Late 2011 15" MBP or 2012 13" MBP w/ SSD?

[Peter.]

Late 2011 15"
Originally released October 2011
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M

2012 13"
13-inch: 2.5 GHz
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
4GB 1600MHz memory
500GB 5400-rpm hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Built-in battery (7 hours)2

The refurbished goes for $1359 (no discount) while I can get the new 13" for $1099. I figure for the extra $250, I could put in a 256 gb SSD on the 13". I would also get a $100 gift card with the 13".

Help would be greatly appreciated as I'm torn on this.

 

[FastEddiebags]

you always need to specify what your going to do with your computer. Anything graphically intensive, then go with the 15 in.

 

[Peter.]

you always need to specify what your going to do with your computer. Anything graphically intensive, then go with the 15 in.

Sorry, kind of new to Mac's. Thanks for the advice.

As for uses, I don't plan on doing anything graphic intensive.

Mostly internet, mail, etc. for school and whatnot. But I'll be graduating next year so I want a computer that's going to last me a while

 

[Electa]

Sorry, kind of new to Mac's. Thanks for the advice.

As for uses, I don't plan on doing anything graphic intensive.

Mostly internet, mail, etc. for school and whatnot. But I'll be graduating next year so I want a computer that's going to last me a while

You plan on buying a quad core computer that is 15' for internet and mail and carrying around school? Seems a bit counter productive. Get a 13" air.

 

[IngerMan]

If you plan on hauling it around much, Less is best $$, Both are good options so you have to decide how much you plan on taking it with you. I would never consider taking my 15" with me daily, I take the iPad and leave the Pro at home.