Uncertain between MBP 13" or 15".

[cuttooth]

Figured I'd ask here and see what peoples' experiences with the notebooks are.

I currently own a 13" MacBook from 2006, the first line of them, if I'm not mistaken. After having it fixed a few times (mostly for the cracking, which has happened once more, but also for dead fans, an expanding battery, and other things), it's come to the point where the machine is four years old and doesn't do as much as I'd like it to be able to do, or at least as well as I'd like it to. Just a bit sluggish these days.

To keep it to the point, I own a slightly old Windows desktop given to me by my friend when he replaced his. It runs most games I want to run sufficiently enough (League of Legends, Starcraft II -- primarily strategy games), and I imagine that, at the very least, any of the MBP systems could run either of those, more so the latter on lower/medium settings, but that's fine.

I'd just like to know if the power difference between the 2006 MacBook and the 2010 MacBook Pro (13") is roughly similar or if there's some substantial difference. I know they still use Core 2 chips, which would be a little better, but processing power only goes so far and I don't do any sort of graphic/photo editing. The only thing the higher resolution of the 15" MBP would do for me is allow for more screen real estate, which is nice for games (but in the worst case scenario, I could still use an external monitor from time to time if I really wanted to). I might do some audio editing, but even that's an if. It'd be for the more standard things, but having options is always nice.

My concern is if the upgrade is really worth the price, or if I should put out a bit more (well, more than just a bit) for the 15". If there's not that much power difference, or if the 13" has more power to it than I've been led to believe, that'd be good to know. I really do like the aluminum design and just strikes me as a more clean, efficient machine, so I'd like to upgrade soon to something new, regardless.

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[alust2013]

I would say the new 13" pro would be a pretty significant improvement over your current machine. They are very capable, even though a lot of people whine about them not having i5 and dedicated graphics. I have seen the inside of my computer, and there is no way to fit that in there. Very few people would see the benefit of that anyhow. For your uses, I would recommend the base 13. I think you would see a pretty big improvement over your current machine, which I assume is a Core Duo. I can game decently on mine, which is pretty similar to the current base 13, without the better GPU and extra RAM, which would improve performance quite a bit as well.

 

[cuttooth]

It's a Core 2 Duo at 2Ghz. I just wonder what the actual computing difference is between the one in the machine I have now and the one in the new 13" MBP. I notice that 1080P quality doesn't play too well sometimes on my machine, for the most part (although 720 is fine), so that's just one example. Not just for video playback, but for the other things I mentioned.

 

[alust2013]

The biggest difference you would see is in the GPU, and the 320m would smoke whatever is in your machine, I believe the GMA950 or X3100, not sure which. either way, those chipsets weren't anything good, and you would see a noticeable improvement in video with that. It also adds the ability to increase the ram to 8 gigs (if you need that sort of memory). It sounds like you really wouldn't see much difference in performance between the 13 and 15, it's just a matter of whether you want the bigger screen and are willing to pay for it.