Seeking advice on new macbook

[will eth]

I have recently bought an imac but am now looking to purchase an apple notebook.
Im not rich but can save up, my only problem with the 13-inch macbook is the screen size its pretty small- i just need to hear from someone whether it would be ok to buy the bottom of the range mac book or spend a bit more and get the 15 inch macbook pro.

is 13 inch sufficient or would i be getting more for my money with a mbp.
thanks will

 

[damov2]

I've just bought the 13" white Macbook and I'm used to a desktop, it takes some getting used to. At the end of the day it depends what you want to do with the MB, if it's just email and web surfing then it will be fine.

 

[will eth]

So is the screen size big enough becaese when ive seen them it looks resly small
i dont know wether to get a mb or a mbp

 

[iParis]

If you have the money, the 15 inch MacBook Pro would be nice to have, depending on if you will be using it for any "pro" computing.
The new unibody MacBook has an amazing vibrant screen.
Here's a question for you, what do you want out of it, besides the screen? Like, what programs are you going to use on it.
Another suggestion would be to compare to two products right next to each other at an Apple retail store.

 

[damov2]

So is the screen size big enough becaese when ive seen them it looks resly small
i dont know wether to get a mb or a mbp

Like i said it depends on what you want to do with it. If you have the cash and YOU can justify spending the money on the MPB then go for it.
But it really is a personal opinion whether 13" is big enough.

 

[will eth]

well i just want it for scool work surfin on the web and usin the ilife suite nothing much else but i just wish that they did a 15 inch mac book
i have considered a refurb to save some cash any advice on that

thanks

 

[damov2]

well i just want it for scool work surfin on the web and usin the ilife suite nothing much else but i just wish that they did a 15 inch mac book
i have considered a refurb to save some cash any advice on that

thanks

I've never bought a refurb this is my first Mac, so i can't help there. I have heard they are very good tho.

 

[skorpien]

$1699 for a refurb 15" Unibody MBP. It's just $100 more than a new high end stock MB...

Also, from the countless threads I've read on the topic, refurbs are just as good as new machines. And they come with the full year warranty from Apple (though I suggest AppleCare if you plan on keeping the thing for more than a year).

 

[iParis]

well i just want it for scool work surfin on the web and usin the ilife suite nothing much else but i just wish that they did a 15 inch mac book
i have considered a refurb to save some cash any advice on that

thanks

So since you plan on using iLife, I recommend checking out the two products right next to each other and if you think the 13 inch is ok then get the 2.4 Unibody MB, but if you prefer the 15 inch after looking at them then get the base MBP.

 

[will eth]

thanks 4 the advice i might look into the refurbished mbp but can i be guaranteed that it will be unmarked out of the box

 

[Zazoh]

What about external Monitor for the Heavy Stuff

I was thinking of the same issue, but what about using an external monitor for when you are doing the heavy stuff? I only use my desktop to process images from by camera. But would like the MB on my lap when watching TV.

Anyone using in this situation with success?

 

[226896]

One thing to remember is that the screen resolution on the MacBook is 1280x800. The Acer laptop I currently use (soon to be replaced with a MacBook) has a larger screen than the MacBook (15 inch), but the native screen res is also 1280x800. So the MacBook will still fit the same amount of stuff on the screen. It will be very slightly smaller, but because the screen is smaller with the same resolution, text and images will look crisper too.

 

[DeusInvictus7]

Yeah, I came from a desktop with a 22in monitor to my macbook, and while there were some adjustments that I had to make to get everything (windows, chat boxes, documents, etc) organized on the desktop so that it gave me the best work flow, I can honestly say that I don't really miss the larger screen, I love being able to sit in bed and work like I normally would. I mean, sure, in some cases the larger screen of the 15in Pro would come in handy sometimes, but I love the overall size of my macbook.

 

[chandsa]

I just got my 13.3" black MB last week. Prior to this I was using a 16.4" Sony Vaio laptop. My only gripe with the small macbooks is that the screen resolution is insufficient for my work.

If you can afford a 15" MBP I would definitely prefer it for the higher resolution it gives you, even though you might be using it only for simple stuff.

I got mine refurbished and right out of the box it appeared to be brand new. If I had two of them one brand new and the other one refurbished I would be unable to tell the difference between the two of them. I had seen that these black macbooks were on their way out and found one on MacMall, however, those guys were gouging the price and I found one on Apple's refurbished store for almost $400 less, with ALL specs being the same. If you are going in for a refurbished one I strongly recommend getting it from the Apple store especially since it comes with a full year of warranty. Before the warranty lapses you can pay for the $249 Apple care protection for another 2 year coverage, which in my opinion beats any other deal out there.

So far I am liking my Macbook, however, I am considering getting an external monitor for the times when I have to have a large screen when editing my photographs. My only doubt there is how much of a restriction with the 1200 x 800 display pose when interfaced with something like a 20" monitor with a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Any thoughts on this?

Cheers!

 

[o2xygen]

Do you goto university or something similar? Because Im a digital media design student and I was going to spend a ton on a new high end macbook pro but I decided I might aswel get the low end alu macbook because my school has a suite of 40 or so mac pros with 20inch cinema displays. The way I see it, is Id be using the mac pros to do pretty much all my work anyway so I might aswel get a highly portable computer because Ill be taking it with me to school everyday.

The 13 inch screen is small, but its not un-workable. I can still photoshop on it, and its big enough to watch a DVD or episode of Family Guy before you goto bed at night.

Refurbished models are usually scuff-mark free, like the ones Ive had previously, but Ive heard of cases where there has been a very minor scratch on the under-side. Think about it though, a small tiny scratch and you save yourself a few hundred of beer money.

 

[Demosthenes X]

You already have an iMac. Why waste money on a Pro when you already have a system with a big screen and lots of power? The MacBook's screen is more than suitable for most work - I went through a year of university with nothing but a MacBook and it never bothered me. IMO the bigger notebooks sacrafice too much portability to be truly useful - especially if you're not making use of the extra power.

 

[Mikey B]

13" is plenty of real estate for most of my day-to-day usage. i opted for the high-end unibody over the mbp because of it's smaller form factor. It is in many ways the successor to the 12" PB- kind of a MBP Lite.