
 
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