Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Am I stupid for buying MBP 13"?

katyoshi said:
Alright, well I had to bite the bullet and bought the 13" base model MBP. I was going to give my mom my mid-2009 15" 2.66 MBP since I thought maybe the portability would be good for me with the 13". Now I'm sort of thinking, did I stupidly waste my money and should I take it back tomorrow? I spent $1,400 with the free printer and student discount along with applecare. Did I make a good investment? I just using it for graduating school in nursing.
Click to expand...

If you really need portability, although it's hard to believe, the 13 is MUCH more portable than a 15. With a smaller bag, the overall size and weight is very noticeable when you are "schlepping" crap through an air port, working at a Starbucks or working on that little tray behind the seat on a flight.

The question though is: Is it worth it to you? :)
 
katyoshi said:
I agree it's no Squat bar of 45 lbs with two 35lb plates on each side, which = 225lbs It's nothing close to 315 lbs of dead-lifting either :D. Anyway, it is noticeable. I have the black Incase backpack that fits 15"-17" laptops. It made a noticeable weight difference and space difference in my bag. Maybe its just in my mind? :confused:
Click to expand...

Hi Katyoshi!

No, It's not in your mind. Though a pound or so doesn't sound like a lot of difference, it is when you hold or carry it for an extended period. Think of carrying around an empty coffee mug around all day. Sounds easy but gets old quick.
That and the reduced bulk makes a 13" MBP better than a 15" MBP for portability by quite a bit more than you'd think.

The Air is the one to have for portability. I'm going to get one someday. Eventually.

Apple thinks you're right about 13" being the smallest COMFORTABLE size for a laptop. That's why they never did netbooks.

I've got a 10" netbook just for emergencies and after using it for awhile, it'd have to be a pretty big emergency for me to use it again! :eek:
Nothing wrong with it... just "not comfortable".

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. Your 13" is a Great Choice if you're carrying it around all day.

PPS. "Buyer's Remorse" very often lingers around for ages. For some it's a lifetime ordeal. My advice: Don't worry about it, Things will be FABULOUS! :D:):apple::cool:
 
I traded my 2008 15" 2.4 MBP for the 2009 13" 2.26 MBP and I have no regrets. The biggest forfeit was the lack of discreet graphics and the downsize in display and resolution, both of which weren't a bother for me, since I didn't purchase the MBP for the sole purpose of graphics editing or gaming. For me, the extra portability offsets these subtractions, and I don't feel swindled or have buyer's remorse. I've since maxed it out to 8 gigs of RAM and I couldn't be happier!

I don't know about the jump between the 2009 MBP and 2010 MBP but all I can tell you is that I love my 13" MBP :D
 
i used to have a 15" macbook pro (preunibody) and i got a 13" macbook pro (previous gen unibody) to replace it...

...the 15" was just big enough to be a drag carrying it around in a shoulder bag, and i have a mac pro with 3 21" monitors when i need to be super productive with content creation (graphics and 3d and photo), so i find the portability and flexibility of the 13" macbook pro (over the 15" or an ipad) and a desktop machine to be a fantastic combination.

r.
 
I love my 13" Macbook. I have been encouraged to upgrade to a 15" Macbook Pro, but no way, if I were going to, I'd go with the 13" MBP. If you need a bigger screen, pick up a cheap external monitor (mine is 24") for a "base station."

I'd say your only mistake was wasting your money on AppleCare. Can you get your money back?
 
Well unfortunately, after all this trouble of making two trips to the Apple store in Ala Moana, I returned everything. I consulted :p my friend who works for another apple store here and told me I should return it because soon they're going to have the student promotion with the free iPod touch soon in a matter of less than two weeks. She also recommended me to give my mom my 15" MBP and buy the 13" MBP with the student promotion. On top of that, she suggests I sell my mac mini and 24" ACD with bluetooth keyboard and previous mighty mouse, all to get a base model 27" iMac as well. Because I do utilize both desktop and laptop. It was sort of growing on the 13" and as someone had said earlier in this post, it really did make a noticeable difference in convenience of carrying it around and the amount of power it has to do what I need to do in grad school. I'm started to feel that the 13" would suite me very well. However, I returned it already and I may as well now wait for the student promotion...

My friend suggested use the MBP for work productivity and use the iMac for entertainment at home. If needed, use the iMac for productivity as well. Good suggestions? After all this, I diagnose myself with "Maccomputer Indecisivitis". :rolleyes:
 
katyoshi said:
I agree it's no Squat bar of 45 lbs with two 35lb plates on each side, which = 225lbs It's nothing close to 315 lbs of dead-lifting either :D. Anyway, it is noticeable. I have the black Incase backpack that fits 15"-17" laptops. It made a noticeable weight difference and space difference in my bag. Maybe its just in my mind? :confused:
Click to expand...

You mean Bar = 45lbs and (2) 45lb plates on each side (4 total) = 225lbs.

For me, if you are very mobile, the lighter weight is worth it (by the way, I can bench 225 for 10 reps).

To those that say they want to run windows smoothly, if it has at least 4gbs of ram, why can't you on the 13"?
 
You did the right choice, your mum should be proud of you.
Keep the 13" and give her the 15".
Now, if she doesn't want it for some reason, I accept it as a donation :D
 
rhinosrcool said:
You mean Bar = 45lbs and (2) 45lb plates on each side (4 total) = 225lbs.

For me, if you are very mobile, the lighter weight is worth it (by the way, I can bench 225 for 10 reps).

To those that say they want to run windows smoothly, if it has at least 4gbs of ram, why can't you on the 13"?
Click to expand...

Yes my bad, I meant 45 lbs. Thanks for the correction! My mom asked, "when are you going to give me your laptop?" I told her, "soon mom, soon". It is very likely I will bite again when the student promotion comes out. This time, I won't return it because also by then, I'll have enough money to pay it in CASH. :D I haven't used any of my student loans to buy any computer or device yet thats why and this would justify the purchase. I bought all the stuff I have now with my own money from work. I was thinking about the macbook air future version that's planned to come out, but I realized I may need the CD drive every so often since I use handbrake, make music CDs for my personal use, and some of the textbooks now days come with CDs that may be useful. Although I could get an external superdrive, the MBP 13" will do just fine for my needs. Plus the MBA costs a lot more even though it is more portable. Well folks, I guess I caused a hassle by buying and using the 13" MBP then returning it the next day to the Apple Store. Nonetheless, I think I'll benefit by having to think it through, which I did now and realized it could suite me well, and buy it on student promotion date.
 
katyoshi said:
Wow. Thanks everyone for their replies. It really is helping. Does anyone own both the 15" and 13". Not necessarily the same year models but lets say like in my shoes, the previous 15" and the current 13"? How do you like it, use it, etc?
Click to expand...

I just picked up a 13" to replace my older 15". I love the size. I think that only if you are a serious photoshop/video editor etc would you really need the processor in the 15". The 13" is perfect.

I also had a 12" powerbook forever ago. I think it was my best laptop ever, and the current 13" is even better than that IMO.
 
katyoshi said:
Well unfortunately, after all this trouble of making two trips to the Apple store in Ala Moana, I returned everything. I consulted :p my friend who works for another apple store here and told me I should return it because soon they're going to have the student promotion with the free iPod touch soon in a matter of less than two weeks. She also recommended me to give my mom my 15" MBP and buy the 13" MBP with the student promotion. On top of that, she suggests I sell my mac mini and 24" ACD with bluetooth keyboard and previous mighty mouse, all to get a base model 27" iMac as well. Because I do utilize both desktop and laptop. It was sort of growing on the 13" and as someone had said earlier in this post, it really did make a noticeable difference in convenience of carrying it around and the amount of power it has to do what I need to do in grad school. I'm started to feel that the 13" would suite me very well. However, I returned it already and I may as well now wait for the student promotion...

My friend suggested use the MBP for work productivity and use the iMac for entertainment at home. If needed, use the iMac for productivity as well. Good suggestions? After all this, I diagnose myself with "Maccomputer Indecisivitis". :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Why not keep the 24" ACD and use that to plug in and "dock" the MBP whenever you have the need for larger screen estate? Now unless you're going to do some gaming, the only real differences in computing power between the base 27" iMac and your 13" MBP will be in terms of processing power since the the iMac model your talking about still only runs core 2 duo. And even that may seem negligible to most people.

Once you add some RAM to the 13" MBP, it'll be pretty much on par with the iMac. I think this route will be the most cost effective too as you won't be purchasing another new computer.

The great thing about your ACD too is its magsafe connector which makes it the perfect companion to the MBP. Just plug it in and charge it whenever you need to, while freeing up your MBP's external power supply to store in your bag or wherever your about to take it to.
 
katyoshi said:
Alright, well I had to bite the bullet and bought the 13" base model MBP. I was going to give my mom my mid-2009 15" 2.66 MBP since I thought maybe the portability would be good for me with the 13". Now I'm sort of thinking, did I stupidly waste my money and should I take it back tomorrow? I spent $1,400 with the free printer and student discount along with applecare. Did I make a good investment? I just using it for graduating school in nursing.
Click to expand...

Did you make a good investment? In my opinion, you did not. Because less than a month, apple will most likely going to announce back to school promo. You will be able to get ipod touch for free and you could have gotten ipod touch for free. Or if you don't need it, you can sell it on ebay for 200 dollars.

Another thing is about your software. Apple will most likely going to announce ilife 2010 at WWDC this year, so you will end up paying around 79 dollars for an upgrade to get the latest software.

I personally would have waited for one more month to see how things turn out, but if you absolutely needed it, then you made a good investment.

I know apple will charge restocking fee for your laptop, so I guess it's too late.
 
@hcho3, I already returned it. They didn't charge me any restocking fee. May be because I returned it within 14 days? Well my credit card had the full refund on it and so did my receipt.
 
katyoshi said:
Well unfortunately, after all this trouble of making two trips to the Apple store in Ala Moana, I returned everything. I consulted :p my friend who works for another apple store here and told me I should return it because soon they're going to have the student promotion with the free iPod touch soon in a matter of less than two weeks. She also recommended me to give my mom my 15" MBP and buy the 13" MBP with the student promotion. On top of that, she suggests I sell my mac mini and 24" ACD with bluetooth keyboard and previous mighty mouse, all to get a base model 27" iMac as well. Because I do utilize both desktop and laptop. It was sort of growing on the 13" and as someone had said earlier in this post, it really did make a noticeable difference in convenience of carrying it around and the amount of power it has to do what I need to do in grad school. I'm started to feel that the 13" would suite me very well. However, I returned it already and I may as well now wait for the student promotion...

My friend suggested use the MBP for work productivity and use the iMac for entertainment at home. If needed, use the iMac for productivity as well. Good suggestions? After all this, I diagnose myself with "Maccomputer Indecisivitis". :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


LoL... boy I can relate. I was an iMac only person until a few days ago when I got a refurb 20" iMac and a new 2010 MBP. I returned a few machines in last two months because they just weren't right for me (and one was a dud). But now with a desktop and a laptop, I have everything I want and more than enough for my needs. Like your situation, my mom will be opting in (in this case, the iMac). So it is very helpful to have both as a student and IF you can afford it. And I like that I can share with my mom and have choice when I want portability or not.

For me personally, the 27" iMac is way too much as far as eye strain etc. at this point because I'm not designing/etc. I thought the 21.5" iMac was plenty (especially in the realm of non-design studies and entertainment), but that's my opinion. Best bet is to get a feel for both sizes and choose what's best for you and your entertainment/productivity needs.

Oh yes, and I'm sure I'll be drooling my head off at new Mac Pros (which at this point, is overkill for me) and Macbook Air.

I had buyer's remorse until I heard my mom say, maybe you should keep both of them. I think, bless her, she knew me all too well and was hinting that she wanted to learn how to use the iMac :)
 
kazmac said:
LoL... boy I can relate. I was an iMac only person until a few days ago when I got a refurb 20" iMac and a new 2010 MBP. I returned a few machines in last two months because they just weren't right for me (and one was a dud). But now with a desktop and a laptop, I have everything I want and more than enough for my needs. Like your situation, my mom will be opting in (in this case, the iMac). So it is very helpful to have both as a student and IF you can afford it. And I like that I can share with my mom and have choice when I want portability or not.

For me personally, the 27" iMac is way too much as far as eye strain etc. at this point because I'm not designing/etc. I thought the 21.5" iMac was plenty (especially in the realm of non-design studies and entertainment), but that's my opinion. Best bet is to get a feel for both sizes and choose what's best for you and your entertainment/productivity needs.

Oh yes, and I'm sure I'll be drooling my head off at new Mac Pros (which at this point, is overkill for me) and Macbook Air.

I had buyer's remorse until I heard my mom say, maybe you should keep both of them. I think, bless her, she knew me all too well and was hinting that she wanted to learn how to use the iMac :)
Click to expand...

Boy what a beautiful story. Haha nah kidding. Yeah I may just get rid of my mac mini and give her my 24 ACD as well if the new monitors come out. That way, I can buy the 13" MBP+new ACD, if the new ones come out. Then I would still have the best of both worlds and stay with one computer. I'm still deciding too. Maybe the new 13" MBP+iMac 27". Then i would still have two computers, just one is massively powerful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back