17" MBP for Photo and Video Editing

[perogie67]

This is my first post on the site so go easy on me please. I am also new to apple products other than iPods, but will get the newest iphone when my phone contract ends and want a mac computer for the below reasons:

I'm looking to get more into photo and video editing to advance my career in an industry where it can be beneficial.

I'm looking around the forums at different threads and doing research and it seems like the 17" MBP is the main option for video and photo editing in apple's line of computers.

I would like a laptop that is easier to transport around but gets the best performance for the dollar. Keeping in mind that I have no budget for this (spending whatever I want)....would I be able to upgrade a 15" MBP to the same/better specs than the 17" MBP and be fine with the smaller screen size? I would also be able to have an external monitor display 75% of the time, making the screen not as important.

Is there that much of a noticable difference in weight between the 15" and 17" MBP's?

In the end, would I be able to get by with the 15" MBP?

 

[lamboman]

Your best bet is to look at the specs on the Apple website and play around. You can order a higher resolution display for the 15" (1680x1050), and the 17" comes with a 1920x1200 display as standard.

In terms of performance, the top-end 15" and 17" offer the same components; same processor upgrade options too. The only difference is display size and resolution.

 

[YsoSerious]

Go with the 17" the display alone for photographers is a must and will not disappoint.

 

[mfuchs88]

I think that most people enjoy using the 17" for photo and video editing, but for me, the 15" is perfect. Mind you, I don't do a ton of photo and video, as I'm just getting into it, but I do use it for some other applications, such as Traktor for DJing or Ableton for production. I find that my 15" is more than fast enough, and if you wanted, you could throw in 16GB of RAM and an SSD in a few years for pretty cheap. At that point, your machine wil fly. Since you stated that you used an external monitor most of the time, I would say the 15" is great because it's still very portable, while having near-identical performance to the 17". These machines perform excellent, better than any similar spec'ed windows computer, or so I've found. I used windows for years, and never understood the appeal of Macs until I tried one. Now, I don't think I could ever go to another computer other than my 15" MacBook Pro (well, I could, I just don't want to ). Enjoy your machine, as I'm sure you'll love whatever you pick.