Couple of questions about base 15" vs. customized base 13".

[cmac.2010]

Hey, I hope this is in the right area?

I already have the '08 Macbook and I love it, but I'm running low on memory and frankly I just want to upgrade to the Pro.

I'm going to college and would use it for writing papers, general use of the internet, and archiving/editing a LOT of pictures. I'd need enough space to be able to bring over my 1000+ images (haven't bothered importing , plus my 25g of iTunes music. iChat, iPhoto, TextEdit, GIMP, and Word would be my most used programs. I don't run a lot of programs, but I do tend to take up a lot of space and even though I've only had it for about a year and a half, I have less than half of my space left. I really don't use my mac for a lot of intense things, but it would be helpful to also install the Adobe suite so that my VC-major boyfriend can use it when he needs to.

I've been skimming other topics and so far I've come to the conclusion that the upgraded 13" Pro is a waste of money and I should stick with either a base 13" or a base 15". Space and overall speed is, of course, my main concern, but my computer knowledge is fairly limited so the specs I'm looking at on the Apple website are pretty much lost on me.

I can't spend more than the base 15", so I suppose a big question would be if I should just stick with the base 15", or buy the base 13" but upgrade to the 8GB ram and either the 320 or 500GB serial ATA drive (what does that mean exactly? xD)?

 

[kny3twalker]

Instead of upgrading to 8 GB ram, which you will most likely never need or use, and upgrading to a 500 GB HDD, which you can buy another internal or external harddrive in the future if you run out of the space, buy the base 15" which comes with a 320 GB HDD.

Also the 15" will be better since the 13" can feel small after a couple hours and as a college student, you will be writing many papers or doing other time intensive tasks.

If you were asking, what serial ATA drive means? Don't worry about the standards and protocols. Apple uses the same harddrives as every other company, so just make sure your size requirements are met.

 

[Freyqq]

Apple really overcharges for the upgrade from a 320 to 500 gb drive in the mbp 15. I got a 500 gb 7200 rpm drive for 70$ on sale. So...if you feel comfortable installing ur own, I'd put in ur own 500 and put the 320 into an external 2.5" enclosure. Try to get one that is FireWire 800 or FireWire 400 and the get a converter adapter 800-400, as it's faster than USB 2.0.

As for 15vs13, I've gone with 15 b/c of the extra screen space. Trust me, when you have 20 tabs open in.firefox, 15 PDFs, and a couple word Docs open to write a paper, you'll want the extra space.

 

[C64]

As for 15vs13, I've gone with 15 b/c of the extra screen space. Trust me, when you have 20 tabs open in.firefox, 15 PDFs, and a couple word Docs open to write a paper, you'll want the extra space.

I'd have to disagree with you there. You don't need a higher resolutions for websites. Hardly any website is more than say 1200 pixels wide. And height is irrelevant since you can scroll. Also, even the HR 1680x1500 resolution of the 15" isn't enough to properly have two screens next to each other. Then you'll come up short for both screens. In the end the only thing you get is more whitespace, but you'll still have most screens on top of, not next to each other.

 

[kny3twalker]

I'd have to disagree with you there. You don't need a higher resolutions for websites. Hardly any website is more than say 1200 pixels wide. And height is irrelevant since you can scroll. Also, even the HR 1680x1500 resolution of the 15" isn't enough to properly have two screens next to each other. Then you'll come up short for both screens. In the end the only thing you get is more whitespace, but you'll still have most screens on top of, not next to each other.

I disagree with you. I use my screen space completely different when using my 24" external monitor than when I use my 13" macbook pro. The larger screen and higher resolution will be blessing late at night when your eyes are tired.

 

[C64]

I disagree with you. I use my screen space completely different when using my 24" external monitor than when I use my 13" macbook pro. The larger screen and higher resolution will be blessing late at night when your eyes are tired.

Your 24" probably has a higher resolution than the 1680x1050 of the 15" HR screen, on which it is easier to have multiple screens side by side. The 1680 width however is simply not enough to properly use (most) websites and applications side by side. You'll still keep them on top of each other, and not side by side.

And reading from a screen with a lower resolution and bigger fonts will be easier on the eyes than from a screen with a higher resolution and relatively smaller fonts (assuming the brightness, sharpness, etc are the same). It'll be completely personal though whether you'll really notice the difference and if it bothers you.