I pre ordered the 27" iMac with the i7, a long time ago. The wife has been enjoying it for months. I guess there are some people having bad luck with the iMac but ours is running just fine.
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Anyone regret they bought a 17" instead of a 15 mbp?
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I pre ordered the 27" iMac with the i7, a long time ago. The wife has been enjoying it for months. I guess there are some people having bad luck with the iMac but ours is running just fine.
Well Honestly, I bought 17inch laptop computer in the past and I regret it ever so. I say 15 inch should be the max of what you should get if you are planning to get a notebook computer. 15 inch is good enough for display and portability. Really a notebook is really meant for portability than screen size. I certainly would not want to pay more for a 17 inch mainly because it is heavier than a 15 inch and harder to hide from people.
I had a 15 macbook pro the old school design.
Now I have a 17inch i7 with ssd.
The speed and screen are amazing.
I did not opt for the anti glare.
Even though sometimes I think I should have.
I really enjoy the size of the display it is great you can have two full windows open with even a bit of room left over.
You only realize the size when you are moving it around outside of a case.
I use a speck aftpack and it does not feel heavy in the bag. although the rear entrance to the bag is not usable with the 17" since it is so big.
Now I have a 17inch i7 with ssd.
The speed and screen are amazing.
I did not opt for the anti glare.
Even though sometimes I think I should have.
I really enjoy the size of the display it is great you can have two full windows open with even a bit of room left over.
You only realize the size when you are moving it around outside of a case.
I use a speck aftpack and it does not feel heavy in the bag. although the rear entrance to the bag is not usable with the 17" since it is so big.
because only 10% of the those who have it even consider using it. its obsolete, well no but its useless hardware for most.
The 13-15-17 choice is simple. Get a 13 if you are planning on using it on a daily commute. The 15 and 17 are too big for train use really, they get in other people's way. Get a 15 if you need a bit more power and you are using at at college/work every day but not so much on a commute. Get the 17 if you mostly keep it at home but like to go room to room to avoid becoming a hermit and stay sociable, plus get the big screen for proper application work and also the better audio due to larger speakers. The sound is pretty decent for a laptop. It's not miraculous or anything, and I find myself plugging in the amp when I'm near it, but having it as your first option for music is no problem. The 17 has the advantage of the extra connects as well. If you like to work in a two screen situation, then the 17 is still a good bet - you can have Final Cut on the laptop and the output display on the external. I find editing on a 15 or less a bit too restrictive.
I guess most people buy a laptop because they are always on the go with it.
Then I can see getting a 13, or max a 15" mbp.
However I may take it out 5, 6 times a year. I may take it more to show clients some slide shows for weddings, but I haven't done that lately.
I probably would have been just as happy with the 15 Hi res AG since I do have a 30" cinema for when I edit images. But when I am not doing that I take my laptop into the bright cheery kitchen to surf, do some minor edits since I have a wifi HD hooked up to my apple router.
I just hope that when I do take the 17" out I won't kick myself saying, what a monster..
The 3 I went through ran fine...but the display was yellowed and flawed. I imagine it's not the case with everyone, but it's definitely an issue that many have been dealing with.
I bought a 17 inch three years ago and now have a 15 inch. The choice should be made on what you want to use it for. If it is a desktop replacement with some portability required - go for it. You will not be disappointed.
If you are taking this thing out on a daily basis and travelling - go for the 15 inch. Much more ergonomic and manoeuvrable.
If you are taking this thing out on a daily basis and travelling - go for the 15 inch. Much more ergonomic and manoeuvrable.
No regrets
I have no regrets. But I'm not a person who is working on proposals and such at the last minute or trying to impress anyone else on the plane. So I never take it out of my bag. I love everything about it, and I use the expresscard slot all the time to download pictures. It's so much faster than using the firewire or usb card readers.
I have no regrets. But I'm not a person who is working on proposals and such at the last minute or trying to impress anyone else on the plane. So I never take it out of my bag. I love everything about it, and I use the expresscard slot all the time to download pictures. It's so much faster than using the firewire or usb card readers.
I really don't understand how a pound or less in weight is really that much of a factor. Unless someone is a human scale it's hard to even tell a difference in weight.
My 17" MBP with an AG Display is less than a pound heavier than the glossy 15" MBP and as far as I'm concerned even easier on the lap as its the weight is dispersed across a wider footprint.
The only aspect of the 17" that should be taken into acount is if you do a lot of plane traveling or are in a bunch of lecture halls with those fold out little half desks. Then the dimension of the 17" may be a little too much though frankly in those situations the 15" would also be a bit unwieldily.
I love my 17" -having had a 15" before it I can honestly say that there is no difference in functionality or ergonomics relating to its size compared to the 15"
On the other hand, the uprated processor and increase in screen real estate have been an absolute pleasure and well worth the almost negligible increase in weight.
My 17" MBP with an AG Display is less than a pound heavier than the glossy 15" MBP and as far as I'm concerned even easier on the lap as its the weight is dispersed across a wider footprint.
The only aspect of the 17" that should be taken into acount is if you do a lot of plane traveling or are in a bunch of lecture halls with those fold out little half desks. Then the dimension of the 17" may be a little too much though frankly in those situations the 15" would also be a bit unwieldily.
I love my 17" -having had a 15" before it I can honestly say that there is no difference in functionality or ergonomics relating to its size compared to the 15"
On the other hand, the uprated processor and increase in screen real estate have been an absolute pleasure and well worth the almost negligible increase in weight.
15" if you move it frequently
The 17 is not quite the "beast" people claim it is. I have always had 15" MBPs in the past, but I got a 17" this time around and love it.
Get the 15" IF:
Mine mostly sits on a desk, and of course I can go places with it if I have to and when I do, it's fine.
It's not that much bigger or heavier that it's a problem, but obviously, if you need frequent portability, the 15" with the 1680x1050 screen is the way to go.
Since mine mostly sits on a desk, I appreciate the 1920x1200 res.
The 17 is not quite the "beast" people claim it is. I have always had 15" MBPs in the past, but I got a 17" this time around and love it.
Get the 15" IF:
- you throw the laptop in a bag and travel with it frequently/daily to school or work
- if you actually want to use it on your lap or in bed
- if you go to conferences/coffee shops or places with crowded tables a lot
- have any hope of using it on an airplane
Mine mostly sits on a desk, and of course I can go places with it if I have to and when I do, it's fine.
It's not that much bigger or heavier that it's a problem, but obviously, if you need frequent portability, the 15" with the 1680x1050 screen is the way to go.
Since mine mostly sits on a desk, I appreciate the 1920x1200 res.
I have used a 17 inch and it almost made me jealous of it... Still love my 13 though. My 13 inch can fit in a case in a backpack, but you'd have to have a serious bag to fit that. But if you need the screen real-estate, performance, and more port options, the 17 is worth it because it isn't that much bigger than a 15 inch. The 17 is the perfect desktop/notebook hybrid.
I would have, in the past, agreed with you. But owning a 15inch MBP has caused my previous opinion to do a volte face, I now take it for granted that my computer can be used at my desk, on my coffee table, in bed, or even whilst answering calls of nature.
I would be loathe to go back to the bad old days of having to do all my computing sat at my desk.
Oh, and I can even take it out with me!
The battery maintenance thing you mentioned is abject twaddle, and my MBP fans have only ever been audible once when I used bootcamp.
Doris
Not sure I agree with this... The Expresscard was a big decision in upping to the 17" for me.
I expect to use the machine for a lot of photography work - and will be using both Compact Flash and SD cards. All the smaller machines have an SD slot - but to connect a Compact Flash card I would have to have an external Firewire or USB reader, which is much larger (another object to carry around) and probably slower in use. I just bought Expresscard connectors for both SD and CF, and they are so small they disappear in a small pocket of my bag until needed. Inexpensive too.
I also plan to buy an external SATA drive, and bought an Expresscard SATA port, which should be miles faster than Firewire or USB. This is the only way you can get an external SATA port on your MBP.
So, I am now using that one port for three purposes - one of which would have been impossible any other way and, for the other two, it provides a smaller, faster option than not having Expresscard.
For me, its hardly obsolete or useless....
I wish I had one because you can get something for express card slots that essentially gives you 2 usb 3.0 ports.
What I meant was, if your gonna buy a Mac, and your buying a i5/i7 Macbook Pro (because you want to have it with you @school, friends, etc) it's working pretty well as a desktop computer.
I agree with this... To me, "functioning as a desktop" means that the laptop has approximately the same speed, capacity, ease of use, graphics capability, and general "experience" as a desktop would provide - but you can take it away when you want. Now, no laptop can match a top line desktop in all these regards, but the compromise is a heck of a lot smaller than it used to be.
I have my new MBP and an old tower PC I built from scratch. I will use both in the future but my MBP will be my "main" computer and I will only use the PC when it makes sense to. Thus, my MBP has replaced my desktop and I am using it as one.
With the laptops of even 5 years ago, I could never imagine replacing my desktop with one - the sacrifices were too great. That's not the case now - and certainly not the case with the new MBPs....
Depends on what you do.
My 17" MBP has an SSD and 8GB ram. It's fast at everything I throw at it except 3d rendering and video compression.
Maybe audio engineering would stress a laptop as well.
But for surfing, watching porn, most Photoshop and Illustrator work, esp for web/multimedia production, word processing, Dreamweaver, etc, laptops are more than adequate these days.
The SSD solved the last real bottleneck. I rarely ever use my SuperDrive.
My 17" MBP has an SSD and 8GB ram. It's fast at everything I throw at it except 3d rendering and video compression.
Maybe audio engineering would stress a laptop as well.
But for surfing, watching porn, most Photoshop and Illustrator work, esp for web/multimedia production, word processing, Dreamweaver, etc, laptops are more than adequate these days.
The SSD solved the last real bottleneck. I rarely ever use my SuperDrive.
I have always been a 17" user, so I guess I will always be a biased. My wife has a 15", and I really don't get the size opinion. When I place the 15 over my 17, the footprint size difference is very minimal. I do agree the weight does seem different, but when I put it in my shoulder bag, I can barely tell.
I know for me a 15 would be a little complicated. I use 3 USB devices, so I would have to carry a HUB. I work with 16 columns of excel, so I would have to either shrink the size down a lot, or scroll around a lot.
I know for me a 15 would be a little complicated. I use 3 USB devices, so I would have to carry a HUB. I work with 16 columns of excel, so I would have to either shrink the size down a lot, or scroll around a lot.
I was under the impression that quality control issue had been resolved many months ago....
Honestly can't really blame them though. I can't think of any other product that's remotely similar in size. a 27" all in one with x2 HD resolution?
+1
If you look at the 17" on its own, completely removed from the size context of a 13" or 15", it's nothing remotely close to the hulking beast it's often made out to be. It might seem big to you for the first few minutes, but you'll adjust quickly and the screen will just become commonplace to you... until you notice how small other people's screens are
Honestly, based on how you plan to use that thing, I would be surprised if you aren't extremely pleased with it when it arrives.
By the way, I would have recommended that you save yourself $200 and buy your RAM upgrade from OWC. Can't say enough good things about those people!
Anyone calibrate their screens with a puck system? I use Eye1 D2 and after buying a new version it works great. However my old one went bad, who knows when and gave me fits!.. The new screens are supposed to be better for color rendition. As a photographer I may just use the 17 for some editing too.
I have will have to compare what I get between the two screens, my ACD and the laptop.
I have will have to compare what I get between the two screens, my ACD and the laptop.