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MacBook Pro 13" or 15"??

antster94

antster94

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 2, 2010
545
1
London, UK
Hey guys,

Basically I am buying a new computer in July and am not sure what size to go for. I will either be getting the 2.4Ghz 13" model brand new or a 15" mid 2009 model in new condition from eBay.

I want to be able to play games such as CoD MW2 through BootCamp so that will require a bigger screen but also be able to take the computer into college to makes notes in classes etc.

Any help much appreciated,
Anthony
 
a 15" is fine for college. i'm getting the 15" and i'm in college too. you will love the 15" for gaming. gaming on the 13" will be a pain.
 
If you're going to actually take it into class, many seem to prefer the 13" for that; personally, I would rather have a 15".

Either way, an external monitor for your desk might be a good idea.
 
What 15" is it? If it's 2.53GHz it'll be worse as it has 9400M. Bigger screen will also need more from the components, meaning that you must run it at lower settings.
 
Well I would rather have a 15 but is it hard to carry around? And does anyone have any experience gaming on a 13?

Thanks for the quick replys dudes :D

EDIT: @hellhammer, its the lowest spec 15 so 2.4 most likely
 
antster94 said:
Well I would rather have a 15 but is it hard to carry around? And does anyone have any experience gaming on a 13?

Thanks for the quick replys dudes :D
Click to expand...

"Hard to carry around" is relative. I carry around a 14" Dell (noticeably bigger and heavier than a 15" MBP) in a rollaround briefcase. I wouldn't call its size an issue; some people think a 13" is too big/heavy and opt for an Air. Like I said, my taste would be to get the 15".

As far as gaming, I've done some gaming on my 13" and I don't like it. I'd much prefer an external monitor for that.
 
antster94 said:
Well I would rather have a 15 but is it hard to carry around? And does anyone have any experience gaming on a 13?

Thanks for the quick replys dudes :D
Click to expand...

Well, it's like what, 2 pounds lighter? 15" ain't too big to carry around but of course 13" is lighter and easier to carry around. I would anyway get an ext screen for gaming, that way 13" should be enough

EDIT: So then it's the 2.53GHz with 9400M which sucks for gaming. Get 13"
 
Yeah I suppose it isnt much difference at all really.

I am actually thinking of forgetting gaming on it and sticking to playing on my PS3 and getting a smaller tv for my desk. I will occasionally play games such as GTA on it though, cant beat GTA4 during lunch time at school :p
 
antster94 said:
Yeah I suppose it isnt much difference at all really.

I am actually thinking of forgetting gaming on it and sticking to playing on my PS3 and getting a smaller tv for my desk. I will occasionally play games such as GTA on it though, cant beat GTA4 during lunch time at school :p
Click to expand...

GTA4 runs okay on 9400M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHsjzn4jp_4Should be even better on 320M.

Get a monitor with HDMI and DVI, so you can use it with PS3 and MBP
 
If you are considering buying the 15" model that does not have discrete graphics I'd go with the 13". You'll get '10 hours' of battery life, better graphics, same processor and newer model (things like inertial scrolling and audio output through mini dp).
A lot of people have macs in college so try borrowing for some minutes a 13 and a 15 and try to see if the screen size is that big of an issue for you.
 
Well I have always had larger notebooks, which are fine for around the house, in my home office etc, however when I am out of the road its a major pain to carry even a 15" notebook around. So this time round I went with a 13" which I am currently typing on. Having used the 13" screen for a few days, I cant say i really miss the 15" screen, and it doesnt look that much smaller than the 15" model.
 
Gaming wise, performance is going to be almost identical (assuming 9600m gt) at native resolutions. In this situation, I would personally buy the new 13" machine.
 
Thanks for the replys, first post here and getting good feedback, cheers.

I am gonna go for the 13" MacBook Pro. I will try it out at my local apple store this week as well to check it feels ok.
 
I will say the 13" has a really nice foot print. It's small, lightweight, and very portable. BUT the screen size wasn't enough for me. Maybe if it had a higher resolution I would have been happy. But ultimately I ended up selling it and bought a 17" instead. I think you need to figure out if you want it more for portability or screen size.
 
@ih8antster: please take your inappropriate comments elsewhere, this is a place for technology discussion, not petty, abusive accounts to be set up to demean the moral of an innocent forum user.

@tekmoe: Thanks for that dude, thinking of a 15" now :)

anyone else's opinion?
 
ih8antster said:
je suis desole

a mon avis, tu should get le 13". c'est plus facile a carrier around l'ecole
Click to expand...

Ah oui, mais je trouve le screen size assez petit pour jouer au CoD et GTA 4. Je pense que le 15 est le meilleur balence des deux mais il est de £ 500 plus cher que le 13".
 
Oui, ils sont trop chers, mais non, Mac est un bien meilleur OS que Windows, et que c'est un argument différent pour un autre moment.
 
ah c'est vrai que ce conversation est pour un autre moment, cependant je vais du parler maintenant. le os x n'est pas superior a windows car windows est un tres bien os - on peut le utiliser tres facilement
 
ce end part-ci doesnt really make too much sense but i think you want me to go? well non je ne vais pas "aller" car je continuerai a parler de ce sujet.

osx n'est pas bien - les macs sont *****
 
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