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eeicke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2009
3
0
I'm torn between a MBP 13" and 15". I like the size of the 13" for travel. I plan on running Visual Studio (via parallels) and XCode so I'm concerned about the screen size on the 13" will be too limiting for development purposes. I'm looking for advice/opinions/experience on using a 13" and dev tools like the ones I mentioned.
 
I'm torn between a MBP 13" and 15". I like the size of the 13" for travel. I plan on running Visual Studio (via parallels) and XCode so I'm concerned about the screen size on the 13" will be too limiting for development purposes. I'm looking for advice/opinions/experience on using a 13" and dev tools like the ones I mentioned.

Personally the 13" is not large enough to do development work over extended periods of time.
 
You could use the spare cash to get an external monitor if you get the 13". Might be something to think about.
 
You could use the spare cash to get an external monitor if you get the 13". Might be something to think about.

Yes, this.

This will give you the best of both worlds, unless you plan on doing the majority of your work while you aren't at home/at the office where your monitor will be.....
 
Personally the 13" is not large enough to do development work over extended periods of time.

Especially for projects that are more complicated than school homework assignments. ;)

I much prefer 1920x1200 for my development. I even use a second screen (my 32" TV) when developing to assist in making things easier for me. I always stick with 17" laptops.
 
I'm torn between a MBP 13" and 15". I like the size of the 13" for travel. I plan on running Visual Studio (via parallels) and XCode so I'm concerned about the screen size on the 13" will be too limiting for development purposes. I'm looking for advice/opinions/experience on using a 13" and dev tools like the ones I mentioned.
Stick with the 15" BadBoy Pro if you're interested in extending the lifetime of your hardware investment (e.g. future-proofing).
 
I have written an iPhone App on the 13" screen. Not bad. Not bad at all. Very good for traveling too.
 
Stick with the 15" BadBoy Pro if you're interested in extending the lifetime of your hardware investment (e.g. future-proofing).

Sorry, I haven't been a member of the forum for long. Is this some long running personal joke or something?
 
How does closing the lid affect noise, since the exhaust fans are at the rear?

Only YOU can answer which is better for you. I personally could not live with the massive size and ridiculously high DPI of the 17." When I need more pixels and better color accuracy, I connect my 13" to my TV. For everything else, the WXGA res is sufficient.

If you do not use files that require larger than WXGA res., then you are paying a heck of a premium for extra pixels that you don't need. The price differences between the 13" and 15" are enormous. With $500, you could get a very nice 24" LCD.

Then again, if you don't plan on connecting your MBP to an external display often, then the 15" is probably the best compromise of size and portability, as well as price. I simply could not sleep knowing that my 17" MBP cost so much more than quad-core PC laptops.
 
Buy a Timbuk2 Blogger bag. It makes your 15in MBP feel lighter. Plenty of room for other things too.
 
TuffLuffJimmy, is the DO NOT EDIT in Final Cut advise referred to the 15"?

I'm in the market for a new MacBook Pro and eventually I think I'll use it for editing purposes and I'm very torn between a 13" and a 15". 17" is just too large.
 
TuffLuffJimmy, is the DO NOT EDIT in Final Cut advise referred to the 15"?
Well sorta. It's not like you can't do it; I used to edit in Final Cut in a 13 inch screen. However, Final Cut is really meant to be on a couple of screens. It just isn't the most comfortable way to edit hours of footage.
 
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