17" MBP owners, what's your sidekick?

[Mollemand]

I went for the 15" MBP with all the bells and whistles. I have a 2010 13" MBA, which is also top-spec, and it's main task has been collecting dust ever since I got the MBP.

To me the 17" MBP is too big for the road.

If you are looking for portability and a nice workstation I would consider getting a nice monitor to plug a 15" MBP into @ home.

Perhaps I am missing the point...

 

[entatlrg]

The 15" is great ... unless you want more "portable" screen real estate, that's something an external monitor can't do, the 17" with the 1080p screen fills that void nicely.

MBA is excellent sidekick

 

[Russell L]

Alongside my new 17" MBP, I've got an original (2006) Mac Pro desktop w/23" Cinema Display, which still runs great and serves as "home base" in many respects, not the least of which is for storage. (Love the internal HD bays.) I also use an early 2008 MBP 15" at work and I've also got an iPhone....

 

[fkhan3]

I have 13" MBA Ultimate as my portable solution. My 17" sits on the desk 99% of the time. I'm really happy with this setup

 

[gwsat]

The new Quad 17's are great and make sense for anyone who wants desktop power yet be able to use it around the office, house or bring along. That sounds appealing to me too.

Add the 11 or 13" Air and you have a great sidekick for when you want to work anywhere with out the weight or bulk.

Tie it together with Dropbox, MobileMe or similar and that could indeed be the *ultimate* setup.

Posters above sure seem happy with this combo!

As you are aware, I am seriously considering upgrading from my old 17 inch Santa Rosa MBP to a new quad core i7 15 or 17 inch MBP within the next year. So far, though, the old Santa Rosa MBP has been an adequate backup for my 13 inch Ultimate MBA. Except for the times when I need the MBP's extra resources, usually its optical drive, I prefer the MBA because it runs the programs I use just as fast as the MBP does in a package that is significantly smaller and weighs less than half as much.

 

[jvmxtra]

2011 15 with high res with iPad 2 till they improve MBA with backlit keyboard n better processor.... I know this was for 17 but 15,17. All same stuff

 

[gwsat]

2011 15 with high res with iPad 2 till they improve MBA with backlit keyboard n better processor.... I know this was for 17 but 15,17. All same stuff

For those who take backlit keyboards seriously I concede that the MBA would be a bad choice. Its C2D processor is an entirely different matter, however. For all users except those who must run apps that are extraordinarily processor intensive and they know who they are, the MBA's C2D processor and NVIDIA 320M GPU is a wonderful combination, better than the i5 processor and Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU, which is inferior to the NVIDIA 320M. There are valid reasons not to buy an MBA but its C2D processor is not one of them.

Before I got an MBA about 5 months ago I used my iPad while I was watching TV, instead of my 17 inch MBP. The iPad has its benefits but ever since I got an MBA I have virtually quit using the iPad because the extremely small and lightweight MBA can do everything the iPad did better and faster.

 

[jvmxtra]

For those who take backlit keyboards seriously I concede that the MBA would be a bad choice. Its C2D processor is an entirely different matter, however. For all users except those who must run apps that are extraordinarily processor intensive and they know who they are, the MBA's C2D processor and NVIDIA 320M GPU is a wonderful combination, better than the i5 processor and Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU, which is inferior to the NVIDIA 320M. There are valid reasons not to buy an MBA but its C2D processor is not one of them.

Before I got an MBA about 5 months ago I used my iPad while I was watching TV, instead of my 17 inch MBP. The iPad has its benefits but ever since I got an MBA I have virtually quit using the iPad because the extremely small and lightweight MBA can do everything the iPad did better and faster.

Fair enough.

I wanted to give mba the chance it deserved but at the end of the day, I could not go w/ expensive machine that doesn't have backlit keyboard(important for me). I like my machine to feel expensive and look expensive as well. (that's just my thing, as I paid enough for it) MBA's GPU might be good I needed a machine which can do everything as I wanted to completely move away from the desktop solution.

Also, I use my ipad for entertainment and reading and works out better for me than if I had mba for the same purpose. But don't get me wrong, I think mba is fantastic machine and gave me the biggest pause before I finally plunged on my mbp this year.

I still will keep my mbp in fantastic shape in case mba comes back w/ better spec for those who is looking for desktop replacement solution as current mbp is good enough to replace desktop but not as portable as we would like.

 

[jvmxtra]

btw, ipad's benefit of having a tremendous useful app cannot be dismissed.

Few quick games(p vs z as prime example) as well as having things like air video and slingbox app is both cool and just damn convenient.

Also love reading from it either in bathroom/bedroom/car is great.

 

[gwsat]

Fair enough.

I wanted to give mba the chance it deserved but at the end of the day, I could not go w/ expensive machine that doesn't have backlit keyboard(important for me).

I would be the last to argue with anyone for passing over the MBA because the absence of a backlit keyboard makes them uncomfortable. I hardly ever used the backlit keyboard feature on my older Mac laptops, so haven't missed it on the MBA.

btw, ipad's benefit of having a tremendous useful app cannot be dismissed.

Few quick games(p vs z as prime example) as well as having things like air video and slingbox app is both cool and just damn convenient.

Also love reading from it either in bathroom/bedroom/car is great.

I can't address the gaming ability of the iPad, although my daughter and grandson tell me that there are a number of games that they play and like a lot. I have read some books on the Kindle books app on my iPad. The app is outstanding but I rarely read that way. I admire the iPad. It is brilliantly designed and does many things well but I have found that I am able to do the things I need more quickly and easily with the MBA than with the iPad.

 

[gwsat]

It just occurred to me that I failed earlier to state one of the most important reasons who my iPad gets used so little these days. My children and their families gave my an iPhone 4 for Christmas. Before I got it I was listening to recorded books on the iPad, which I had ripped from CDs to my MBP's hard drive using iTunes and then copied to the iPad with the Goodreader app. The iPhone lets me listen to the many, many audiobooks I read in a package that is dramatically smaller and lighter than even the iPad. All of this means that the iPad has fallen into virtual disuse.

 

[entatlrg]

From reading here so far they compliment each other more than they overlap.