Opinions on a Macbook Pro

[Sup3rknova]

Whats up people,
I have an iMac 5,1 or 5,2 cant remember.
Starting school in August and I want a Macbook pro. I DO NOT want to spend more than I need to. I have a photoshop class, I use Virtual DJ on my iMac and I take alot of photos. All while web browsing alot. I wont really use it to edit movies although its fun to do. Which Laptop will be best for me? REFURBISHED IS OK with me. Id like to get the biggest screen I can. (for the right price! 13 inch is do-able though) Id like to stay under 1500 if I can. Opinions?

 

[alust2013]

If you can find a refurbed 15", that would work well, otherwise the 13" is fine. Just get the base model of whatever you get.

 

[McGiord]

There is an app that allows you to use your iMac's screen as an external monitor for other Macs (I don't recall the name of it).
Anyway even you get the small screen MBP you can always connect it to a bigger screen/TV.
Go with what you can afford.

 

[jljue]

Worse come to worse, a 13" MPB and a larger monitor to use at your desk is an option, although it might end up costing the same as a 15" MPB. It will depend on how much work you plan to do away from your desk. A friend of mine majoring in broadcast technology in the fall just a 13" MBP and will get a larger monitor since most of his editing work for class, and freelance work will be at a desk anyway. He wanted portability for class, he's not playing any games that would take advantage of the AMD GPU's in the 15".

I personally own a 15" MBP for personal and church use; I like the extra resolution (even though it is only 1440x900) for my lighting text editing file and planning center in a web browser side by side for editing lighting programs during worship and still being somewhat portable. I bought this one used, though.

 

[Sup3rknova]

Ok so for sure I know anything would be better than my iMac now..lol It seems like the consensus is a higher end 13 MBP would run everything fine. Or the lower end 15 (refurbished). Sound about right?

 

[Young Spade]

Ok so for sure I know anything would be better than my iMac now..lol It seems like the consensus is a higher end 13 MBP would run everything fine. Or the lower end 15 (refurbished). Sound about right?

Well performance isn't really what you have to look at, it's screen size and the graphics card. You have an iMac; what are the specs for that machine? If they're good now, you won't need to shell out more for another laptop unless you really want to get work done outside your room.

I think you would be fine with a baseline MBP though; the refurbs are... 171 bucks cheaper? It's something like that; of course if you get the back to school deal it knocks the price down to 1090 AND you get the 100 dollar gift card... so if you get stuff from the App store or iTunes you'll save more by getting a new one.