last minute decision: 13'' or 15'' MBP ?

[hassoon]

hi i'll be getting my MBP like in hours, and i still didn't decide which macbook pro i have to get: 13'' 2.66 Ghz C2D or 15'' 2.4 Ghz i5 ? i'll be using it for college as a computer science student...! so does the speed and the screen size matters ?! please help me out with the decision before getting the mac and regret my decision. thank you

 

[tombilske]

hi i'll be getting my MBP like in hours, and i still didn't decide which macbook pro i have to get: 13'' 2.66 Ghz C2D or 15'' 2.4 Ghz i5 ? i'll be using it for college as a computer science student...! so does the speed and the screen size matters ?! please help me out with the decision before getting the mac and regret my decision. thank you

get the 15" 2.4, the discrete graphics and the more powerful processor, as well as the extra screen real estate will help you in the long run...trust me, you will end up regretting buying a 13" even if you are just typing assignments on it (which i assume you will not be), because the 13" screen really is too cramped

 

[1rottenapple]

Honestly I just upgraded from a recent 13 in mbp to a 15 and the extra real estate is great for research. Plus tins nice to play video on the side which is a challenge for the 13 to do due to space.

 

[stefan1975]

i think the high end 13" (2.66) is a really bad choice. Regardless of all the discussions about wether or not the C2D is a smart choice for Apple, with the high end you are paying $300 extra for a non-noticable .22ghz CPU upgrade which costs about $30 for Apple.

i'd go for the base 15" between these two. and if you want 13" go for the 1.4hgz low end version.

 

[iPhysicist]

I say, safe some money and go for the 2.4 13.3". It is good enough for your studies and the battery is longer lasting which is VERY important on the go.

 

[scaredpoet]

I had the same dilemna when getting mine and ultimately went for the 15". I probably would've been happy with a 13" model, but knowing I wanna keep this MBP for a good while, I figured it was better to be sure I would be happy. The integrated graphics and the better processor made the decision for me.

 

[Sirmausalot]

The majority here say 15" and they're right. I have a 13" and I'm quite happy with it. But it's a second machine and I wanted portability. You'll want the extra screen size and the power. The money is secondary if you'll be having the computer over the life of your college career

 

[4PPLEM4C]

I wouldn't go for the 2.66GHz 13". The 0.26 difference is not worth the extra money.

Out of your 2 choices I would go for the 15".

If the MBP is going to be a secondary machine that you just take to college then maybe the the base 13" would be more suitable due to the battery life and its size.

 

[AreYouIn?]

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm getting ready to go to grad school (for psychology though) and I've spent my entire 4 years at college on a 13inch macbook. Which has been fine until this last year when I had to write a 20page research paper. I would have loved more space to have multiple articles open. I ended up printing out 40 articles just so that I could see them all at once.

If all you will be doing is browsing the internet you are fine but that is not what you will be doing. I would say go for the 15!

 

[vant]

13" as my main workhorse. 15" too big for me to lug around.

 

[kny3twalker]

Definitely get the 2.4 GHz of either model. And if you have a desktop computer, go for the 13", otherwise get the 15".

 

[macinside]

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm getting ready to go to grad school (for psychology though) and I've spent my entire 4 years at college on a 13inch macbook. Which has been fine until this last year when I had to write a 20page research paper. I would have loved more space to have multiple articles open. I ended up printing out 40 articles just so that I could see them all at once.

If all you will be doing is browsing the internet you are fine but that is not what you will be doing. I would say go for the 15!

The extra 160 horizontal pixels you get from 1440 vs 1280 aren't enough to open two proper sized documents side by side. The hi-res 1680 option (400 extra pixels) on the 15" would be OK for doing that (but you still can't open two apple.com windows side by side w/this size).

The 17" is really a dream for working on two things side by side. You get 640 extra pixels horizontally and 400 extra vertically, which actually does provide quite a leap in usability. The actual computer is only marginally bigger than the 15". The unibody has minimized the perception of size difference. Pre-unibody the 17s were awkward. Not so anymore.