$2000 for MBP "Now" or "Now & Future"?

[mrgiapanta]

$2000 for MBP "Now" or "Now & Future"?

I'm still debating whether I should spend:

Option "NOW"
$2000 on 15" MBP i5 Hi-Rez Matt right now ($1834 to be exact. with Student discount & no tax)

or

Option "NOW & FUTURE"
Spend
$1099 on low end 13" MBP C2D (student discount & no tax)
and assuming future 13"MBP will be similar price, add couple hundred dollars to buy Future non-existing 13"MBP.

Reasons I want 15" i5 are faster processor and Hi-Rez Antiglare Screen many people are praising about on MacForum.

Although 13" C2D is not as fast as i5 nor doesn't give Hi-Rez Antiglare option, it's faster than PowerBook G4 that I have been using for past 7 years, and cost much less.

Which one would you pick?
Faster Speed & Beautiful 15" Screen for $2000 and stick with it for next 5 years?

or

Not too slow but way cheaper 13" okay glossy screen for $1099 and upgrade to similar price machine in the near future?

========================
Update: thanx guys for great inputs.
My minds are pretty much set now to base 13" MBP
It's amazing how I thought about spending over $2500 on i7 15" at one point and
now i feel like I'm saving about $1500 for my future notebook.

========================
Update 2
This morning I went to Apple Store and purchased my 13" MBP!
To avoid the temptation of crave for Hi-Rez Antiglare i7 15inch,
I went straight to 13"MBP played with it for a while and purchased it.

I used 15 inch Powerbook G4 for 7 years, and was afraid 13 inch screen would feel small
but it didn't feel small to me at all. Glossy Screen is not so glossy than i thought either.

Love this beautiful machine Thanx Steve

 

[spinnerlys]

As always, what are your needs?

The current 13" MBP might be fine for what you want to do and you don't really gain more by using a higher resolution screen.

Or the 13" is too small.

And so on, it's a guessing game.

Butt weeeeee like that, don't weeeeee?

 

[King Apple]

go with the base 15" i5. I had this same debate

 

[mrgiapanta]

As always, what are your needs?

The current 13" MBP might be fine for what you want to do and you don't really gain more by using a higher resolution screen.

Or the 13" is too small.

And so on, it's a guessing game.

Butt weeeeee like that, don't weeeeee?

Yes weeeee dooooo~! haha

Good Point
Most time I use notebooks for school, watching hulu & youtube, reading Gizmodo.
And once in a while I like editing movies with iMovie or Final Cut.

My school computer lab has Desktop computer suitable for movie editing so my need really is computer I can watch Hulu & Youtube online without hassle.

 

[mrgiapanta]

go with the base 15" i5. I had this same debate

Thanx for the input.
It will be awesome if you can share with me what made you to put an end to that debate.

 

[Agnel]

^ What do you exactly do?

Give an example of how your desktop would look on an average day?

1. Number of applicaitons open?
2. Do you play HD movies? Stream HD Youtube videos?
3. Video editing?
4. Play games?

I bought a 13" one (for affordable price and reasonably fast Proc)... I guess it'll last for another 4 years... for me.

 

[breathesrain]

As another poster said, somewhere else on this site:
Future proofing is basically a pointless exercise. Most of the time, it's better to save your money and upgrade sooner, because of how fast computers improve.

 

[mrgiapanta]

^ What do you exactly do?

Give an example of how your desktop would look on an average day?

1. Number of applicaitons open?
2. Do you play HD movies? Stream HD Youtube videos?
3. Video editing?
4. Play games?

I bought a 13" one (for affordable price and reasonably fast Proc)... I guess it'll last for another 4 years... for me.

1. 3-4 in average. (Words, Itunes, Firefox, Quicktime)
2. I wish I could play HD movies, but my Powerbook G4 is too slow to handle
3. Video editing? Occasionally borrowing my siblings' iMac & MBP
4. Don't play games much. Watch hulu & youtube alot.

 

[mrgiapanta]

As another poster said, somewhere else on this site:
Future proofing is basically a pointless exercise. Most of the time, it's better to save your money and upgrade sooner, because of how fast computers improve.

Thanx for the input.
So you are voting for "Now & Future" option right?
I agree how fast computers improves.
I was so mad when Apple changed to Intel only few month after I got my PowerBook G4
and thinking about rumored AMD processor...maybe sticking with 13" maybe better option.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Unless you want the bigger/faster/higher resolution computer, the 13" will do what you need no problem.

 

[Agnel]

Hmmm... it depends on your budget.

Like someone said, "It is about driving a Honda Accord vs driving a Jaguar(maybe something lesser than jaguar but faster than Accord)"? You're going to drive at 45-70 anyway. You're not racing all the time.

Why invest in something if you're really not going to use it to the extreme?

Instead you can invest in

1. Backup drives - $100
2. SSD - $300?
3. Maybe a good monitor - $ 150-200
4. Wireless Keyboard and Mouse? (A friend told me, the range of keyboard and mouse sucks, he works on it after connecting to a TV) - $150
5. Sleeve - $40
6. Apple care - $250

See where you can use that extra money carefully , afterall, in a year's time... the 13" and 15" will be old anyway

But if your budget is 2000, 15" is a good buy

PS: I don't know the exact prices, just gave a rough quote.

 

[johnnymg]

$2000 for MBP "Now" or "Now & Future"?

I'm still debating whether I should spend:

Option "NOW"
$2000 on 15" MBP i5 Hi-Rez Matt right now ($1834 to be exact. with Student discount & no tax)

or

Option "NOW & FUTURE"
Spend
$1099 on low end 13" MBP C2D (student discount & no tax)
and assuming future 13"MBP will be similar price, add couple hundred dollars to buy Future non-existing 13"MBP.

Reasons I want 15" i5 are faster processor and Hi-Rez Antiglare Screen many people are praising about on MacForum.

Although 13" C2D is not as fast as i5 nor doesn't give Hi-Rez Antiglare option, it's faster than PowerBook G4 that I have been using for past 7 years, and cost much less.

Which one would you pick?
Faster Speed & Beautiful 15" Screen for $2000 and stick with it for next 5 years?

or

Not too slow but way cheaper 13" okay glossy screen for $1099 and upgrade to similar price machine in the near future?

The new 13" has a VERY good LCD panel. Also, a 2.4 GHz C2D is nothing to sneeze at in terms of HP. Do what you think is best for your near term goals. Worry about next year.............. next year.

cheers
JohnG

 

[mrgiapanta]

The new 13" has a VERY good LCD panel. Also, a 2.4 GHz C2D is nothing to sneeze at in terms of HP. Do what you think is best for your near term goals. Worry about next year.............. next year.

cheers
JohnG

Thanx
this forum helped me alot.
and my mind is pretty much set on 13" MBP
It's amazing how I thought about spending over $2500 on i7 15" at one point and now i feel like I'm saving about $1500 for my future notebook.

 

[Agnel]

Thanx
this forum helped me alot.
and my mind is pretty much set on 13" MBP
It's amazing how I thought about spending over $2500 on i7 15" at one point and now i feel like I'm saving about $1500 for my future notebook.

J/K : Why don't we all share the savings?

 

[johnnymg]

Thanx
this forum helped me alot.
and my mind is pretty much set on 13" MBP
It's amazing how I thought about spending over $2500 on i7 15" at one point and now i feel like I'm saving about $1500 for my future notebook.

There's something zenlike in getting only what's needed and not what's wanted.

This will fall on a LOT of deaf ears (eyes) , in this forum but Jobs crafts these MBP's to give excellent value for what he thinks people need. That may sound very parochial but it's his mantra of doing more with less that makes Mac HW/SW so brilliant.

cheers and good luck with whatever you get!
JohnG

 

[mrgiapanta]

J/K : Why don't we all share the savings?

haha sure~
*ready to hand $200 to Agnel and stops*
I was about to give you $200 to you but i thought it would save me more by not giving it to you. Now I feel like I saved $200 again~! (okay, that was lame )

But hey, thanx for your advice!
You just made one macboy's day!

 

[Agnel]

haha sure~
*ready to hand $200 to Agnel and stops*
I was about to give you $200 to you but i thought it would save me more by not giving it to you. Now I feel like I saved $200 again~! (okay, that was lame )

But hey, thanx for your advice!
You just made one macboy's day!

lol... the thought matters.

"SAVE, SAVE during recession"

No problems, I'm sure you'll enjoy your Macbook Pro.

I converted to Mac after being on PC for 12 years

 

[mrgiapanta]

lol... the thought matters.

"SAVE, SAVE during recession"

No problems, I'm sure you'll enjoy your Macbook Pro.

I converted to Mac after being on PC for 12 years

Cool, was it easy to convert to Mac?
I've been using Mac all my life ever since 1996. (not that my life started at 1996 but yea, Mac is my first computer to own)
But I kinda like Windows 7 and thinking about trying out bootcamp as soon as I get my new MBP.

 

[Agnel]

Cool, was it easy to convert to Mac?
I've been using Mac all my life ever since 1996. (not that my life started at 1996 but yea, Mac is my first computer to own)
But I kinda like Windows 7 and thinking about trying out bootcamp as soon as I get my new MBP.

It's pretty easy, you can adapt pretty soon. You might want to watch the videos on apple website, they're helpful.
I already installed W7 on bootcamp, but I'm looking for solutions to run it inside OS X as virtual. Bootcamp doesn't really serve my purpose, maybe it does for games.

EDIT: Now when I work on Windows, I keep hitting ALT+W to close the tab...
Keyboard shortcuts become a pain, if you rely on them.

 

[mrgiapanta]

It's pretty easy, you can adapt pretty soon. You might want to watch the videos on apple website, they're helpful.
I already installed W7 on bootcamp, but I'm looking for solutions to run it inside OS X as virtual. Bootcamp doesn't really serve my purpose, maybe it does for games.

EDIT: Now when I work on Windows, I keep hitting ALT+W to close the tab...
Keyboard shortcuts become a pain, if you rely on them.

I prefer Virtual too.
I use to have Virtual PC on my PowerBook G4 back in 2004, it was too slow back then. Yea the shortcuts, whenever I get a chance to use PC I get confused looking for command button. I don't play games much but I want to play classic Prince of Persia. Classic one only runs on OS9 and since new OSX don't run them I wonder if running Windows 7 will allow me to play it.

 

[laela]

Yes weeeee dooooo~! haha

Good Point
Most time I use notebooks for school, watching hulu & youtube, reading Gizmodo.
And once in a while I like editing movies with iMovie or Final Cut.

My school computer lab has Desktop computer suitable for movie editing so my need really is computer I can watch Hulu & Youtube online without hassle.

Basically you don't seem to be doing anything useful. Get something cheap. Even the MacBook will suit your purposes.

 

[sushi]

stick with it for next 5 years?

There so many issues to take into consideration.

But I would like to comment on your "next 5 years" concept.

With the way technology changes, I would shorten this to 3 years. Granted you may still be using an much older computer -- personally I still use PowerBook 15 that is 6 years old. But when planning use for a laptop, I would suggest considering a 3-4 year time span these day. Food for thought. YMMV.

 

[mrgiapanta]

There so many issues to take into consideration.

But I would like to comment on your "next 5 years" concept.

With the way technology changes, I would shorten this to 3 years. Granted you may still be using an much older computer -- personally I still use PowerBook 15 that is 6 years old. But when planning use for a laptop, I would suggest considering a 3-4 year time span these day. Food for thought. YMMV.

Be my guest, we have much in common. I'm typing this from my PowerBook G4 over 6 years old. And I love Sushi. (grew up in Japan half of my life)

 

[PAC88]

coming from a G4 notebook myself, I'm in the same situation as you. The only reason I want the 15" is for anti glare. I actually prefer the size of the 13" and wish it wasn't glossy but we have no choice.. and I don't care about the 15-20% increase in performance on the 15" because it will do little for me.

so today I decided that it's not worth spending an extra grand only for anti-glare, and I can live with glossy if it means that I save close to $900.. I get so much more power than my G4 packed into that small footprint of the 13", it has all the same ports as the 15" so you can always connect to an external monitor (which can be matte, so you have the best of both worlds).. It just makes a lot more sense.

anyways.. I ordered a thinkpad last week but now that I'm fine with the 13" glossy idea.. I'm thinking about canceling my order and going with the 13" MBP for myself. ahhh, too many decisions to make here..

 

[mrgiapanta]

Basically you don't seem to be doing anything useful. Get something cheap. Even the MacBook will suit your purposes.

haha thanx. sure i don't do anything useful
But $899 sounds sweet but I want Firewire 800 and I would like to edit short movies using my notebook once in a while.
And I don't like the new MacBook...especially that new buttom part...i don't like its feel and i don't like how it gets dirty so quick.