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17 macbook pro too big

is 17 mbp just too big

  • too big

    Votes: 492 53.1%

  • not too big

    Votes: 434 46.9%
  • Total voters
    926
Yimbie said:
Why are there so many threads about size?

Anyways, coming from a 17" owner, it's not too big for me at all. I LOVE the extra screen real estate. When I snap pages in half or even in quarters, it's really nice to see more on each page. I do a lot of page snapping, so it works out really nicely for me. It's also all subjective whether a 17" is too big for you to carry around. I have an Incase Nylon Tech Brief messenger bag that was made for the 17", and it is perfect. It fits the 17" snuggly inside and there's plenty of room for other things such as books, notebooks, and so forth.

If you're at your desk a lot and don't want to connect to an external monitor, then the 17" is the way to go. If you're feeble and have a tough time carrying a notebook that is 1lb heavier than the 15", then I'd recommend going with the 15". Perhaps lose some weight to offset it? :p

The resolution is just fine. If you have eye problems, just raise the size of the text. If you have 20/20 vision (and also with glasses), then it'll be fine for you. I never understood why people were saying "The font is too tiny."

Now, would I say that the 13" is too small?... in terms of resolution. YES. The best resolution is either the 17" or the hi-res display on 15".
Click to expand...

Maybe some people feel as though they're "coming up short" in other areas. Dunno. Alls I know is, my 17" is perfect. It isnt heavy, it isn't bulky, res is just right and everyone comments on just how amazing it is that a 17" can be so portable yet get so much battery life.

Perfect.
 
For 17" owners do you all use messenger style bags? Im partial to backpacks and i haven't found a semi decent one that will take 17 inches. For that sole reason i vote 15".
 
Like most polls this is a dumb question I refuse to answer.

The 17" is not "too big", it's too heavy.

Why is it so heavy? Nano technology has been around for many years now. The Intel processor inside is nano engineered and keeps getting thinner and lighter.
Everything else is basically the same as six years ago.

Six years ago cell phones looked like hand grenades and weighed as much.

Why the difference between cell phones and laptops six years later?
--
 
I don't find it too big or too heavy. But it'd be great if 17" can be lighter than it is now. If the screen bezel etc. gets slimmer, it'd be nice too.
 
I have the 17'' and I love it!
It's not tiny but I do a lot of video editing and DVD authoring so the screen real-estate really comes through for me.

I have a nice laptop bag that I carry around, it's not too heavy at all.

EDIT: Here's the bag I use: http://www.jcrew.com/mens_feature/N...~all~mode+matchallany~~~~~messenger/30329.jsp

I really love it!

There's only been a couple of times that I feel like it's size is an issue;

Mostly on airplanes- you can't even open the thing all the way and you have to put it directly on your lap... forget about using the seat-back tray-table.

Looking back, I might have considered the 15" (mostly for the airplane issue) but at the time, it didn't have a full-raster HD display... since I do a lot of technical video work, I really need to be able to see full-raster pixel for pixel 1080p video sometimes.
 
Too big for what? the poll is a little vague don't you think?

I have the 15" because thats what seems best for me bt for someone else the 17" may be perfect.

If you were to ask a more specific question like is the 17" too big for a student to use comfortably in class...or is the 17" too big/heavy for someone who rides a bike to work etc....

then I might have a better answer for you.
 
DVD9 said:
Like most polls this is a dumb question I refuse to answer.

The 17" is not "too big", it's too heavy.

Why is it so heavy? Nano technology has been around for many years now. The Intel processor inside is nano engineered and keeps getting thinner and lighter.
Everything else is basically the same as six years ago.

Six years ago cell phones looked like hand grenades and weighed as much.

Why the difference between cell phones and laptops six years later?
--
Click to expand...

... not again.
 
Zak.V said:
For 17" owners do you all use messenger style bags? Im partial to backpacks and i haven't found a semi decent one that will take 17 inches. For that sole reason i vote 15".
Click to expand...

Check Ebags.com, Amazon.com, Apple Store, Best Buy... Google.

Just Ebags.com alone... there are 123 available laptop backpacks that will fit the MBP 17". If none of those work for you... then someone's extremely picky.
 
I've owned a 15" MBP for the past 4 years now (upgrading every generation).

This time, I sold my 15" and when I was in BestBuy to pick up the new i5 MBP they had a 17" 2.8 C2D (generation right before i5, same generation as the last 15" I had) for $1350. Since the 15" i5 was $1800 I thought the benefits of the 17" with cheaper price tag, still-better-performance than what I had and cheaper pricing (ended up netting $150 during the upgrade) was too good to pass.

I snatched up the deal and LOVE it! It's not that much bigger, and honestly, am surprised when people are like "It's huge". I remember being able to tell the difference when they're next to each other, but now it just feels "right".

I take it with me to school, I took it with me to Egypt and Turkey and could hardly tell the difference between the two. If the weather is nice I take it with me to an outdoors cafe or whatever and it's no big deal.

I can still carry it with one arm and I'm no gym addict, and it actually feels more solid than the 15".

If you know someone who has it maybe ask if you can borrow it for a week? First impressions may tell you it's huge, but I'm sure in the span of the week you'll adapt completely.
 
3lionsbecks said:
Too big for what? the poll is a little vague don't you think?

I have the 15" because thats what seems best for me bt for someone else the 17" may be perfect.

If you were to ask a more specific question like is the 17" too big for a student to use comfortably in class...or is the 17" too big/heavy for someone who rides a bike to work etc....

then I might have a better answer for you.
Click to expand...

just too big. too big for you to buy. it seems the big laptops on the pc side are mostly for gaming. just find it interesting that laptops stopped getting bigger. maybe the answer is any bigger would be un-useable. its kind of like intel vs amd the race to the higher "numbers" people dont care about how fast the cpu is, they want battery etc. 7 years ago it was bigger and faster not sure if thats what most people are looking for now.
 
amoda said:
I've owned a 15" MBP for the past 4 years now (upgrading every generation).

This time, I sold my 15" and when I was in BestBuy to pick up the new i5 MBP they had a 17" 2.8 C2D (generation right before i5, same generation as the last 15" I had) for $1350. Since the 15" i5 was $1800 I thought the benefits of the 17" with cheaper price tag, still-better-performance than what I had and cheaper pricing (ended up netting $150 during the upgrade) was too good to pass.

I snatched up the deal and LOVE it! It's not that much bigger, and honestly, am surprised when people are like "It's huge". I remember being able to tell the difference when they're next to each other, but now it just feels "right".

I take it with me to school, I took it with me to Egypt and Turkey and could hardly tell the difference between the two. If the weather is nice I take it with me to an outdoors cafe or whatever and it's no big deal.

I can still carry it with one arm and I'm no gym addict, and it actually feels more solid than the 15".

If you know someone who has it maybe ask if you can borrow it for a week? First impressions may tell you it's huge, but I'm sure in the span of the week you'll adapt completely.
Click to expand...


that has been my experience with the 17. i dont see much a difference between 15 and 17, thats why its 13 or 17 for me.
 
I was faced with this same decision in 7/2009, 13' easy to transport, 17' desktop replacement. Ended up getting a 15' as a compromise. For the way I use it, locomotive engineer, traveling, staying in hotel rooms all the time I would have been better off getting a 13'. When you lug it around day after day, less is more. In fact, in retrospect probably been better off getting macbook air. It all depends on your needs. Good luck.
 
How could it be too big? Same pixels as a 24 inch monitor on my lap :p

I can watch TV and surf the web at the same time whilst monitoring the a handbreak rip with room to spare. Try doing that on a 13 inch screen :D

The only way size could make a laptop unusable is if it is too small!

Then again I am a 6 foot 4 inch, 230lb gorilla. But really you get a wrist rest, 2 pages of word doc all on screen at the same time - seriously usable screen space.

I have my 17 inch HD screen and a Dell 30 inch monitor so you could say I like it BIG:p
 
I have the 17" and I will sell it once the next version comes out and get a 15". Its just too big.

But I have to add that I have the 23" Cinema Display as well and I use that external screen most of the time. Thats why it just makes more sense for me to have the 15".

I would even go with the 13" if it would come with better graphics and CPUs and a matte screen which is a must for me.
 
magamo said:
If the screen bezel etc. gets slimmer, it'd be nice too.
Click to expand...

The slim bezel on the 17" Anti-glare was one of the selling points for me. It's actually the slimmest bezel available in the MBP line (for anyone keeping track).

I second what most 17" owners have been saying: coming from a 15" PB-G4, the difference in weight has been negligible whereas the difference in screen real estate is substantial and is well worth the slightly larger footprint. That said, I guess I fall into the "pro user" camp given that I use mine for music and photo editing a lot so the 17" might be overkill for some...
 
advres said:
If someone is buying it as a desktop replacement that will be moved very minimally, then the size is perfect. If the person plans to bring it all over the place with them (including all around the house) and put it on their lap for long periods of time than I would say it is a touch too big and the 15" would be more comfortable for the long haul.
Click to expand...

Exactly, that's good advice. Your signature is bang on too :D

For anyone who does buy a 17" make sure you're comfortable with the resolution too. That resolution is normally found on 22" and higher displays.
 
entatlrg said:
Exactly, that's good advice. Your signature is bang on too :D

For anyone who does buy a 17" make sure you're comfortable with the resolution too. That resolution is normally found on 22" and higher displays.
Click to expand...

yea res is another good point the 17 and high res 15 tend to make text small.
 
I wish I had the money for a 17" but alas I don't
I liek the size of a 17" I do computer programming, and hardware programming, and having all that screen size is great. But I'm one of those people who would still use an external monitor with a 17" laptop.
One thing I do wish is that there was a numeric pad on the 17" it is certainly big enough. and I know I would use it
 
DanMacApple said:
I know alot of people like it but I feel the 17" is too big to really be portable.
Click to expand...

the 13 is so easy to use for web surfing and email its small and the text is big. the 17 is better when trying to do work.
 
It not too big for desktop use and the occasional trip.

It's too big for most coach tray tables.

The answer is quite subjective.
 
alphaod said:
It not too big for desktop use and the occasional trip.

It's too big for most coach tray tables.

The answer is quite subjective.
Click to expand...

yes it is. i dont understand the comments on here calling the 17 too big. too big for what or who? when did the 17 fall out of favor, when it came out as a powerbook it was the ultimate.
 
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