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MBP 17"HD vs. MBP 15"LED + 23" Cinema Display

A

Addni

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
5
0
Akureyri, Iceland
Well, then finally this summer, I'm going to get a mac.

MacBook Pro will defenetly be it, since I've been hot for it since it was introduced.

I plan to use it mostly for Audio Recording and processing, a bit op Photoshop (image editing) and who knows but maybe some video.

I was originally going for 17" MBP

After the latest update, i got in a bit of trouble since the 17" monitors don't offer LED backlit, wich is belived to be "what the future uses" and i don't feel like whaiting any longer for the 17" to go led (to long have I been stuck on my crappy Windows desktop) but on the other side the 17" offers higher resolution as an option.

I'm certain to go with the 2.44GHz.

I'm wondering if i should go with 17" with HD resolution, or get a 15" LED Backlit and go for 23" Cinema Display to go with it.

I live in iceland, and the prices are a bit higher here and the 17" is about 300.000kr ($4.722,18, yes I know, a lot) and there's still no price for the HD upgrade (since the machines haven't arrived here yet, still 2-3 weeks or so) but i'm guessing about 10.000($157,41)-15.000(236,11)kr so the total price for the 17"HD is about 310-315 thousand icelandic Kronur. ($4.879,58 - $4.958,29)

The 15" is now at 260.000kr ($4.092,55) and the cinema display 95.000kr ($1.495,36) wich makes $5.587,91

those prices are on the current pricelist from apple.is (icelandic apple website) and could change a bit when the SR MBP's arrive and the 17"HD upgrade is just an estimation.

I know this seems a lot more expensive in iceland than.... anywhere else.
but the whole market and salary are maybe a bit different here.. for example my montly pay is about 150.000kr ($2.361,09),(I'm 18 years old, electrician and not finished with school learning electrician).

But what would you go with. any comments

and yes sorry if there are any spelling or general speaking errors in my text.. you try writing in icelandic ;)


Added:

i figured out that the price list i was looking at was out of date. the 15" is at 250.000kr($3.935,15) and the 17" at 280.000kr($4.407,37)
 
You're asking the same questions that I was. I'd recommend going with the 15" and a 23" Cinema display. My reasons?

1. Running that high of a resolution on a 17" screen CAN'T be very viable for ordinary use.

2. The 15" is WAY more portable.

3. You also have the benefit of running the 23" AND 15" MBP in dual screen mode, both at FULL resolution.

3. 23" alone is way more impressive than a 17" and draws many more 'oohs' and 'aaahs' when people come over to your house, not to mention the 15" laptop sitting next to it. ;-)

4. It should be easier to utilize the firewire and usb ports on your monitor so that it's twice as quick to plug in more devices more quickly when you get back home with the MBP.

In short, for my needs, the 23" and 15" laptop are the perfect desktop and mobile replacement. Just waiting until after the WWDC keynote to make the final purchase.
 
pricewise up to you, but... food for thought.

Only you can determine if the extra $ for a 15" + cinema display is within your budget, but I offer you the following advice:

first in the interest of full disclosure, i have and use a 17" powerbook, soon to be 17" MBP.

Both are small enough to be daily-portable IMO (traveled with to work and across town). There are a few select places where the 17" is 'too big'... airplanes is the top of my list (coach-class).

for color reproduction the cinema displays beat out the LCD screens hands-down. I have not seen the new displays yet, but I have every reason to believe that the 23" cinema will continue to represent colours more accurately and have more even brightness than either the 15" or 17" MBP screens. Still, the screens on both are great for portables, and work well for everything but serious photo/video editing.

so what do I advise? if you spend lots of time doing fine-scale post-processing of images or video, then you will appreciate the larger physical size and better characteristics of the cinema display. If you work in the same place every day and can dock your laptop to an external monitor (the cinema) then go with the 15".

if you work in many locations (as i do) and don't frequently need to work on airplanes, then the 17" will serve you well. The problem with having a 23" cinema attached to a laptop is that your laptop (and you) need to work where-ever you set up the cinema display. Many people work at the same desk each day. I don't. Who knows, maybe Apple will release the much rumored "subnotebook" next week, allowing you to have uber-portability and the cinema display you seem to crave.

I hope that helps
N
 
I have no idea if this is important to you, but if you by any chance want to game on the MBP, I would've thought the 15" MBP & 23" ACD solution would suit you better as you are effectively given two native resolutions - so you can switch down to 1440x900 if a game is particularly demanding and the MBP can't handle 1920x1200. If you get the high res 17" you are stuck with one (quite high) native resolution. :)
 
Personally I would go for the 15" and a 23/24" monitor. My reasoning is slightly different to some of the others because I'm looking ahead abit in terms of my purchasing.

I'm going to get a 15" with a 24" dell tft, and then at a later date I can just switch the display onto the desktop unit without any major issues. Also gives me larger real estate/dual display should I need it.
 
yeah go with the 15" MBP with an external display thats what i have right now and i made that choice over a 17" MBP. The 17" is cool but it doesnt have teh LED screens and i personally dont like the 1920X1200 resolutiion becuase i feel like i am squinting to see anything. Two monitors is the way to go and gives you such an advantage over just having one 17".
 
Hmmm, now that I realized I can order it using my wife's student discount, I'm becoming more tempted to try the 30" monitor. I drew the size of it out on a whiteboard and it's absolutely stunning. So is the 23" of course, but I'd have bragging rights for years if I had an Apple 30" display.

What's the 'life expectancy' of a 30" display? If it'll last me for many, many, many years to come and several computers I might just get one.

Grant it that a 30" monitor for web development and general home us is absolutely bonkers, and still $800 more than the 23"... but look at the size of that thing!! As much as I wouldn't want to, I'd HAVE to put boot camp and Flight Sim X on that thing.

Anybody else here make such a devil may care purchase?
 
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