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Macbook Pro 13 Owners Tell your Experience!

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IMO I think the 13" screen on my 2011 MBP looks amazing as compared to my 2011 Samsung 15" R580.
 
I am extremely happy with my 13" MBP base model. I was debating wether to get the 13" or the 15". I had a 15.6" laptop before this one and didn't like the bulkiness of the 15". I like the portability of the 13". It's not too small but it's big enough that it can do everything you need. Love the battery life. I am not a gamer so my battery lasts up to 4 1/2 hrs easily. The graphics are good enough for my use. At home I connect to a 24" Dell 1080p monitor. I upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 8GB and it flies now!! I also upgraded the HDD from the stock 320GB to a 500GB. All for about $100. It was very easy to do. I recommend at least upgrading the RAM and you will notice a big difference in the performance. The only complaint I have is that the laptop I came from had a BluRay player. Over all I am very happy with my choice!!!
 
I just sold my 2010 15 inch HiRes anti-glare because I couldn't get rid of the excessive bluish quality of the screen no matter how I calibrated it (whether by eye-:D with a Spyder Elite or Eye One Display Pro 2) I got a MBP 13 I7 and couldn't be happier with it. the Glossy screen isn'y nearly as annoying as thought it would be. Even outside in full sun it seams as readable as the AG-
(I had both for a while to compare). The resolution also seems fine especially with Lions full-screen modes. -I love my 13 !!!
 
My MBP: 13 inch base w/ an aftermarket samsung ssd.

Thoughts: It's an absolute screamer and because I don't do a lot of gaming, It's perfect. Although I don't like it when I have it in my lap and I'm watch movies (it gets HOT). Beautiful screen (a bit too glossy) and the fullscreen feature in lion just takes it on another level.
 
I bought mine in April this year and feel as though 95+% of the time I am using a Ferrari drive to the convenience store for a gallon of milk. Way overpowered for my general forum browsing, document work etc.

Do not misconstrue my statement, as a laptop it has performed flawlessly, and even though I have used the disc drive on a few occasions, I likely would have been equally satisfied with the Macbook Air.

I generally do the typical on my 13 inch mac, surf, videos and once classes start up, I will be back at my online university for which I really use it for. But even there all I need it for is to view forums and make posts, download and edit .doc files as well as upload them to the university portal. All of this my i5 macbook pro does without a hitch.

Now I am honestly waiting for tablet technology to get up to spec a bit as to allow me to do all the above and I can sell my macbook pro. I hope this helped.
 
Got my MBP 13.3 base i5 yesterday. Apple store price matched Microcenter $999 price. Came installed with Lion and I picked up an Incase see-thru shell. I'm lovin it.
 
I have June 2010 MBP 13inch and I have loved it. I bought a 24 inch Apple display before they discontinued it to use on my desk. All is good.
It was my first Mac and I am glad I switched.
 
I just got my 13" MacBook Pro i5 today. After spending a little while setting everything up to my liking I've realized how much I like it. It runs way better than my 2007 MacBook. And with the aluminum casing I'm assuming I won't have the issue with the edges cracking and falling off like I have with my old MacBook. I'd recommend it.
 
Dominus Mortem said:
I went through a 2010 13" Air and then a 2011 11" Air before finally end up with a 2011 mbp 13" (the I7 version). The 13" Air battery was the best I had ever seen but the MBP I have now easily is getting 45 minutes to an hour more. I've been writing and surfing for just under an hour and have 90% left right now.

The screen quality if exceptional. Far better than the Airs. The Airs have funky colors. They are sharp and have good contrast but they fall all apart in the color quality and gamut aspects.

The machine is fast, very very fast. The hard drive is slow though. I'm going to replace it with a SSD in a month or two. The size is perfect as you can do desktop related tasks without hassle and yet grab it and take it on the road very easily. Almost as easily as the Air. The Air may be the ultimate travel laptop but the mbp 13" is very close and you just get more. One thing you get is you don't need a lot of dongles and I think having less crap hanging off the laptop is a great equalizing argument in relation to the weight difference argument.

I find the longer travel of the keyboard on the mbp is less fatiguing to my hands as well.

Did I mention that photos look amazing on the mbp and lackluster on the Air? Yeah, I did, but it bears repeating. DON'T get an air if photo color quality matters in your work or play.

What is really cool about the mbp is that you really feel like you are using a mbp 17 ultimate that went through a shrinking machine. You really feel like you have a shrunken version of that beauty which is something you never really feel with the Air.

Now, I think the Air will improve in upcoming revisions and outshine the pro most likely in more ways but until they get that screen upgraded I'm just not going to be interested. I think they are working on a better Air screen, I've seen rumors.
Click to expand...

Same here: 2010 13" Air, 2011 13" MBP, then replaced the Air with the new 2011, but returned it to Apple while I could.
I really want to love the Air but until they manage to put a better screen in there I'm sticking to Pro's.
 
For me it was a choice between the 13" Macbook Air and the 13" Macbook Pro. I like the idea of a thin and light notebook, but I didn't need the laptop to be ultraportable. The inability to upgrade the Macbook Air easily was also kind of a deal killer.

The 13" Macbook Pro is the best deal going right now in a portable Mac laptop. It's faster than the Air, not much heavier, and has better expandability/upgradeability.
 
Loving it and I have not yet found a flaw also it is my fastest computer so far, used to have a 2008 Macbook :D
 
Do you find that the 13" MBP is generally big enough to to accomplish most tasks comfortably, including photo and video editing? (Pixelmator, GIMP, FCP)
 
Got a 2011 13" Macbook PRO .... Its a Dream Machine... Prefect ... Got mine still in the BOX :) .......
 
Titanium81 said:
Do you find that the 13" MBP is generally big enough to to accomplish most tasks comfortably, including photo and video editing? (Pixelmator, GIMP, FCP)
Click to expand...

Yes. The screen itself is of better quality than the MBA's screen and you get ample screen estate. If you aren't 5 feet from the screen, it's plenty big.

I touch up photos in Aperture/Picasa from time to time and the process is fluid. In fact, I think I'll go back in tonight and edit a few more :)

It gets very addicting touching up and enhancing photos of a loved one (only do pictures of my girlfriend).

I could post pictures if you want of the changes you can do while using Aperture that I edited on my baseline MBP.
 
Titanium81 said:
Do you find that the 13" MBP is generally big enough to to accomplish most tasks comfortably, including photo and video editing? (Pixelmator, GIMP, FCP)
Click to expand...

hardware wise i think it would suffice for those tasks but i think most would say that an external display would be more comfortable to work with for doing work like that. 1280 x 800 doesn't offer much real estate. don't get me wrong, it's still an awesome machine.
 
Titanium81 said:
Do you find that the 13" MBP is generally big enough to to accomplish most tasks comfortably, including photo and video editing? (Pixelmator, GIMP, FCP)
Click to expand...

I edited using FCP for 2 years on my 09 13" MBP. I managed just fine. I did recently upgrade to a "15 MBP w/the hi-res anti-glare screen. The issue I had with the 13 inch screen wasn't so much the size as it was the glossy display.

Bottom line though, it's a very capable machine
 
Young Spade said:
Yes. The screen itself is of better quality than the MBA's screen and you get ample screen estate. If you aren't 5 feet from the screen, it's plenty big.

I touch up photos in Aperture/Picasa from time to time and the process is fluid. In fact, I think I'll go back in tonight and edit a few more :)

It gets very addicting touching up and enhancing photos of a loved one (only do pictures of my girlfriend).

I could post pictures if you want of the changes you can do while using Aperture that I edited on my baseline MBP.
Click to expand...

Sure I'd like to see what can be done...
 
Titanium81 said:
Do you find that the 13" MBP is generally big enough to to accomplish most tasks comfortably, including photo and video editing? (Pixelmator, GIMP, FCP)
Click to expand...

bobfitz14 said:
hardware wise i think it would suffice for those tasks but i think most would say that an external display would be more comfortable to work with for doing work like that. 1280 x 800 doesn't offer much real estate. don't get me wrong, it's still an awesome machine.
Click to expand...

Would you say the 15" MBP High-Res would be night and day difference?
 
Titanium81 said:
Would you say the 15" MBP High-Res would be night and day difference?
Click to expand...

going from the 13" glossy to the 15" hires anti-glare is a major difference. TONS more screen real estate, and I really like the anti-glare over the glossy.

just my opinion....

by the way, I do lots of video editing using Final Cut pro and some photo editing using LR3
 
Mac-key said:
going from the 13" glossy to the 15" hires anti-glare is a major difference. TONS more screen real estate, and I really like the anti-glare over the glossy.

just my opinion....

by the way, I do lots of video editing using Final Cut pro and some photo editing using LR3
Click to expand...

I would agree.

But the thing is... The MBP 15" costs a lot more than the 13". Let's add the high-resolution screen and it costs even more. My budget for a new computer for school was $1,600. I decided to just get the baseline 13", spend the rest of the cash on a sleeve, case, RAM, external monitor and school supplies for the year.

For $120, I bought a 22" 1080p external monitor for editing, writing papers and all the other stuff.

As a college student, I saw the 13" as a better choice for portability. Although a 15" doesn't bother me much more, it makes a slight difference when walking through classes, the parking lot and all that.

They're all fine machines, it just depends on your budget, needs and priorities. The 13" was perfect for my lifestyle, and whoever thinks about buying and MBP should consider that. Instead of just buying it simply cuz its "bigger".
 
thinkinblue613 said:
I would agree.

But the thing is... The MBP 15" costs a lot more than the 13". Let's add the high-resolution screen and it costs even more. My budget for a new computer for school was $1,600. I decided to just get the baseline 13", spend the rest of the cash on a sleeve, case, RAM, external monitor and school supplies for the year.

For $120, I bought a 22" 1080p external monitor for editing, writing papers and all the other stuff.

As a college student, I saw the 13" as a better choice for portability. Although a 15" doesn't bother me much more, it makes a slight difference when walking through classes, the parking lot and all that.

They're all fine machines, it just depends on your budget, needs and priorities. The 13" was perfect for my lifestyle, and whoever thinks about buying and MBP should consider that. Instead of just buying it simply cuz its "bigger".
Click to expand...

I guess a 13" MBP would not be limiting with an external monitor hooked up to do anything that requires more screen real estate (Photo & Video Editing, Garage Band)


For day to day stuff the 1280 x 800 would probably be enough.


Here is the price difference between the 13" MBP and 15" MBP I was looking at:

13" MBP (Low End)
$1,099.00

vs.

15" MBP (Low End with High-Res)
$1,789.00

$690 savings (quite a bit for a college student...)
 
Last edited:
thinkinblue613 said:
I would agree.

But the thing is... The MBP 15" costs a lot more than the 13". Let's add the high-resolution screen and it costs even more. My budget for a new computer for school was $1,600. I decided to just get the baseline 13", spend the rest of the cash on a sleeve, case, RAM, external monitor and school supplies for the year.

For $120, I bought a 22" 1080p external monitor for editing, writing papers and all the other stuff.

As a college student, I saw the 13" as a better choice for portability. Although a 15" doesn't bother me much more, it makes a slight difference when walking through classes, the parking lot and all that.

They're all fine machines, it just depends on your budget, needs and priorities. The 13" was perfect for my lifestyle, and whoever thinks about buying and MBP should consider that. Instead of just buying it simply cuz its "bigger".
Click to expand...

I think you made a great choice! I loved my 13" pro and it served me well for two years... cut a many of great videos on that sucker.

and you're right, it's a big price difference. I finally got my business to a place where we had a decent media budget to afford the 15, so I got it.

but there ain't nothing wrong with the 13". It's a very portable powerhouse
 
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