Made a huge mistake buying the 15 inch Macbook Pro

[Bankaimadness]

So I made a really bad decision and bought the 15 inch which is about 500$ more than for the 13 inch.

I know I know, I did it because of the screen real estate size and I was being really stupid about not thinking about having an external monitor for the computer.

Now I don't really plan on selling it and I don't know what to do other than make the best of it.

The specs are much better compared than the Macbook pro 13 inch so I was wondering what I can run to make the best out of the screen real estate and the specs.

I know Photoshop and Imovie is one but hell I don't even use Photoshop or Imovies that often.

 

[SidBala]

You want to use Photoshop and iMovie because you have a large screen estate?

Your thinking seems a bit reversed.

 

[Nein01]

get into sound creation or video editing and you will find out soon enough that even a 15" isn't big enough for all your layers, toolbars and viewer windows.

or do some gaming. don't regret buying a 15" - the 13 inchers are worthless (even surfing the web is a pain on a small screen).

 

[JamesGorman]

get into sound creation or video editing and you will find out soon enough that even a 15" isn't big enough for all your layers, toolbars and viewer windows.

or do some gaming. don't regret buying a 15" - the 13 inchers are worthless (even surfing the web is a pain on a small screen).

I wouldn't say the 13" is a worthless machine. It all depends what you need it for. That being said, I do enjoy my 15" more. But in no way do I feel that my old MacBook was worthless.

 

[darknite38]

Did you not consider the i5 processor and the 330m?

Those alone plus the 15" screen is worth $500 to some people.

 

[Bankaimadness]

Did you not consider the i5 processor and the 330m?

Those alone plus the 15" screen is worth $500 to some people.

Yes I did but I really like the small size and weight of the 13 inch. Yes I was being a complete idiot buying a 15 inch but I didn't know how relative the weight was at the time for the 15 inch MBP. I am also a college student too so I should had think about those two factors more.

Now I want to know good programs to utilize the best out of my 15 inch MBP in terms of the screen size and the specs.

I wouldn't say the 13" is a worthless machine. It all depends what you need it for. That being said, I do enjoy my 15" more. But in no way do I feel that my old MacBook was worthless.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use your 15 inch for?

 

[JamesGorman]

Yes I did but I really like the small size and weight of the 13 inch. Yes I was being a complete idiot buying a 15 inch but I didn't know how relative the weight was at the time for the 15 inch MBP. I am also a college student too so I should had think about those two factors more.

Now I want to know good programs to utilize the best out of my 15 inch MBP in terms of the screen size and the specs.

The weight difference is very minimal. I think it is only a one pound difference.

If you want to utilize your machine to the fullest here are some ways that I use my machine.

1. Video Converting/editing
2. Gaming
3. Music Creation
4. Photo Editing
5. Developing Software, mainly games for iphone

 

[Bankaimadness]

The weight difference is very minimal. I think it is only a one pound difference.

If you want to utilize your machine to the fullest here are some ways that I use my machine.

1. Video Converting/editing
2. Gaming
3. Music Creation
4. Photo Editing
5. Developing Software, mainly games for iphone

I would very much game on my Macbook pro but the keyboard seems a bit fragile for some intense key tapping. Say for games such as Starcraft 2 and what not.

 

[JamesGorman]

I would very much game on my Macbook pro but the keyboard seems a bit fragile for some intense key tapping. Say for games such as Starcraft 2 and what not.

I dunno about that, My keyboard seems completely fine. If your worried about it, grab an external keyboard? It dosen"t even have to be a mac keyboard.

 

[Bankaimadness]

I dunno about that, My keyboard seems completely fine. If your worried about it, grab an external keyboard? It dosen"t even have to be a mac keyboard.

Yeah but you see if say I am in a public setting I really don't want to haul an extra load of hardware since I usually bring a mouse with my MBP since I don't like using track pads.

 

[Matthew9559]

I have played a decent amount of games on my MBP because only up until a few months ago it was my only capable gaming pc. My MBP is several years old but it can handle all the games I want at native res with medium details and maintain 50+ fps. Good enough for a laptop that is more than a few years old. SCII, TF2, CS:S, DOD:S, WoW, L4D, CoD4 and some others are the games I have played on MBP and run very well.

The things that I am happy to have a 15" for are gaming and programming. I would not want to run Xcode on anything smaller than 15". I have yet to try it out on a 13" but it's crammed for space to keep all windows open in Interface Builder.

 

[davidlv]

So I made a really bad decision and bought the 15 inch which is about 500$ more than for the 13 inch.
I know I know, I did it because of the screen real estate size and I was being really stupid about not thinking about having an external monitor for the computer.
Now I don't really plan on selling it and I don't know what to do other than make the best of it.
The specs are much better compared than the Macbook pro 13 inch so I was wondering what I can run to make the best out of the screen real estate and the specs.
I know Photoshop and Imovie is one but hell I don't even use Photoshop or Imovies that often.

I sugest you do what your name implies (bankai means "recover from ... in Japanese) and dispose of the illusion that you made a mistake. You obviously wanted the better specs of the 15" and now you will just have to work around the slightly greater size and weight. If you really need a more portable machine, start saving up for a new 2nd Mac, the MacBook Air!

 

[blink487]

We can trade! Lol, I bought the 13" MBP and find it too slow for my needs which aren't all that intensive either, but I have a lot of different programs running all the time to increase productivity, but honestly man, don't regret the decision, the hardware is a lot more up to date. For example the 2.4ghz C2D CPU that I have in this laptop, I had in my gaming rig from 4 years ago, my brother bought one of the last non-unibody 15" MBP's with a 2.5ghz C2D for nearly $2500 2 years ago, and this fall I bought the 13" MBP with the 2.4ghz C2D (with faster RAM than my brother's computer, and I think graphics are comparable?), for $1200. So while the price has halved from what my brother paid 2 years ago, you can quickly see that this hardware is last gen stuff. Apple hung on to it longer since the new i3, i5, i7 chips don't have integrated graphics, and to fit everything in and have good battery life on their smaller laptops they use the last gen stuff (soon to change with the sand bridge chips as I understand). If you got the hi res screen upgrade you definitely will see the benefit of the 15" over the 13", the difference in screen res and size doesn't compare.

 

[thinkinblue613]

This could be a case of buyers remorse... Aside from that, keep it man. I'm in the market for a 13" but if you already got the 15", it'll last you a long time. If you take care of it.

And if its your main computer, that's even better.

 

[deeesea]

Howwww...do you buy a laptop and THEN decide what to do with it?

Why didn't you just buy a laptop based on what you actually use a laptop for?


It's like having groceries delivered to your door, and then buying a car and deciding that you need to go out and buy groceries now that you have a car.

If you're still within the 14 day return period, why not just return it and pick up a 13 inch...or an air since weight seems to be a big deal for you.

 

[thinkinblue613]

How recent did you buy the laptop? You can still return it if it was a few days ago.

 

[Bankaimadness]

Howwww...do you buy a laptop and THEN decide what to do with it?

Why didn't you just buy a laptop based on what you actually use a laptop for?


It's like having groceries delivered to your door, and then buying a car and deciding that you need to go out and buy groceries now that you have a car.

If you're still within the 14 day return period, why not just return it and pick up a 13 inch...or an air since weight seems to be a big deal for you.

I know what to use for but I want to make most out of the specs. I mean just thinking about the cost to Usage I want to maximize the capabilities on the higher specs.

I bought it a couple of months ago so returning it is a no-no.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Ugh, I'm on a 15" MBP right now, video editing, and wishing so badly that I had a 17", or a 13" and a 2nd monitor.

Yeah, don't regret the purchase. Or if you just got it, ask Apple if you can return it for a 13".

 

[Bankaimadness]

Ugh, I'm on a 15" MBP right now, video editing, and wishing so badly that I had a 17", or a 13" and a 2nd monitor.

Yeah, don't regret the purchase. Or if you just got it, ask Apple if you can return it for a 13".

Yeah I guess I should make learn to make the most out of it.

Thanks guys.

 

[Sankersizzle]

get into sound creation or video editing and you will find out soon enough that even a 15" isn't big enough for all your layers, toolbars and viewer windows.

or do some gaming. don't regret buying a 15" - the 13 inchers are worthless (even surfing the web is a pain on a small screen).

This is true! Also, don't forget that every other person in the entire world has a 13" Pro. Seriously, diversify. I think the 13" Pro made the entire Pro line look silly. Now everyone can say they have a MacBook Pro, when there's nothing "Pro" about their computer.

Yes I did but I really like the small size and weight of the 13 inch. Yes I was being a complete idiot buying a 15 inch but I didn't know how relative the weight was at the time for the 15 inch MBP. I am also a college student too so I should had think about those two factors more.

The 13" is 1 pound lighter, less than two inches wider and less than an inch deeper than the 15". The size difference is completely negligible. I throw one or the other into my bag with my textbooks or something every day and I never notice the difference (when I had the 15", I got a 17" recently). Even my 17" gets taken around with me whenever I want to go somewhere. This is coming from someone who uses a housemates 13" all the time, then switching to my 15" or 17".

I can assure you, as a fellow student who takes his laptop everywhere, I never noticed a difference between any of the 3 sizes. It's all in your head, unless you're using a thimble to carry your stuff to class. Once you get used to the higher res screens, you will laugh in the face of everyone with a 13".

 

[chiefroastbeef]

There is only a one pound difference between the 13" and 15", another one pound difference from 15" to 17". Not a big problem, you must factor in that you get a better processor and graphics unit as well. The 15" really ain't big when you get used to working with a 30"... for me, the 15 is tiny

 

[maflynn]

I've had both and I prefer the 13" MBP.

If you're having buyers remorse why not return it, and get a 13" MBP?

Both are great machines, both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Since you mentioned you use an external monitor, and don't use PS or iMovie much, then perhaps you might think about returning it for the 13" model

 

[tomscott1988]

Why did you buy one at all!

Why did you buy one then? If you dont need the spec or the screen real estate and you dont use it for any purpose other than general computing? i would put imovie into the general use catagory.

I bought a 13' because in on the road using it to move photos from cards etc. Lets be honest you dont buy a laptop if your a power user... if you are a pro you use a laptop in the field and have a pro in the workplace. You could have saved yourself 700 and just got a macbook.

 

[maflynn]

I bought a 13' because in on the road using it

Agreed, and when its not traveling with me, I'm either using my main desktop, or the laptop is plugged into the external monitor giving me the extra screen real estate I need/want.

 

[mark28]

This is true! Also, don't forget that every other person in the entire world has a 13" Pro. Seriously, diversify. I think the 13" Pro made the entire Pro line look silly. Now everyone can say they have a MacBook Pro, when there's nothing "Pro" about their computer.



The 13" is 1 pound lighter, less than two inches wider and less than an inch deeper than the 15". The size difference is completely negligible. I throw one or the other into my bag with my textbooks or something every day and I never notice the difference (when I had the 15", I got a 17" recently). Even my 17" gets taken around with me whenever I want to go somewhere. This is coming from someone who uses a housemates 13" all the time, then switching to my 15" or 17".

I can assure you, as a fellow student who takes his laptop everywhere, I never noticed a difference between any of the 3 sizes. It's all in your head, unless you're using a thimble to carry your stuff to class. Once you get used to the higher res screens, you will laugh in the face of everyone with a 13".

Indeed.

If a 15" MBP is too heavy, you don't need a 13" MBP, you need a MBA or a Sony Z.