Has anyone switched successfully from a 15" to a 13"?

[entatlrg]

Always buy the largest screen size you can manage you'll be more productive.

Unless, you spend the majority of your time hooked up to an external monitor and/or you travel a lot and size and weight is important to you, keeping in mind the 13" is only one pound lighter.

Post back what you end up buying and how you like it.

 

[DeuceDeuce]

Yes and Im glad I did. Much more portable imo. When I use it at my office during the day I do have it hooked up to an ACD so...

 

[Larrabee213]

I went from a 15" MBP to a 13" when the 13" MBP came out. As of tomorrow I will be back on the 15". Just not enough screen real estate.

 

[Moreorless]

Yup, I've just switched from a MacBook Pro 15" 2.6 classic to a 13" 2.53. It wasn't through choice though. The 15"'s mother board went belly up, which after 15 years of Macs from Classic to Quadras and Powerbook G4 (Which I still use for emergencies thankfully), is the first time I've ever had a hardware problem. The 15" (using Tiger) was only two years old and my faith in Macs took a huge knock.

However, I'm awed by the 13". It is like quicksilver and considerably faster than the 15". I run my business from the laptop, which is on most of the day although I have no heavy software usage apart from occasional daily Photoshop work. I also decided to do away with Firefox and Entourage and try Mail and Safari - my thinking that Mac's own browser and email program might make the computer more stable. I got lots of Entourage hang ups on the 15". Still recovering from the additional expense of a new Mac.

The distributor neglected to tell me there's an extended warranty on the 15"'s motherboard, which I was very pissed about. Still fighting with them over it but I doubt, it will go anywhere. Generally upset with distributor's customer backup. All these glitzy showrooms and staff that don't have the product knowledge to match. Nice people but buskers.

I am beginning to fall in love with the little 13". Phew - it's fast!

 

[yargk]

Nope failed. I had a 15, returned it for a 13. Opened up the 13 and there was a 15 in the box. Returned the 15 (again), got a second 13. Everything seemed fine the first night, but in the morning it was a 15 again. Never succeeded. Hope you have better luck.

 

[harperjones99]

I am beginning to fall in love with the little 13". Phew - it's fast!

You know screen size has nothing to do with speed right? You referenced twice how much faster the 13" was. It seems an odd association to make. You can get a 15 with the same specs.

 

[Moreorless]

HJ99. Of course I understand that. I know screen size has nothing to do with speed. I am specifically comparing speed to my MacBook Pro 15" classic. Not the current MacBook Pro 15"s.

 

[shambo]

Always buy the largest screen size you can manage you'll be more productive.

Unless, you spend the majority of your time hooked up to an external monitor and/or you travel a lot and size and weight is important to you, keeping in mind the 13" is only one pound lighter.

Post back what you end up buying and how you like it.

+1 However why stop at screen size? Alway always ALWAYS buy as much technological clout as you can safely finance to future proof your investment.

 

[DoNoHarm]

what particular models are you looking at?

I'm debating between three options:

1) Base 13" plus an ipod touch plus a ($300) external display

2) Base15" plus an ipod touch

3) mid level 15"

having the external display has the negative of creating clutter in my room. I bike to school (i'm a college student applying to medical school) instead of drive, so the size of the 13" will be a plus. However, I plan on leaving the computer in my room often since i use it as a skype phone.... the ipod touch will let me use skype from wherever. If I look at my use thus far, it's mostly using the MBP as a laptop. i carry it around into the living room to compute there, or the dining room, or on my desk. the external display working ONLY on my desk after I plug a bunch of wires kind of sucks... I don't know. decisions, decisions.

 

[Csmitte]

I went from a 12" Dell to a 15" MBP back to a 12" Dell Back to a New UNI! The screen real estate was everything to me. Sometimes portability and size have a say so. I would try one out for a day if possible.

Cheers

 

[Csmitte]

I went from a 12" Dell to a 15" MBP back to a 12" Dell Back to a New UNI! The screen real estate was everything to me. Sometimes portability and size have a say so. I would try one out for a day if possible.

Cheers

 

[typofreak183]

Funny you say that, I would LOVE to switch the other way.

My dad, however, has made that switch once, and he had no problems (he loves the small form factor and screen resolution is apparently not a problem...)

 

[DoNoHarm]

thanks for all the help people. apple made the choice for me. They're replacing my MBP (which was the base model) with the mid level MBP.

I can't believe what an awesome company this is! I think i'll go ahead and spend all the money I was going to spend upgrading on whatever steve pulls out of the envelope in January...

 

[AppleNewton]

Sort of, i went from using my 17" + 30 to 17" standalone for a primary desktop replacement to a 13" MBP and i love the little guy.

Im waiting for the 27" i7's to become available to swap out the 17" and use the 27 & 13 together.
then sell of the 17.

while i love the 17 and was one of the best computers ive ever used, it just doesnt seem practical again to not be using the huge display when ihave it connected to a external monitor or iMac. so the 13" suffices for my portable needs and the 27" does the rest.