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Better for business?

I

ibodybuild

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 14, 2009
29
0
What's better for business, the 13 inch or the 15 inch macbook pro? I can't make my mind up and I have gone to the store and spend hours trying to decide.. and still can't.

I'm going to be also doing a lot of web and graphic design.

I am also in between getting the anti-glare screen or not. I know that it is only offered on the 15 inch.

So for the 15 inch macbook pro I am looking at getting these specs:

  • # 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
  • # 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
  • # 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
  • # SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
  • # MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
  • # None
  • # Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
 
What business exactly, as there seem to be more than two?
Web and graphic design?
If so, the 15" is the better choice, it has more screen real estate.

What computer are you currently using?
 
A window cleaning business running quick books. I do graphic and web design on the side.

I'm currently using a 5 year old 17 inch Toshiba pc with 1GB of ram and 80gig hard drive.
 
All of that sounds like something the 13" can handle. However, professional quality graphics demand a high-resolution display to make work less troublesome.

If you work with large images a lot, the 15" is your only option.

Glossy and matte are purely preference.
 
MrCheeto said:
All of that sounds like something the 13" can handle. However, professional quality graphics demand a high-resolution display to make work less troublesome.

If you work with large images a lot, the 15" is your only option.

Glossy and matte are purely preference.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the 15 inch might be better too because of the extra screen real-estate.

I'm having a hard time deciding between the glossy and matte.

I like how portable the 13 inch is and how the battery is 10 hours.
 
ibodybuild said:
A window cleaning business running quick books. I do graphic and web design on the side.

I'm currently using a 5 year old 17 inch Toshiba pc with 1GB of ram and 80gig hard drive.
Click to expand...

Like MrCheeto wrote, the 13" is capable of doing what you want to do, but the 15" MBOP offers more resolution. Look at the Apple Online Refurbished Store to see if you can find one of the "older" 15" MBPs for a reduced price, as you really don't need one of those fancy i5/7 CPUs. The longer battery life is nice though, but if you don't need that, then the refurbs are a way to go.
 
spinnerlys said:
Like MrCheeto wrote, the 13" is capable of doing what you want to do, but the 15" MBOP offers more resolution. Look at the Apple Online Refurbished Store to see if you can find one of the "older" 15" MBPs for a reduced price, as you really don't need one of those fancy i5/7 CPUs. The longer battery life is nice though, but if you don't need that, then the refurbs are a way to go.
Click to expand...

I would like one of the new macbook pros.

I am just in between a matte or glossy screen. Should I get regular glossy screen that comes standard? or hi-res matte screen?
 
I personally like the glossy screen. If your a stickler and can't tolerate any glare on your screen, be my guest and get the matte. The silver bezel on the matte just repels me away.
 
ibodybuild said:
What's better for business, the 13 inch or the 15 inch macbook pro? I can't make my mind up and I have gone to the store and spend hours trying to decide.. and still can't.

I'm going to be also doing a lot of web and graphic design.

I am also in between getting the anti-glare screen or not. I know that it is only offered on the 15 inch.

So for the 15 inch macbook pro I am looking at getting these specs:

  • # 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
  • # 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
  • # 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
  • # SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
  • # MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
  • # None
  • # Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide
Click to expand...
You are doubting between a 13" and a 15", but when you will go for the 15", you want to have the fastest processor offered... That does not make sense to me as it would mean that every 13" would be too slow anyway for your needs. If you would have compared to the base model, it would have made more sense. Doing things such as webdesign, the higher the resolution the better as you can see more on your screen. I would go for the high-res 15" therefore. For webdesign you do not need a faster hard drive really, so I would advise to go for the base model 15", with a high-res screen (either glossy or matte, the choice is up to you as it is personal preference also). If you want a faster hard drive after a while still, you can always replace it yourself which is cheaper than having Apple do it for you. Have a look at the 15" model which I have on order; see signature. I believe this would suit you fine too.
 
Get a 13" and use the money saved on an external monitor with a higher resolution than the 15".
 
aiqw9182 said:
Get a 13" and use the money saved on an external monitor with a higher resolution than the 15".
Click to expand...

my words exactly! add a nice 24" display to your 13" MBP and you have best portability + 1920x1080 or higher on the external display for work. and all for the price (or less) the 15" alone would cost you.
 
13" is a good idea IF you're going to be always hooking up to your external display for doing more detailed work.

If instead you're traveling, using at coffee shop, patio, couch, den etc and you're not often hooking up to an external display to do more detailed tasks then DEFINITELY buy the largest display you can manage, 15" would probably be the ideal balance as it is for many.
 
entatlrg said:
13" is a good idea IF you're going to be always hooking up to your external display for doing more detailed work.

If instead you're traveling, using at coffee shop, patio, couch, den etc and you're not often hooking up to an external display to do more detailed tasks then DEFINITELY buy the largest display you can manage, 15" would probably be the ideal balance as it is for many.
Click to expand...

I decided that a 15 inch with a Matte screen is going to be my best bet.

I am in between getting the base 15 inch or the top of the line 15 inch. I calculated that to go from the base 15 inch to the top of the line 15 inch would be an extra $358... What to do????
 
ibodybuild said:
I decided that a 15 inch with a Matte screen is going to be my best bet.

I am in between getting the base 15 inch or the top of the line 15 inch. I calculated that to go from the base 15 inch to the top of the line 15 inch would be an extra $358... What to do????
Click to expand...

I was in the same boat; ultimately I decided to bite the bullet and get the high end 15" with the HR AG with the student discount.
 
DesmoPilot said:
I was in the same boat; ultimately I decided to bite the bullet and get the high end 15" with the HR AG with the student discount.
Click to expand...

How do you find the text on the HR AG? I did kind of find the text to be small when I was viewing it in the store compared to the regular version glossy... how are you finding the battery life too?

Also I think I might just bite the bullet too and go for the top of the line version.
 
ibodybuild said:
How do you find the text on the HR AG? I did kind of find the text to be small when I was viewing it in the store compared to the regular version glossy... how are you finding the battery life too?

Also I think I might just bite the bullet too and go for the top of the line version.
Click to expand...

Don't have it yet, it's still waiting to be shipped. From what I've read battery life is fine, the screen will take getting used to, but from what I hear (and believed from the beginning) it will be more then worth it in the end.
 
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