Buying a MBP for college

[jaayb]

I'm attending an art school in the fall, and have been waiting to purchase my macbook for a number of reasons. I'm torn between the 13 and the 15 inch. I'm going to be running the adobe creative suite on the computer so im wondering if space will be an issue with the 13 inch, but i've used one before and they dont seem cramped at all, but that may change if i need to edit bigger projects. I'm also thinking about buying refurbished to save 500 bucks or so, is there anything in the brand new MBP's that i will absolutely need?

I'm also waiting to buy my laptop until apple will be brings back the 'buy a mac, get a free itouch' promotion, when will that be starting?

so my question are do i go with the 13 or the 15 inch mbp? should i buy refurbished? and when does the buy a mac get a free itouch promotion start up again?

 

[Hellhammer]

Back to School promo usually starts in late May. However, refurbished Macs do not apply so you would have to buy a new one to take advantage of that deal.

The 15" is definitely nicer for your tasks, especially if you get the hi-res display but in the end, it's up to you and your wallet. If your budget allows you to get the 15", then I would go for it. 13" is sufficient but extra screen estate is never bad when dealing with productivity suites. Of course, one option is to get the 13" and spend the saved money on a good external monitor.

 

[moez]

Also keep in mind that 13" has dual core processor whereas 15" has quad core.

If you want to buy a refurb, then wait for a couple of months when Apple might have the 2011 models on sale at refurb site. Currently its April 2010 and earlier.

 

[ghostlyorb]

The 13" is really awesome. I can't lie. And well, the 15" is even MORE awesome. I always get the maxed out 15" and the 2011 one is really fast. It would render pics really fast while watching a movie. I can do SO much more at the same time with the 8GB ram and the quad core that I could with the 4GB ram and dual-core processor.

I would recommend the quad.. and then you'd be set for a while. No need to spend money now, and then in a couple years spend more money when you need the extra power. Even if you just get the low end 15", it has plenty of power!