College students' opinions!! 13" vs 15"

[tgamer007]

13"

Adobe Apps, School Work, Portability, Basic Video apps.

15"

All of the above and Video Editing, Gaming, Graphics Hungry Applications >>> 2.66Ghz Model with the 9600 GT Card. You can have some degree of portability with the 15 inch. Its a tad heavier and bigger, but it is still considered portable.

I'm a collage student and am in the same predicament as well. I'm going for the 15" though. I know i'll be gaming on it, I know that i'll be running video editing applications on it, I know I'll be running multiple applications at once.

Cheers! Hope this Helps!

 

[the_mole1314]

I have a 15" currently, and getting a new 13".

Why the switch?

Several reasons. Firstly, cost. But mostly, it's rather large to take around all the time to classes. Doesn't take up more room on desks, in the room, etc. Perfect size...

 

[rowsdower]

I had a 15" PowerBook (Titanium and then Aluminum) through college. I never found portability to be an issue and I liked the extra screen space. It probably depends on the person though.

 

[Feng Shui]

I suggest going with the 15". The discrete GPU does wonders. A 15" MBP isn't hard to carry around, and you'll get a good exercise (something you'll barely have time for in college).

 

[Teej guy]

Contradictions?

I rarely have problems with my 13" BlackBook as far as screen space goes (when I do I have an 24" monitor). I can fit both a Safari and Word window side by side just fine. The Safari window will sometimes go a bit off the screen but it isn't really that huge of a deal and doesn't usually bother me.

That's not what I meant. I meant I have problems with the amount of screen space but I haven't had any problems with the physical size of the 15" laptop.

 

[eVolcre]

Either 13 or 17.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

With video editing, specs are way more important then the extra 2-inches. After four years of having the 17-inch, I'm looking forward to down-sizing my laptop and switching to the iMac/notebook combo.

 

[Techhie]

I think you should ask yourself "Do I want size and power, or portability?" I liken the 13" vs 15" to 13" vs 17", because if you make the wrong choice, that extra two inches makes the laptop seem like a behemoth. If you don't NEED the extra resolution or the discreet GPU, go with the 13", expecially if you are moving around.

 

[arian19]

You guys said that major matters, im going to start school in a few months at a UC, and my major is Computer Science and Eng, do you think i would need the 17 inch?

 

[emt1]

I'm a college senior (I can't believe it went by that fast). I've had both a 15" and a 13". Go for the 13" if you will be bringing it to class.

 

[maclook]

im voting for 13", i got my macbook when i lived on a fairly large campus and it was the best computer ive ever had. love the portability and it is in no way too small. i wrote tons of papers on it, no problem, and have done work with friends while we shared the screen. its great...thats all i can say

 

[mikes70mustang]

He didn't mean it, his hatred for SPSS made him do it!

its true

 

[tseitz89]

im in college now with a 15in UBMP and sometimes i wish i had the 13in for portability

 

[tseitz89]

You guys said that major matters, im going to start school in a few months at a UC, and my major is Computer Science and Eng, do you think i would need the 17 inch?

You need the 15 or 17in with dedicated graphics for programs like AutoCAD and such, with at least 4gb of ram to run parrales smoothly, im the same major as you

 

[Ticonderoga]

You need the 15 or 17in with dedicated graphics for programs like AutoCAD and such, with at least 4gb of ram to run parrales smoothly, im the same major as you

I didn't know that computer science majors use AutoCAD that often these days, but in any case, AutoCAD should run fine on 9400M--I didn't even have dedicated graphics when I started using AutoCAD 15 years ago, and I don't think the usage of AutoCAD has changed all that much throughout the years.

Of course, it is a completely different story if one works extensively with 3D drawing or video. But if that's the case it is probably wiser to spend the $750 difference between a 15" MBP with 9600M and a 13" MBP on a desktop with 2 screens. A 13" MBP and a desktop in conjunction would give more processing power, more screen estate and higher portability than a 15" MBP alone.

 

[Skika]

I think both 13" and 15" are enough portable for college. Previously i had the whitebook and i loved the portability, but also now with the 15" i have no problem with it. Its still has great portability factor, especially if you compare it to other 15" laptops.

 

[djharris]

I didn't know that computer science majors use AutoCAD that often these days, but in any case, AutoCAD should run fine on 9400M--I didn't even have dedicated graphics when I started using AutoCAD 15 years ago, and I don't think the usage of AutoCAD has changed all that much throughout the years.

Of course, it is a completely different story if one works extensively with 3D drawing or video. But if that's the case it is probably wiser to spend the $750 difference between a 15" MBP with 9600M and a 13" MBP on a desktop with 2 screens. A 13" MBP and a desktop in conjunction would give more processing power, more screen estate and higher portability than a 15" MBP alone.

I was a CS major and we didn't really do much that required a beast of a graphics card. Just a lot of programming, and writing papers and researching for your gen ed's and a few CS courses. If you're doing graphically intensive stuff while programming anyway that's different though.

There are a lot of reasons a Mac is great for a CS student, such as ease of coding for it, integrated development tools, UNIX-based foundations (Yes, Leopard on Intel can actually be called UNIX, Apple paid lots of $$ for that), all the key open source software and libraries work great for it, and so forth.

And AutoCAD has changed significantly over the years, but is still Windows only so VMWare Fusion or Parallels or Bootcamp with Windows is necessary. The hardware required for AutoCAD just keeps going up and up, so you need a beast of a computer to use it without an upgrade for a while. But for CS AutoCAD is a non-issue really, but it depends what kind of engineering student you will be to see how much benefit you can derive from having it.

Oh, and you WILL want to get VMWare (I ordered it over parallels for my new MBP) and a Windows license and media (XP Pro, or Vista Business or Ultimate, or Win7 eventually once stuff supports it) because you will have that one random class with the software that will ONLY work on Windows that you need to use, or that one website that only supports IE, or whatever. Just the reality of today's environment... academic, business, government or whatever. Thank goodness we have Intel and great virtualization support for Mac's now!

Oh, and if you're CS or IT or Engineering, and you can use MSDNAA, USE IT. Free (or almost-free) Microsoft operating systems and development tools you will never again get freely once you graduate, works great virtualized on Mac too! Also, you can get awesome discounts on MS Office (check with your school's IT, techstore, or bookstore for special programs and options) and Autodesk, Adobe, and other stuff.