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MacBook dilemma

M

majkom

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 3, 2011
2,045
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Hi, I am considering macbook - cant really decide which.

I am leaving iMac 21inch 2011 base model behind and moving to macbook, reasons:
- need place taken by imac for something else
- want some more personal computer
- want SSD speed
- want little more portability (ie: from time to time leaving home - take it with me, from time to time, surfing/doing some work on the sofa)

What I am afraid of - definitely smaller and less quality display and less power.

Choices - macbook air 11, macbook air 13, cMBpro 13, cMBpro 15, rMBpro 13

My usage:
- safari surfing, itunes, iphoto, MS office/Apple iWork and Starcraft 2

Well, which should I choose, this is my logic behind:

mb air 11 - i really like how portable it is, but the screen is little too small and quite worse den IPS Glass covered imac one... and SDD inside is too small or too expensive

mb air 13 - again, i like portability (even less portable than mb air 11), but again, too expensive ssd capacities and less quality display

cMBpro 15 - this one looks like almost the best candidate, bigger screen with bigger resolution, SSD and RAM is user upgradable, nvidia gpu... but it is quite expensive and hardly portable

cMBpro 13 - well, looks like compromise to me - ssd and memory upgradable (therefore cheapest way getting ssd and lot of ram), partly portable (not so much as airs or retina mb pro), but - resolution is quite small and it is still TNT panel... and no nvidia card

rMBpro 13 - i like the form factor, but price for bigger ssd is killing me, and I am not sure that it would work just fine with intel GPU

Well, what to choose? Probably, I should act fast - got chance to buy all of them with 15 percent discount and imac is in last two months of apple care (not exactly apple care, but 2 years warranty given by law here) - so I guess it will be possible to sell iMac better with a month warranty left than later without any warranty (or, am I wrong about this?)

How is starcraft 2 working on macbook pro 13/retina 13/air on intel hd4000 (is it playable on battlenet - big fights, 2v2?) - starcraft is not dealbreaker, but it will be fine to play it:)

Last thing, i really do consider buying somtehing, as I have this 15 percent off opportunity and if anything new is released in let say 6 months, I will be definitely abble to resell this macbook for the price I bought it... what do you think?

Oh, and finally, last thing, in case of classic macbook - I thing i will buy caddy and replace DVD rom with SSD - Idea having 256 gb sysem SSD and hdd for itunes and iphote libraries sounds good to me... or, is it possible to fuse them?

Any input is appreciated. Thx.
 
The popular consensus is that SC2 is completely playable (just over 60 FPS) on near-min settings with the Intel HD 4000, and somewhat-playable (just under 30 FPS) on medium settings.

If you play SC2 (or any game) more than a few times a month on your computer, your entry-level option among notebooks is the 15" cMBP. You can get a classic MBP with an SSD, but for some reason it costs more than in the rMBP.
 
majkom said:
Hi, I am considering macbook - cant really decide which.

I am leaving iMac 21inch 2011 base model behind and moving to macbook, reasons:
- need place taken by imac for something else
- want some more personal computer
- want SSD speed
- want little more portability (ie: from time to time leaving home - take it with me, from time to time, surfing/doing some work on the sofa)

What I am afraid of - definitely smaller and less quality display and less power.

Choices - macbook air 11, macbook air 13, cMBpro 13, cMBpro 15, rMBpro 13

My usage:
- safari surfing, itunes, iphoto, MS office/Apple iWork and Starcraft 2

Well, which should I choose, this is my logic behind:

mb air 11 - i really like how portable it is, but the screen is little too small and quite worse den IPS Glass covered imac one... and SDD inside is too small or too expensive

mb air 13 - again, i like portability (even less portable than mb air 11), but again, too expensive ssd capacities and less quality display

cMBpro 15 - this one looks like almost the best candidate, bigger screen with bigger resolution, SSD and RAM is user upgradable, nvidia gpu... but it is quite expensive and hardly portable

cMBpro 13 - well, looks like compromise to me - ssd and memory upgradable (therefore cheapest way getting ssd and lot of ram), partly portable (not so much as airs or retina mb pro), but - resolution is quite small and it is still TNT panel... and no nvidia card

rMBpro 13 - i like the form factor, but price for bigger ssd is killing me, and I am not sure that it would work just fine with intel GPU

Well, what to choose? Probably, I should act fast - got chance to buy all of them with 15 percent discount and imac is in last two months of apple care (not exactly apple care, but 2 years warranty given by law here) - so I guess it will be possible to sell iMac better with a month warranty left than later without any warranty (or, am I wrong about this?)

How is starcraft 2 working on macbook pro 13/retina 13/air on intel hd4000 (is it playable on battlenet - big fights, 2v2?) - starcraft is not dealbreaker, but it will be fine to play it:)

Last thing, i really do consider buying somtehing, as I have this 15 percent off opportunity and if anything new is released in let say 6 months, I will be definitely abble to resell this macbook for the price I bought it... what do you think?

Oh, and finally, last thing, in case of classic macbook - I thing i will buy caddy and replace DVD rom with SSD - Idea having 256 gb sysem SSD and hdd for itunes and iphote libraries sounds good to me... or, is it possible to fuse them?

Any input is appreciated. Thx.
Click to expand...

Get a cmbp 15 as it is your best bet to emulate the iMac experience on the go. You get a good screen (not beautiful by any means) upgradeable ram and storage. Also rmbps are still in 1st cycle so they are kinda buggy (if you look at the forums 90% of problems are related to rmbps. The gpu on cmbp 15 is also great.

----------

You would lose about 10 to 15% on the deal if you sell the cmbp after the next gen is released.
 
majkom said:
Hi, I am considering macbook - cant really decide which.

I am leaving iMac 21inch 2011 base model behind and moving to macbook, reasons:
- need place taken by imac for something else
- want some more personal computer
- want SSD speed
- want little more portability (ie: from time to time leaving home - take it with me, from time to time, surfing/doing some work on the sofa)

What I am afraid of - definitely smaller and less quality display and less power.

Choices - macbook air 11, macbook air 13, cMBpro 13, cMBpro 15, rMBpro 13

My usage:
- safari surfing, itunes, iphoto, MS office/Apple iWork and Starcraft 2

Well, which should I choose, this is my logic behind:

mb air 11 - i really like how portable it is, but the screen is little too small and quite worse den IPS Glass covered imac one... and SDD inside is too small or too expensive

mb air 13 - again, i like portability (even less portable than mb air 11), but again, too expensive ssd capacities and less quality display

cMBpro 15 - this one looks like almost the best candidate, bigger screen with bigger resolution, SSD and RAM is user upgradable, nvidia gpu... but it is quite expensive and hardly portable

cMBpro 13 - well, looks like compromise to me - ssd and memory upgradable (therefore cheapest way getting ssd and lot of ram), partly portable (not so much as airs or retina mb pro), but - resolution is quite small and it is still TNT panel... and no nvidia card

rMBpro 13 - i like the form factor, but price for bigger ssd is killing me, and I am not sure that it would work just fine with intel GPU

Well, what to choose? Probably, I should act fast - got chance to buy all of them with 15 percent discount and imac is in last two months of apple care (not exactly apple care, but 2 years warranty given by law here) - so I guess it will be possible to sell iMac better with a month warranty left than later without any warranty (or, am I wrong about this?)

How is starcraft 2 working on macbook pro 13/retina 13/air on intel hd4000 (is it playable on battlenet - big fights, 2v2?) - starcraft is not dealbreaker, but it will be fine to play it:)

Last thing, i really do consider buying somtehing, as I have this 15 percent off opportunity and if anything new is released in let say 6 months, I will be definitely abble to resell this macbook for the price I bought it... what do you think?

Oh, and finally, last thing, in case of classic macbook - I thing i will buy caddy and replace DVD rom with SSD - Idea having 256 gb sysem SSD and hdd for itunes and iphote libraries sounds good to me... or, is it possible to fuse them?

Any input is appreciated. Thx.
Click to expand...

The 15" will be the only one that will be able to satisfy your Starcraft needs.

And I'm not sure where you heard that it's hardly portable. I mean, come on, it's not like it's too heavy to lift or too big to fit through doorways. I travel with it very frequently in my laptop backpack, and I can hardly feel the weight (other than the fact that I know a laptop is in it in the first place).
 
I had the macbook air 11" 2012 and had around 50-60fps with medium to low graphics on SC2. The portability was incredible, but eventually the screen got to me.

Exchanged it for an open box 13" MBP - nice, but I do audio recording and the dual core seemed like a bottleneck with my programs.

So to the 15" MBP - This is the one! I added my 16 gigs of ram, and this thing is truly spectacular. To me it doesn't seem much bigger than the 13" to carry around, but once you open the screen, you notice the difference (in a good way).

With every other system there was something that I was "okay" with, and thought I could settle on. Not with the 15". It's the first macbook I'm 100% happy with after purchase.
 
xShane said:
The 15" will be the only one that will be able to satisfy your Starcraft needs.

And I'm not sure where you heard that it's hardly portable. I mean, come on, it's not like it's too heavy to lift or too big to fit through doorways. I travel with it very frequently in my laptop backpack, and I can hardly feel the weight (other than the fact that I know a laptop is in it in the first place).
Click to expand...

Hi, well, 15incher is big and heavy - of course, taking it with me while leaving home is not a big issue, but using it ion sofa might be uncomfortable...

Thx for all comments, but still I cant decide.. cMBpro 15 seems like best option according to all comments, but it is quite heavy and expensive... On the beginning, cMBpro was my favorite, now I cant decide... :)
 
I got an idea...Go to Apple and get busy!

Try a few machines and make up your mind when you've spent a good hour playing around with all of them.

But...I will say this! Take the retina out of this whole decision. Reason being is that after you look at a regular screen and then the retina you pretty much get possessed and its a wrap. The screen is a real beauty, but if your into tinkering with your gadgets, it looks like either a 13 or 15 inch cMBP is what you'll be leaning towards.

I do a lot of the things you've stated , for the exception of gaming and my 13 inch rMBP is working out just dandy for me, but that's me...You have to get what fits your needs 100%
 
Sean76 said:
I got an idea...Go to Apple and get busy!

Try a few machines and make up your mind when you've spent a good hour playing around with all of them.

But...I will say this! Take the retina out of this whole decision. Reason being is that after you look at a regular screen and then the retina you pretty much get possessed and its a wrap. The screen is a real beauty, but if your into tinkering with your gadgets, it looks like either a 13 or 15 inch cMBP is what you'll be leaning towards.

I do a lot of the things you've stated , for the exception of gaming and my 13 inch rMBP is working out just dandy for me, but that's me...You have to get what fits your needs 100%
Click to expand...

Retina is nice, i liked the screen, but it is first gen product, HD4000 is not strong enough to work with this resolution, and it is bloody expensive here in europe.. to get decent capacity ssd (at least 256) cost you quite a lot, I cant rationalize such a cost to myself

as for gaming - only game i do play on my imac is starcraft 2 and there wont by any in the futere except starcraft 2... if hd4000 can do that with decent fps with low details, it would be enough for me...
 
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majkom said:
Hi, well, 15incher is big and heavy - of course, taking it with me while leaving home is not a big issue, but using it ion sofa might be uncomfortable...

Thx for all comments, but still I cant decide.. cMBpro 15 seems like best option according to all comments, but it is quite heavy and expensive... On the beginning, cMBpro was my favorite, now I cant decide... :)
Click to expand...

If you want power and upgrade-ability, then the cMBP 15" is the way to go. Hands down.

majkom said:
Retina is nice, i liked the screen, but it is first gen product, HD4000 is not strong enough to work with this resolution, and it is bloody expensive here in europe.. to get decent capacity ssd (at least 256) cost you quite a lot, I cant rationalize such a cost to myself

as for gaming - only game i do play on my imac is starcraft 2 and there wont by any in the futere except starcraft 2... if hd4000 can do that with decent fps with ecen very low res, it would be enough for me...
Click to expand...

I agree, the Retina screen is nice. However, that was one of the main deciding factors for me was what seemed like numerous issues that were likely to happen on rMBPs.

The 15" (Retina and non-Retina) MBPs both have dedicated GPUs.
 
majkom said:
Hi, well, 15incher is big and heavy - of course, taking it with me while leaving home is not a big issue, but using it ion sofa might be uncomfortable...

Thx for all comments, but still I cant decide.. cMBpro 15 seems like best option according to all comments, but it is quite heavy and expensive... On the beginning, cMBpro was my favorite, now I cant decide... :)
Click to expand...

Heavy? Seriously?

I barely noticed a difference coming from the 13 inch.

I use mine on the sofa all the time..
 
David58117 said:
Heavy? Seriously?

I barely noticed a difference coming from the 13 inch.

I use mine on the sofa all the time..
Click to expand...

lol...seriously! A few days at the gym a week should cure that!

My lady carries around a 2012 cMBP everywhere she goes...
 
some people dont understand that using word heavy can refer to less portable rather than me being weak...

no, 15incher is too big to be comfortable used on sofa.. at least for me
 
I play WoW on a 11" MBA, it plays but everything is turned down to min settings, save spell effects are one step up, and max the fps at 30. And I still need a cooling pad as the fans kick on and the heat cranks up pretty quick. I plan on upgrading to a MBP late summer/early fall when the new models launch and I have spare cash.

Having said that, if you play a lot of SC, then get the 15" cMBP as it's the only model that you listed with a dedicated GPU.
 
I've got a cMBP and I can't find a complaint about it. It's not wafer thin, but I think it's a fair tradeoff considering the screen size, power, and upgradability.
 
majkom said:
13 or 15 inch?
Click to expand...

Sorry, 15 inch model. I played around with the idea of a 13 inch MBP, but I found that the screen size was far too small for what I do...Photoshop, some video editing, and gaming mostly. To me it's a fair balance between power and portability. Good enough to leave on a desk and get work done or play a game, but still small enough to pack up and take wherever I need to go.

In the end, it's all about what you want out of the machine. The small and light ones are portable and light, but lack any kind of serious graphics power. The 17 inch is a beast in terms of graphics (as far as laptops go anyway), storage, and screen size. The 15 inch strikes a middle ground between the two...portable, but beefy. For me, it's the perfect machine, but that's just my take on it.
 
majkom said:
Hi, well, 15incher is big and heavy - of course, taking it with me while leaving home is not a big issue, but using it ion sofa might be uncomfortable...

Thx for all comments, but still I cant decide.. cMBpro 15 seems like best option according to all comments, but it is quite heavy and expensive... On the beginning, cMBpro was my favorite, now I cant decide... :)
Click to expand...

I use my 15" on the sofa all the time. Much lighter and easier to hold than my old 17". For me the 15" strikes a reasonable balance between screen size and weight. If I want small and light I use my iPad.
 
Ok, spent some timd in reseller store - mb air 11, cmbpro 13 and rmbp 13 are out of choice:

Air 11 - screen is so tiny
Cmbpro 13 - tragic resolution
Rmbpro 13 - not worth the money

Choice is reduced to mb air 13 and cmbpro 15... Decissions, decissions...
 
majkom said:
Ok, spent some timd in reseller store - mb air 11, cmbpro 13 and rmbp 13 are out of choice:

Air 11 - screen is so tiny
Cmbpro 13 - tragic resolution
Rmbpro 13 - not worth the money

Choice is reduced to mb air 13 and cmbpro 15... Decissions, decissions...
Click to expand...

Portability vs power (quad core, discreet GPU, bigger screen and upgradability).

I bought the 15 cMBP when I had that decision, no regrets..
 
majkom said:
Hi, I am considering macbook - cant really decide which.

I am leaving iMac 21inch 2011 base model behind and moving to macbook, reasons:
- need place taken by imac for something else
- want some more personal computer
- want SSD speed
- want little more portability (ie: from time to time leaving home - take it with me, from time to time, surfing/doing some work on the sofa)

What I am afraid of - definitely smaller and less quality display and less power.

Choices - macbook air 11, macbook air 13, cMBpro 13, cMBpro 15, rMBpro 13

My usage:
- safari surfing, itunes, iphoto, MS office/Apple iWork and Starcraft 2

Well, which should I choose, this is my logic behind:

mb air 11 - i really like how portable it is, but the screen is little too small and quite worse den IPS Glass covered imac one... and SDD inside is too small or too expensive

mb air 13 - again, i like portability (even less portable than mb air 11), but again, too expensive ssd capacities and less quality display

cMBpro 15 - this one looks like almost the best candidate, bigger screen with bigger resolution, SSD and RAM is user upgradable, nvidia gpu... but it is quite expensive and hardly portable

cMBpro 13 - well, looks like compromise to me - ssd and memory upgradable (therefore cheapest way getting ssd and lot of ram), partly portable (not so much as airs or retina mb pro), but - resolution is quite small and it is still TNT panel... and no nvidia card

rMBpro 13 - i like the form factor, but price for bigger ssd is killing me, and I am not sure that it would work just fine with intel GPU

Well, what to choose? Probably, I should act fast - got chance to buy all of them with 15 percent discount and imac is in last two months of apple care (not exactly apple care, but 2 years warranty given by law here) - so I guess it will be possible to sell iMac better with a month warranty left than later without any warranty (or, am I wrong about this?)

How is starcraft 2 working on macbook pro 13/retina 13/air on intel hd4000 (is it playable on battlenet - big fights, 2v2?) - starcraft is not dealbreaker, but it will be fine to play it:)

Last thing, i really do consider buying somtehing, as I have this 15 percent off opportunity and if anything new is released in let say 6 months, I will be definitely abble to resell this macbook for the price I bought it... what do you think?

Oh, and finally, last thing, in case of classic macbook - I thing i will buy caddy and replace DVD rom with SSD - Idea having 256 gb sysem SSD and hdd for itunes and iphote libraries sounds good to me... or, is it possible to fuse them?

Any input is appreciated. Thx.
Click to expand...

If budget permits. rMBP13" all the way! The resolution is just great, and no ghosting issues like the elder brother. SC2 works on Intel HD 4000, works great. Choose the 128GB version and buy a 64GB SD card and pop it in for storage. If thats not enough, then buy a USB3 HDD (fairly cheap nowadays) or again, if budget permits, get Seagate Thunderbolt drive.

rMBP15. I don't own this one so i can't give any comments on it

cMBP 15" is way too heavy. I used to own the very first cMBP (the late '08 one with expresscard slot) and can't stand the weight.

cMBP 13" the resolution is horrible. Nuff said. This is the last option you wanna consider! I own the 2010 model before.

MBA 11" My 2nd lappy.. Love the portability. 3rd option after MBA 13" and MBPR 13"

MBA 13" My previous lappy.. Now my staff uses it for accounting work. Light weight, portable, good screen, very good battery life! If you don't wish to buy the kinda overpriced awesome MBPR then get this.
 
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hackerwayne said:
If budget permits. rMBP13" all the way! The resolution is just great, and no ghosting issues like the elder brother. SC2 works on Intel HD 4000, works great. Choose the 128GB version and buy a 64GB SD card and pop it in for storage. If thats not enough, then buy a USB3 HDD (fairly cheap nowadays) or again, if budget permits, get Seagate Thunderbolt drive.
Click to expand...

Well, rmbp 13 is out of choice, not worth money, at least for me... nothing I cant do on air 13, which is less expensive and more portable.. retina display is not worth such a premium for me... (btw, you have to use it in higher res than retina best - as it is simulating tragic cmb pro 13 resolution)
 
majkom said:
Well, rmbp 13 is out of choice, not worth money, at least for me... nothing I cant do on air 13, which is less expensive and more portable.. retina display is not worth such a premium for me... (btw, you have to use it in higher res than retina best - as it is simulating tragic cmb pro 13 resolution)
Click to expand...

yes! Im using it at 1680x1050 the highest possible. But do note that MacBook Air does not come with SDXC capability. Not sure why Apple decided to not put that on the MBA
 
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