Macbook Pro 13" 2.4

[RedGauge]

I am going away to University soon and am unable to take my desktop with me.

The reasons I wanted to buy the macbook pros were mainly because of the Battery life and longevity I heard they have. The laptop will mainly be used for word processing, web browsing/IM and a slight bit of gaming. The gaming is really the issue here as I can't decide whether to go for the entry level 13" (upgraded to 500gb HDD) or the entry level 15". The gaming will probably be kept to a minimum and won't be too intensive, I'm talking Counterstike, Starcraft 2 rather than Crysis.

I'm not sure between the two, is the £500 price hike really worth it for the 330m? Will it really increase the performance of starcraft 2? And is the price hike worth it for the HD stuff?

 

[Piehead]

Well I am pretty sure that the C2D could handle all of your needs. It is more than capable and can be easily transported (vs 15) Now although the 15 inch core i5/i7 is a hell of a lot faster, it sounds as if you don't really need it.

IMHO.

 

[ranguvar]

Take the 13". It's easier to carry around, and your games will most likely work (the 13" can even run modern games like CoD4 and GTA IV (although at low graphics)).

 

[MikeyJ57]

I am going away to University soon and am unable to take my desktop with me.

The reasons I wanted to buy the macbook pros were mainly because of the Battery life and longevity I heard they have. The laptop will mainly be used for word processing, web browsing/IM and a slight bit of gaming. The gaming is really the issue here as I can't decide whether to go for the entry level 13" (upgraded to 500gb HDD) or the entry level 15". The gaming will probably be kept to a minimum and won't be too intensive, I'm talking Counterstike, Starcraft 2 rather than Crysis.

I'm not sure between the two, is the £500 price hike really worth it for the 330m? Will it really increase the performance of starcraft 2? And is the price hike worth it for the HD stuff?

Both my daughters have MBPs for college. They're older models but both have C2D processors. They're 15" screens too and I think both daughters would have preferred the greater portability of the 13" screen. Both said the MBP was probably overkill, that a regular Macbook would have been good enough. My youngest used hers with some pretty intensive architectural and drawing software and she never complained about it. I recently bought a base model 13" MBP for myself and find the sreen size to be great. I love the machine!
Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Dozerrox]

I agree, I'd say the 13 inch looks better for your needs. Better battery life and should handle those games well enough.

 

[trfjason]

MBP 13 2.4Ghz suits your needs. Don't bother getting the 15" for better graphics, spend the difference on a SSD instead, you will get a much more noticeable performance gain.

 

[alust2013]

Go for the 13" 2.4, and I would suggest buying and installing your own 500GB HDD, as you can get 7200 RPM if you want, or not if you don't. But that is also much cheaper that way and you get an extra drive too. In regards to your question, I game occasionally (Sims 3, Portal, various Steam games) on my MacBook with the same processor and less RAM and weaker GPU, and it still works reasonably well. With the extra memory and better GPU, I am sure the 13" will be able to handle your light gaming. The portability is great as well, especially compared to a 15" or even a windows lappy of the same size, and the 10 hour battery sounds incredible.

 

[1BadMac]

+1 on the 13" for your described needs. Save money for a time capsule or SSD.

 

[Ramphex]

15, if you're going to spend the money might as well go for something more up to date.

 

[RedGauge]

thanks for the feedback guys, I'm probably going to go with the 13" then.
However, a couple of you say go for a SSD, what advantages will that bring over a HDD? They look pretty pricey for lower space