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High end MBP 13" or low end MBP 15"

T

trevorplease

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 13, 2009
326
62
The only difference between these two is the bigger screen real estate, am I right?

Is there anything I'm missing? Perhaps a little more battery life on the 15"?
Does this justify the extra $200?
 
I was in the same dilemma yesterday I decided to get the 13" MBP. It's the same battery for both models except the 17" which is 8 hours I believe just an hour more.
 
miles01110 does have a valid point. It's easier to give an informed opinion if we knew what your intended uses are for the laptop.

Mine is (and, keep in mind, you get what you pay for ;)) is that for general computing purposes, a 13" is a nice balance between ease of use and portability. Unless you have a specific need for a bigger screen, a base 13" is easy to truck around, and can be easily hooked up to a desktop for more screen real estate.
 
I tried to keep the question general hoping to get more responses.

I went to the store to look at the two models today and I like the bigger screen, the smaller one seemed cramped. I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the extra $200 to get the same specs as the 13" one though.

Can anyone sway me either way?
 
unless you only use your laptop at home get the 13"....it's easy to carry around and is just an awesome machine...full disclosure: I just bought one.
 
If I was you, I would get the bottom end 15" Macbook Pro over the 13" MBP. IMO, The 15 inch screen is worth more than 200 dollars because you can display a window with your research and a window with your word processing document side by side, which makes life far easier if you are a student. Also, the 15 inch is not that much bigger than the 13 inch, and once it is in your backpack/case, you wont notice a 400 gram difference. Also, the 15 inch is not much larger than a A4 sheet of paper, so it is easy to put into most backpacks. Otherwise, they are the same computer, just a different size case. I own the MBP 15 inch and have been using it for a year and a half
 
if you're going to be doing tasks that require lots of screen real estate on the go (ie video and photo editing). Otherwise go for the 13" its nice and lightweight and really portable (I have one before they started calling them macbook pros) and use the extra $200 on an external display if you really need one. You can get a 23" 1080p for $179 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...009163&cm_sp=DailyDeal-_-24-009-163-_-Product)

or put the money in the bank

or buy a new iphone 3GS

best of luck,
Jamessinwest
 
I just bought the new 13" high end pro yesterday, and so far it's awesome! I am coming from a 20" iMac, and while the screen is significantly smaller, it is completely usable. It has enough room for just the application you are running in the foreground, but the four button down swipe for expose is great for fixing that. I honestly don't miss that much of the large screen, but when I look at it after using the MBP for a while, it just looks huge. I must say that it has very good screen quality, and only inverts color at a ridiculous angle from underneath. I am also going to buy a Dell 21.5" 1920x1080 monitor soon anyway to make up for the lost real estate at home. For now though, I am completely content with the screen, and surprised by the extra horsepower gained from 1gb of RAM, 128MB of video RAM, and 530mhz.

My advice:
Your $200 is better spent on a 20 or so inch monitor and a nice case. You will not really miss the 2 inches and couple thousand pixels, especially when you can go home to millions more :D. Go for the 13"!
 
I agree with others here when I say get the 13" MBP. $200 gets you a 2" larger screen with higher resolution. But, you lose portability. Spend that $200 and get a 10" larger display, with a far superior resolution to the 13 "or 15" MBP. That way, you get a smaller, more portable notebook, while having a full 23" desktop experience.
 
I would go with the 13" hands down. I find it the perfect balance of power and portability - the 15" is significantly larger and, imo, more cumbersome to use. Not a true notebook like the 13".
 
I love my high end 13"

a couple of years ago I would have sold my soul to have a computer this nice on my lap.

I use an external monitor at my desk coupled with bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Definitely the way to go in my opinion at the desk. I don't miss having larger screens because of that setup.

When I'm on the go, portability is paramount. The portability of the 13" and the punch it packs in term of power and memory makes a MUCH better portable option than the macbook air in my opinion.

And now that they have the SATA interface figured out, I'm 100% certain I made the right choice in getting the 13" 2.53

And don't believe people who tell you the .26 ghz difference will be unnoticeable. Multi-monitor work with programs like logic and CS4 will for sure be helped by the extra processing power.

Though the 2.26 is probably just as nice for a lot of things. If you go with that one though I would highly recommend an upgrade to 4 GB ram. Made a big difference in the uMB that I had shortly before this uMBP.

Whatever you get, I'm pretty sure you're going to be psyched when you wake up for the next couple of weeks because you get to use it again :)
 
I recently bought a 17" uMBP (before the price drop) and I still have my 15" C2D MBP.

The difference in weight isn't that much once you get it in your bag with everything else you carry...... and you get a MUCH bigger screen, and a MUCH nicer resolution (1920x1200)

Until Apple joins us in 2009 and starts upping the resolution on their laptop panels, I'll stick with 17" and it's high(er) resolution screen. 1280x800 on a 13" screen is QUITE pitiful, same goes for the 1440x900 rez on the 15".

If you can deal with the sad resolution, I'd just go with the 13" it's not to far off from the 15, and you get all the same features, and save $200.
 
Macbook Pro 15"

deneenco said:
I recently bought a 17" uMBP (before the price drop) and I still have my 15" C2D MBP.

The difference in weight isn't that much once you get it in your bag with everything else you carry...... and you get a MUCH bigger screen, and a MUCH nicer resolution (1920x1200)

Until Apple joins us in 2009 and starts upping the resolution on their laptop panels, I'll stick with 17" and it's high(er) resolution screen. 1280x800 on a 13" screen is QUITE pitiful, same goes for the 1440x900 rez on the 15".

If you can deal with the sad resolution, I'd just go with the 13" it's not to far off from the 15, and you get all the same features, and save $200.
Click to expand...

I think that you should go for the 15".
It is larger and worthed with their price.
 
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