Display size if on your Mac 6 hours a day or more?

[tim100]

well

Because I travel to other offices and homes and can't buy iMacs for every office. Having an external monitor ready on the desk when I arrive is important. I carry the tiny Apple bt keyboard and HP bt mouse. It's a great setup having dual displays when possible I really miss it when I'm in a hotel.

Cheers,

i use my notebook different than most of you. i like it portable on the couch etc. imac is on the desk.

 

[iBookG4user]

I use a Dell 30" display with my 15" i7 MacBook Pro. Really enjoy it!

That's a very nice combo, I hope to get something like that in a few years

 

[emaja]

i use my notebook different than most of you. i like it portable on the couch etc. imac is on the desk.

Fir me, it makes more sense to have one machine. I use my MBP hooked to a monitor at home, then disconnect it for travel. I use my iPad on the couch. It seems cheaper and I don't have to transfer files between Macs.

 

[blunderboy]

13" is comfortable for me, and a larger computer would be overkill for me. It depends on how much you can look at smaller text. I read small text comfortably (I'm very shortsighted, but have very precise close-up vision), so this is great, but your mileage may vary.

 

[revelated]

I tend to agree with some others that it really depends on what you're doing for those 6 hours.

Having used the Air, the 13", the 15" and now the 17" I can say that the 17" is the one I should have bought in the very first place. That's not discounting the 13" or the 15", especially the 13". They're more than sufficient for all but the most intensive users, I'd say. But for us in the IT realm, I think the 17" is the best option. If you're just browsing the web, emailing, chatting, etc. then the 13" is likely more than enough.

The 15" is good, but I can't justify the price premium unless you're doing Photoshop or something else that requires the extra real estate but not quite the bulk of the 17".

I don't find the fonts on the 17" to really be that small at all. In fact, this feels "normal" to me. Plus the 13" looked fuzzy, at least in OSX. Windows in the VM looked as sharp as I remembered it should, but OSX has always looked blurry to me. The 17" doesn't have that issue.


In short: it depends on what you use it for, not how long you use it.

 

[TrojanX]

I have a 13" MBP and a 37" Vizio Tv(check below for specs on both) and I find that, unless I work for a REALLY long time, the screen size doesn't bother me. I qualify the word"REALLY" as 10 or more hours. I say keep the 400 or so you save Vs the 15" and get a nice 32" screen and the adapters to connect it. I know I am well pleased.

 

[filmgirl]

I spent well over a year and a half using just a 13" BlackBook as my sole computer for probably 12 hours a day or so. Then I used it with a 23" monitor and that was amazing. Then a year after I got the second monitor I went to the 27" iMac and secondary display.

That said, if a 15" is in your budget and the size works, I think that may be the sweet spot. If it's too big or too pricey, consider getting a second LCD for use at home or the office. With a secondary monitor and keyboard the size of the laptop display matters a lot less

 

[Xenophon]

Macbook 13 inch for portability when out on business, when I'm in the office I hook it up to my LED cinema display. Best of both worlds.

 

[xi mezmerize ix]

It really depends on your eyes. I spend 12-16 hours a day on my 15", but I can't imagine doing that with a 13". Too many decades looking at computer screens.

Go outside.

 

[xi mezmerize ix]

Go outside.

Typical Rebuttal: I bet you're a riot at parties.

 

[iPhysicist]

It all depends on you. I can do all my work at the 13". I read a lot of papers and search the web, do calculations, aso...

One prefers the 13 one the 15 one the 17... its your decision.

 

[phungy]

I'm on the 24" ACD most of the time but I wish it was matte.

 

[GGJstudios]

Go outside.

I do that a lot, especially for Harley rides.

 

[entatlrg]

Not many voters yet I realize, but it's interesting the 13" hasn't made it over 20% in the Poll yet.

 

[newConvert]

I had a 13" MacBook for about 4years, just got the new 15" mbp w/ hi-res screen, it is SO much better. The screen seems much bigger, and with the bumped up rez you can have 2 browsers going at once, or any number of screens for various apps. Go 15" hi-res. Glossy for me.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

How much smaller would the fonts be on the hi-res 15" compared to the 13" MBP?

It does not really matter because you can just zoom in a little. For example I have a 15in dell that is hi res and on MS word I can use 125% zoom over lets say 100% on my old 17in LCD. The font is going to be about the same size to my eyes.

Also a question that I have not seen answered is how much traveling with your laptop will you really do. Personally I would go with the 15in. It seems to be the sweet spot in laptops between screen size and portability.

 

[talmy]

I've owned my own computers for 30+ years, own a 13" MacBook, but wouldn't want to spend 6 hours a day on it without a separate keyboard, mouse, and large display!

There's no substitute for a large pixel count.

I use the MacBook when I must be portable, but I mainly use a 27" iMac with an external 20" monitor added, and at work I've got a PW with a pair of 17" monitors. I can comfortably use either of these all day long.

If I were restricted to a single system, I'd have to go with the 13" plus a large external monitor.

 

[entatlrg]

It does not really matter because you can just zoom in a little. For example I have a 15in dell that is hi res and on MS word I can use 125% zoom over lets say 100% on my old 17in LCD. The font is going to be about the same size to my eyes.

I know about the zoom function. I was still curious about the difference in font size between the two.

 

[tim100]

How much smaller would the fonts be on the hi-res 15" compared to the 13" MBP?

they are quite a bit smaller. think 17 size fonts.

 

[JustMack]

Hey all, I just got my 15" base model MBP..and I love it!! first Mac, and I'm definatelty a convert.

I use my mac 6hours+, and i don't think it's that much of a bother to carry round with or travel. I'm in uni everyday, and it isn't too much bother imo.

The screen size is just perfect for me to surf online, do uni work and Skyping..all at the same time!

 

[entatlrg]

This post is going on two years old ... I notice a huge change since then in our offices, that being a lot more people have downsized to smaller, lighter notebooks, lots of 13" MBP's, Air's, Lenovo X series. Many hook up to a larger display in their offices and unplug daily to take there notebooks home.

Two years ago the 15" seemed to be the mainstream.

I guess the MBPs and Airs run external displays so much better it makes sense.

 

[GGJstudios]

Two years ago the 15" seemed to be the mainstream.

For at least some of us, it still is!

 

[maflynn]

In my office, 15" is still king, while handful of co-workers have opted for something smaller, they are in the minority.

I have a 13" MBP but I have it hooked up to a 20" external display. I could not use it day in and day out if I did not have that monitor. TBH, I'm moving to a 15" MBP once the new machines are released.

Eyestrain and screen real estate are the major factors for me.

 

[miniConvert]

15" MBP (high res glossy) and iPad are my combination and I'm in computing heaven

I recently bought the Origami Workstation and Apple Wireless Keyboard for the iPad - I had been finding that the lack of physical keyboard was a little limiting when out-and-about if needing to do some serious work.

I had a 13" Air for a couple of years - long periods of serious computing on it just aren't particularly enjoyable.

 

[heisenberg123]

i like to have m external display for long hours, not just for size but for posture too, i sit more upright when viewing my external than my mbp screen