yeah...
The Macbook keyboard in my opinion is annoying. I prefer the look and feel of the Pro in many respects. However, functionality wise, the MacBook Pro doesn't really offer that much more than its own dedicated graphics card.
I was checking out that refurb deal and it's good except for the fact that you are only getting 512MB ram. I am not going to dig to look, but vs. the MacBook, the Pro models are harder to upgrade memory on.
For value, the $1999 model below with the 120GB HD, 1GB RAM and 17" screen would be a better deal. You would get more out of that notebook in the long run - especially if you put Leopard on there.
Yeah... Really, you shouldn't be worried about size or weight at all. The difference is SOOOOO neligible it's rediculous. I took a good deal of time trying to decide between the whole line (macbook - mbp and even the 17inch) as I am a student, and like you use my computer for basically everything, but as a design student do a lot of photoshop/illustrator adn even a little 3d work (although that's in windows sadly)
A lot of my friends have been upgrading to macs (and yes.... upgrading hehe) this last year as they can run windows on them as well, and we have all varietys from white to black macbooks to pros of all sizes.
I've tried all of them as far as carrying them around and the feel, and I ended up with a mbp 15inch, because although the price of the macbooks is a benefit as well as their small size, it becomes apparent that like everyone has said the size isn't much of an issue between 13inch to 15inch mbp.
I personally prefer the aluminum casing, the bigger and wider screen (i'm used to my tibook with 15.4) and the keyboard I find more comfortable and (this may sound weird) sounds better.
I got a macbook pro core duo refurb for 1349 80gig 512 ram, but recently ordered a new stick of 1gig for 87 dollars (see the thread about the newegg deal) which wasn't much at all, although I have had very little problem running most of my programs with just the 512 as it is
So... if you are stuck, I would suggest the 15.4inch macbook pro core duo refurb and order another stick of ram (which is really easy to put in actually, my friend did it IN CLASS on one of theirs, and it went by without a hitch) chances are you will get a perfectly great computer (not having all the problems people here have asked about) and be very happy to have the extra screen size in class and the lighted keyboard in a dark lecture hall with slides or something... and I don't notice these so called grain issues on mine. It's just lovely and super bright and pretty.
HOWEVER... like this person said, if you CAN afford the extra, a 17inch might now be a bad thing to look into if you are highly influenced by large screens, because my dad has that computer and it is BEAUTIFUL and you barely notice the weight or size difference as far as carrying, as the bag size doesnt' seem too different in general, and it is still REALLY portable for that extra screen size, so if you had the money for a non-refurb macbook pro 15.4, I would go wiht a refurb 17incher if you can, because, that's just the best of both worlds. (and is really damn cool when people look over and are like "holy crap, that's an amazing screen on a laptop!!!")
After all this babbling, like everyone else said it's a matter of preference. Go to the apple store, or if you are lucky like me ask friends, and try typing and moving around and even carrying (if allowed) the different versions and see what fits your taste, and you'l end up with a machine you are happy with no matter what.
i :heart: my MBP CD 15inch
and it loves me
