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Is there any big difference between 15" and 17" beside screen size?

T

thornton93

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2009
9
0
Toledo, Ohio
FYI im a newb with grammer and Macs.

Alright, im looking at the MBP 15" 2.53ghz and the 17" 2.66ghz.

Im a current high school student so I need a MBP that will fit those needs.
I am going to be going into the automotive field for my career. I play WoW and I like to have all settings on high.

So my question really is, is there really any difference b/t the 2 MBP im choosing from?

Thanks for your time:)
 
umm, if you go to school you'll want the 15 in. trust me on that. lugging around this 17" beast is a big pain in the ass. MAJOR pain in the ass. also, the 15" should run WoW on high settings with no hiccups.
 
thornton93 said:
FYI im a newb with grammer and Macs.

Alright, im looking at the MBP 15" 2.53ghz and the 17" 2.66ghz.

Im a current high school student so I need a MBP that will fit those needs.
I am going to be going into the automotive field for my career. I play WoW and I like to have all settings on high.

So my question really is, is there really any difference b/t the 2 MBP im choosing from?

Thanks for your time:)
Click to expand...


right now im pretty sure the new 17" models have an option for the highest end processor for the macbook pro line.

as well as a matte screen option.
 
The size doesnt bother me at all. The MBP im going to get is going to be replacing my desktop. So its just going to be sitting on my computer desk most of the time.
 
The biggest diff is the 8 hour battery line in the 17" Pro. The 15" is only capable of 5 hours. Thats the big difference for me.
 
Not really. WoW will prob be more pixelated because apple put a midrange graphics card in the pro. The price is higher, and there is a bigger battery. It is heavier too.

Just buy a 15 and a 17' PC. That would be about the same price.
 
The new 17in MBP is a good upgrade now from the 15in model. You can play WoW on anything. I'm sure my ex is destroying her family and social life with it on a black Macbook right now.

When you say you're going into the automotive field, what do you mean?
 
Aside from screen size and resolution, the 17" has three USB ports instead of the 15" which only has two.

It has a faster processor (15" has 2.4 Ghz, 2.53, and 2.8 Ghz) with 2.66 Ghz and 2.93 Ghz.

It has an option for a 256 SSD while the 15" you'll have to buy the SSD from somewhere else or stick with the 128GB.

Currently the 17" is said to support 8GB, which is still iffy on the 15" (or maybe not iffy and just doesn't work).

Lastly and most noticeable is the battery. It's non-removable but because of that reason it's also supposed to last longer (Apple says 8 hours, so I'd go with 6-7 even though Apple switched to more realistic tests).
 
richthomas said:
soooo if you not going to be lugging it around why not get an iMac? cheaper, faster, cooler, bigger screen, no battery to worry about…
Click to expand...

My guess is that they still want some portability...just not as much as the 15" (which would probably be every day to every other day).

Also, to the OP, note that if you keep the Macbook's batteries plugged in all the time then the battery can degrade fast. Of course I have no idea if that's the same as the 17"'s battery, but I had a Macbook Pro late 2006 which I used for two years, but I plugged it in a lot (143 cycles when I finally checked it two years later)....it's now at 52% battery life (so that's why it only lasted an hour or two >_<).

I'd go with the iMac and Macbook...
 
Here's what I do.

I have a 2.5 GhZ MBP Classic (the one before this one). I have an Apple Keyboard, mouse, external monitor and stand. When I'm at home I use the laptop as if it's a desktop. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are attached to it. When I need to go to class, I just unplug stuff and take it with me. This way, I don't have to worry about syncing documents and all that jazz. I still have a larger screen with a high resolution while at home too.

That's what I would suggest doing. Get the middle of the line 15" MBP and get an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. It'll make your life happier.
 
The MBP 17" has a higher screen resolution than the 15" (1900x1200 vs 1440x900). However, I don't know if you'll be able to utilize the full resolution of the 17" in your games.
 
im thinking of selling my rev B air and exchange it for a new mbp 17inch. man the screen is gorgeous.
 
thornton93 said:
So my question really is, is there really any difference b/t the 2 MBP im choosing from?

Thanks for your time:)
Click to expand...

Summarise the differences with the 17" MBP:

- Faster CPU bto option.
- Increased standard/potential memory (4GB/8GB)
- Hi res option (1920x1200)
- Matte option
- Extra USB port
- Integrated battery, with claimed 8hr life (not gaming - browsing/word - lower brightness etc)


Hope that helps
 
tecknical said:
umm, if you go to school you'll want the 15 in. trust me on that. lugging around this 17" beast is a big pain in the ass. MAJOR pain in the ass. also, the 15" should run WoW on high settings with no hiccups.
Click to expand...

Especially worrying about if someone will steal your 17" mbp or dropping it since its a 3k+ machine!

15" mbp is already around $2100 to $2500 to carry around..

But if you were using the 17" at home most of the time, I'd say go for it.
 
The biggest difference from the point of view of performance is that the graphics chip in the 15" is typically clocked down to reduce heat build up, whereas the larger body of the 17" allows for it to run at full clock speed, with the prospect of moderate overclocking.

I think this is probably the most important consideration for you since it appears that WoW will get more attention than "grammer".
 
What haven't been mentioned yet is that 17" screen is said to be much higher quality than 15". The insane resolution of 1920x1200 helps too.
 
Basicly I went with the 17", because I wanted those 1.6" more space on my screen, I could have bought an external screen, but I have no room for it.
Also the antiglare screen option was appealing to me.
Other then that, well not much.
I am getting the one I want and just waiting for its release.

15,4" is nice enough, almost bought one, but now I am glad I waited.
Cannot wait to get it home and start exploring the world of Apple.
 
I had a 17" in the past, the weight wasn't a big deal for me.

The reason I'll be ordering a 17" (soon) instead of the 15" is because I can put more ram in it later on (for futureproofing), the high res screen and the slightly faster processor.

I figure I'll have it for so long because of the price that I need to squeeze everything I can out of the unit. Plus I love the big screen.
 
I also play WoW and have the 15" MacBook Pro with 512mb 9600GT.

Here's a video of how it runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGdGXHl5qCc

I'm not so sure it could handle 1920x1200 smoothly. As you can see in the video, it's playable at 1440x900 (max settings) but I suspect I'd have to turn some settings down in a 25 man raid.

I've been thinking of returning it for the 17" though, because the higher resolution is important to me.
 
The biggest difference you will see between the 15in and the 17in model is if you play HD movies 1080 pixels vs 720 pixels.

My friend had ripped his bluray copy of the dark night onto his external hard drive and I had to see it in action on my MBP screen. Needless to say when I started playing it in VLC the largest setting I could get it up to was 720 pixels, which was still impressive mind you. If I tried setting it up at 1080 the sides of the movie went off of the screen.

That is really the only different. I prefer to this day getting the 15in simply because of the size.
 
thornton93 said:
FYI im a newb with grammer and Macs.

Im a current high school student so...
Click to expand...

How can you be in high-school and still be a noob with grammar? You should spend more time practicing your grammar and less time playing WOW.

Other than being one of those annoying adults I don't have an answer for you.
 
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