high end 13" or low end 15" how much of a difference

[damonbob]

Hey, I am looking at picking up one of the new macbooks pros and had a few questions about the difference between the 13 and 15 inch MBPs

First I am looking at:

Canadian prices at Educational discount

MBP 13"
2.7Ghz Dual Core
4GB ram
128GB SSD or 256GB SSD (leaning towards the 256GB)
$1629 (128GB) / $1989 (256GB)

MBP 15"
2.0Ghz Quad Core
4Gb ram
500gb 5400rpm or 128GB
AMD Radeon HD 6490M
$1839 (HDD) / $2019 (SSD)

with the thundebolt port thinger I don't have too much of an issue with having external storage. My main conserns are the difference in the CPU and GPU

Thanks in advance for you opinions

 

[thepf]

I too would like to know the answer, in terms of differences in the speed of the processors.

 

[Cicatrix]

I was originally going to go for the high end 13" model. Once I found out the 15" would be sporting a Quad Core, and that the res on the 13 was still so low, I changed my mind about getting the 13" I am now interested in the 15" low end model. I keep hearing how the 6490m is crap though.

I do not play games at all but I will be doing a lot of audio work. Do you guys think the graphics of the low end 15" model will suite my needs graphically, or is it really that horrible.

Keep in mind, I am coming off of a Lenovo Thinkpad T410.

 

[damonbob]

yea, I like the high res of the 15", the quad cores, and the dedicated GPU.

the dedicated GPU might suck but for what I will be doing with the computer I shouldn't be maxing it out.

I think the 6490 should be enough for your audio works, I am hopping that it will be enough for my 3d cad work, and video rendering. nothing too crazy but hopefully enough.

I am just not too sure if I am willing to move up to the 15" size. my first laptop was a 15" 9lbs, and 1.5" thick. my next one was a 12" and now a netbook. It might be hard to move up to a 15" again even if it is under an inch and 5.6lbs

well might just have go see one hands on but I might not be back in a town that is big enough to sell computers for about three or four weeks.

 

[SurferMan]

I'll pry upgrade to a new 15" with high res anti glare.... I cannot stand the reflections on my 13" pro lol.

 

[Cicatrix]

damonbob,

I would highly recommend going to a store and seeing them first hand. I think if you do that, you will at least know what your missing out on with each model, I was looking at all the models together yesterday at Best Buy. I knew in a second that the 15" was the way to go for me. As others have said before, it's the perfect compromise. I picked all three up and the weight did not seem like it would be that much of an issue if you are carrying it around with you. I see a lot of people saying the 15" is just too big to carry but I gotta tell ya, if you can carry a 13", there is no reason why you couldn't carry a 15" no problem.

I have also heard people say that the resolution between 1280x800 and 1440x900 is not that big, but that's not what my eyes told me. Just goes to show, you have to see for yourself.

Good luck on the new MBP!

 

[binary10]

Well.. since you listed the SSD in your target 13, that'll make the main difference.

Depending on what you're apps you're running will exercise the GPU and CPU other wise it's the time takes to load/start apps is what you'll notice with the SSD.