Macbook Pro 13 Size

[Virt]

Hey everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster here...

Basically, ever since WWDC, I've been really excited by the new macbook pro lineup, especially the 13in model. Now with a great screen, battery, and backlit keyboard at a lower price- it seems like a great deal.

For me though, I've been a windows person forever. I did get an ipod touch 1st generation a few months after it was announced, then sold it and bought an iphone 3g last fall. However, I am going to be starting college in a few months and I feel like I am ready to make the switch to a mac computer. I currently use a 15in sony vaio laptop but I feel like I could probably be alright with only a 13in MBP. What concerns me though is that unlike in windows, the "windows" in OSX such as Safari or other programs don't really seem to maximize the space on the screen. I know that if I am watching a movie or something, it will be full screen, but not really so during normal use unless I make the dock very very small correct?

Can anyone comment on how you manage screen space, especially on a 13in (which seems somewhat small to me).

 

[lavinci]

I think the whole point of the smaller screens compared to Windows is that it actually helps you view what other things are running in the back.

 

[mikes70mustang]

Going from 15 to 13 youll think its very small. And watching movies on a 13" screen isnt exactly ideal. You can have the dock hide like windows does. Also, you can use magnify so that you can keep the dock icons small. Dont worry about screen usage. OSX has spaces and expose to make the best of the screen

 

[NewMacbookPlz]

Mind you, the resolution on the 13.3" screen (1280x800) is the same effective resolution you'll get on many cheaper Windows laptops that are 14.1 and 15.4" models.

Things will be smaller, but you have the exact same screen real estate in terms of pixels on the 13.3" mac as these Dell/HP/whatever models.

 

[ElectroGhandi]

Mac OS X doesn't maximize windows. It resizes them to display as much information is possible. So if you are on Facebook, a website with a fixed width, and you click the green Zoom Button, Safari will resize itself so it's on wide enough to display Facebook with no white borders on the side. Why would you want that maximized? I resize my own windows as opposed to using the Zoom Button, but it's a much better concept that Windows's maximize ideal.

 

[MAC~n~Cheese]

You should just begin with hiding your dock, i'd think. I just brought my MBP 13.3" home this afternoon and before hiding the dock, I realized that the windows were pretty short and stubby. That should help you a lot. I'm coming from a 17" dell and an old 20" G5 imac, and yes, now going 13" is a big change (...that i wanted, nonetheless.)

Also, not sure about older MBP's, but with the new ones, you can just swipe 4 fingers horizontal on the trackpad to bring up some of the apps on your dock. In case you dont know (since i'm just learning these), you can also use 4 fingers up/down on the trackpad to push your windows up and easily view the desktop. Lastly, 3 fingers horizontal (in Safari) will take you "back" or "forward" depending on the direction of your swipe =)

I love

 

[grassfeeder]

i just went from a 15" PC laptop to now, my 13" MBP and have absolutely no remorse what-so-ever. you get used to the screen sizing real quick and it start to make sense to you as to why things are done the way they are with these machines.......I don't really lose anything dropping down in size than with what I had prior. It's the "American" way to alway think more is better when in all reality, it doesn't hold quite true. I've got way more machine, better O/S, more ergonomic feel and look all in a small, more well built, thought out package than I ever had prior in my PC laptop......

 

[iPhone1182]

Last month I switched from my 17" laptop to a 13 inch macbook unibody. Let me tell you that I struggled with my 13" screen. I couldn't really have safari and ichat visible at the same time as I could on my 17".

I ended up returning the 13" and buying the 15" macbook pro which I really think is a perfect size. I love it.

 

[incandenza]

The size is fine for me. I put the dock on the right-hand side, at the default size, and that leaves enough room for a normal sized main window for a browser or any other app. (Even if I were to hide the dock, a browser window, for example, would start to look strange any wider than about this size.)

However, I do tend to work with only a single window at a time. I usually switch between apps with command-tab, although Expose and Spaces are also good options. If you're trying to work with multiple windows side by side, then, yeah, you might prefer a larger screen.

 

[paolo-]

Some people have trouble with that, coming from a windows background. But having un maximized windows that just float on top of your desktop is great. At first you'll probably try to resize every thing to the whole screen and get frustrated with the orders of the windows.

But quickly, especially if you use your MBP with an external screen, you'll find un maximized windows are great. First off, the apps made for macs are usually streamlined and display only the necessary on the GUI. Next up, you'll find that most things you see on a maximized window are white borders or useless info. Web pages tend to be smaller than 800px, iTunes doesn't need to be much wider than 800px too, adium (great msn for mac) is lovely at 450px, etc. Than since OSX just floats your windows one atop the other, you can see many windows at once on your screen all at once, that way you don't need to change witch window your in just to see what someone responded to you on AIM, or what's the new song on iTunes or what's the name of that guy on wikipedia you're writing a paper about, or what about all of those at once ? Not a single click. Than when things start to get too clutered, separate them in Spaces and use always Expose in a corner to reveal all the windows you have open to bring up something that's underneath.

All of that doesn't happen as much on my 13" screen as I can't see that many things at once, so I simply switch window. And if you really need something to take the whole screen, simple press the green button (mind you it doesn't do that with all the apps) or change it's size to fit the whole screen.

I prefer a magnifying hidden dock too, I don't use it all that much either.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Expose' is your bestest friend! Really. You can fit a page plus a little horizontally and with four finger swipe, bam - pick your window.

 

[jonesbird]

Basically, the same thing happened to me. I sold my 1g ipod touch to get my iphone 3g. The phone impressed me, and got me interested in the new laptops, especially the new 13” mbp’s. All the better hardware, and a discounted price. I went for it, but I was unsure at first about the screen size. I’m used to using a windows desktop hooked up to either a 22” monitor, or my 36” tv. So I was losing a lot of screen real estate.

I have to admit, I’m very happy with the switch. At first I tried hiding the dock and stuff, but I decided to give the non fullscreen windows thing a shot, and I haven’t looked back. This whole little package is really great, and I highly recommend it. Using leopard is just fantastic after using windows for so long. I pretty much only use windows to game on (bootcamping win7 right now), and the 13” holds up pretty well.

Definitely second the expose, and want to recommend spaces and quicksilver as two more amazing apps that help you organize and navigate around. I would recommend also getting the higher end 13”, or at the very least the 4 gigs of ram. That will make a difference when snow leopard comes out.

 

[AdamLikesMusic]

Yeah, you'll realize that full-screen windows totally aren't necessary. It took me a very short while to get used to, but now I love it. Easy access to my desktop, and I stack my messenger windows off to the side so I can see when someone responds and quickly reply.

I have a 17" iMac, and went with the 13" MBP, and it's great. Perfect size, combining portability, and functionality. It'll be great for college.