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Has anyone here gone from a 17-in to a 13-in?

D

dranakin

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 6, 2005
457
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I'm sporting a 5 year old PowerBook G4 17-in, and with Snow Leopard only supporting Intel and a price drop, I think it may be time to upgrade.

I'm very much eying the 13-in for various reasons, but my biggest concern would be the reduction of screen real estate. Looking at it in the store helped get an idea somewhat, but I feel like until you get the computer into your homespace, you really can't experience the difference.


My question is, has anyone here gone from a 17-in to a 13-in? What has your experience been like with adjusting with the keyboard space, speaker grills gone, etc.?
 
i went from a 12" powerbook to a 15" macbook pro, i cannot go back to the small screen....but that's just me, i like more area to view two open docs or webpages side by side for easy comparison, etc.
 
dranakin said:
I'm sporting a 5 year old PowerBook G4 17-in, and with Snow Leopard only supporting Intel and a price drop, I think it may be time to upgrade.

I'm very much eying the 13-in for various reasons, but my biggest concern would be the reduction of screen real estate. Looking at it in the store helped get an idea somewhat, but I feel like until you get the computer into your homespace, you really can't experience the difference.


My question is, has anyone here gone from a 17-in to a 13-in? What has your experience been like with adjusting?
Click to expand...

I actually have. I went from a Dell Inspiron 1720 / Inspiron 6400 (had both at the same time) to now a MBP 13" and an Inspiron 6400 and a Vostro (which looks exactly the same as the 6400.)

It is a rough trip. Just a few things
- Photoshop is very hard to manage losing all the screen space.
- Having toolbars and such on the side (like in MS word or Dreamweaver) becomes a test to whether you can manage yourself without them.
- You have to become very familiar with the fn button, regardless being on a windows or os x machine.
 
My guess is it wont be that bad. You probably have a 1440x900 screen on your PowerBook G4 and the 13" MacBook Pro has a 1280x800 screen but the pixel density on your G4 is only 100 pixels per inch whereas its 113 on the Macbook. You might lose a bit of real estate but the overall screen will look much better that your using now.
 
As far as getting used to the smaller layout...it is not that bad. I went from a 17" powerbook to my 13" blackbook without too much hassle. Obviously there is a reduction in screen size which takes adjustment, but I am rarely away from my 20" ACD for long.
 
I can only go from 17 to 13" IF I have a 23/24/30" display connected up to it when I'm not in transit/travels
 
For me, going from a larger screen to a smaller one would not be nice. If you are able to, go the Apple Store and fool around on the MBP.
 
I had a 17" PB and I went to a 13" Black MB for a bit. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. I think if you are just doing general stuff like office, surfing the web, listening to music, etc, it is totally doable. But if you are doing any photo or film editing, I think you would have to get an external display.
 
dranakin said:
I'm sporting a 5 year old PowerBook G4 17-in, and with Snow Leopard only supporting Intel and a price drop, I think it may be time to upgrade.

I'm very much eying the 13-in for various reasons, but my biggest concern would be the reduction of screen real estate. Looking at it in the store helped get an idea somewhat, but I feel like until you get the computer into your homespace, you really can't experience the difference.


My question is, has anyone here gone from a 17-in to a 13-in? What has your experience been like with adjusting with the keyboard space, speaker grills gone, etc.?
Click to expand...

I had all but written off a 15" due to price myself, and had all but resigned myself to a 13" refurb. Then then new ones came out, which at the time looked like a win win with the sd reader and speed increase ,then I spotted the too good to pass up refurb deals on the 2.4 and 2.53. It was more than I had intended to spend But it was too good a deal to pass up.

You might look at that route, I kno I ws looking at the apple store the other day and I noticed that the jump between a 15" and 17" was not as jarring as the one between 13" and 15" Someone posted side by side pics in one of the threads from endgadget I think.

It sounds like you have used a 17 for quite some time, are you really sure you want to make that huge a sacrifice?

You might want to hold off unless there is a reason you just have to buy now.

I bought because the refurb I bought was over $1000 off msrp,granted it is only about a $500 difference between the current comparable model, but it was still the best deal I have seen since I started looking.

If you don't have to wait and save unless you see a reason to bite, I am glad I did.
 
I went from 17" to 13" (1920x1200 to 1280x800) and i don't mind it at all. I have adjusted fine, it was really easy and i didn't even realize the big change until i opened my old dell e1705 and looked at how big the screen was. exposé helps A LOT with organizing the windows. I had the same concern as you at first but forgot about it as soon as i turned on for the first time my macbook. If it really looks like a big concern for you, go for the 15" Macbook pro. Or ask a friend to show you his macbook at your place (if you have a friend that has a macbook). I'll honestly never go back to 17".
 
I have a new MBP 17 and MBP 13. I LOVE the screen on the 17 (matte, too), but I have no problem transitioning to the 13." I use the 17" as a desktop replacement with external 24" monitor, and it's great that I can take it almost anywhere.

However, when I travel I take the 13." The small size makes traveling easier, and expose and spaces are great for a small screen.
 
I have all three size machines and once I start to use the machine, I get accustomed to whatever size MBP I am using.
 
I went from a 12", to 17" 3 years ago. Now I just upgraded to a new 13.3 Mac Book Pro.

Very happy, and very impressed with the 13.3 Mac Book Pro. Battery life is amazing. Speed is amazing compared to my 2.16.

I think 13.3, 15, and 17" depends on your true needs, and other computers.


John
 
JOHNGAETANO said:
I went from a 12", to 17" 3 years ago. Now I just upgraded to a new 13.3 Mac Book Pro.

Very happy, and very impressed with the 13.3 Mac Book Pro. Battery life is amazing. Speed is amazing compared to my 2.16.

I think 13.3, 15, and 17" depends on your true needs, and other computers.


John
Click to expand...

How do you deal with the drop in real estate. I think I have the exact same machine you do. 2006 2.16 MBP 17. I love it but the battery life is a killer. Does the new machine feel speedy? In what way?

I'm concerned about the screen real estate though. I'm so used to having multiple emails, browsers, documents etc all open. I suppose Expose/Spaces makes up for it.

I'm going to end up keeping my 17" anyway as a pseudo desktop. I love the design and its one of my favorite Apple computers. Can't beat the keyboard and the looks. :)

eV
 
dranakin said:
My question is, has anyone here gone from a 17-in to a 13-in? What has your experience been like with adjusting with the keyboard space, speaker grills gone, etc.?
Click to expand...

I did. (I've since compromised with a 15-in., but for other reasons.) It does take some getting used to, but you do get used to it. You learn to use Expose and Spaces a lot more.
 
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