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Uni student, advice needed

E

eperrine

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 17, 2011
21
0
Hi there ^-^

Tomorrow I have to buy a new Macbook Pro for Uni and I don't know which one to buy. Currently on a run down two thousand and eleven macbook pro thirteen inch (have you noticed that the number keys obviously dont work :p)

Top of the end retina MBP thirteen inch, or base retina fifteen inch?

I want the fastest, more powerful option of the two. The thirteen inch has more flash storage than the base fifteen; does that matter?

I use my macbook for a lot of internet browsing, light gaming, a lot of netflix watching, a lot of tab opening. I am attracted to the fifteen because I'd love a bit of a screen increase.

although I don't want to painfully wait for shipping and delivery, do you think it would be worth doubling the ram of the base fifteen? Would I have to upgrade anything else to match the new ram, to avoid bottlenecking etc?

I cannot afford the top fifteen macbook unfortunately.

What do you advise? Thanks
 
eperrine said:
Hi there ^-^

Tomorrow I have to buy a new Macbook Pro for Uni and I don't know which one to buy. Currently on a run down two thousand and eleven macbook pro thirteen inch (have you noticed that the number keys obviously dont work :p)

Top of the end retina MBP thirteen inch, or base retina fifteen inch?

I want the fastest, more powerful option of the two. The thirteen inch has more flash storage than the base fifteen; does that matter?

I use my macbook for a lot of internet browsing, light gaming, a lot of netflix watching, a lot of tab opening. I am attracted to the fifteen because I'd love a bit of a screen increase.

although I don't want to painfully wait for shipping and delivery, do you think it would be worth doubling the ram of the base fifteen? Would I have to upgrade anything else to match the new ram, to avoid bottlenecking etc?

I cannot afford the top fifteen macbook unfortunately.

What do you advise? Thanks
Click to expand...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1686227/

This will help you decide how much RAM you need.
 
Based on your needs, I'd say either machine will work and if you the larger screen then definitely go with the 15" If for only peace of mind, you do not want to regret the decision because the screen is smaller.

I'd look to upgrading the storage of the ram of the base rMBP just because based on your what you wrote 8GB is more then enough but you posted about the 256SSD may be a tad small for you.
 
15 inch may be a little big to carry around on a campus; I switched from a 13" MBP to a 15" rMBP due to the retina screen upgrade but found it too big for my taste, so eventually sold it and currently have the Haswell 13" rMBP. If you have an Apple store near, give the 15" rMBP a try for 14 days and make your final decision based on that.

On RAM, suggest you get on either machine the 16GB Ram to play safe just in case you use RAM intensive software (such as Virtual Machines)

Just my 2 cents. :rolleyes:
 
your 2011 is run down?

why not upgrade the RAM and put in a SSD?

for under $300 you can make that MBP feel as good as new

I have the early 2011 15" and I recently upgraded to HHD to SSD, I also have 16GB(which is overkill for my needs) and its blazing fast, boots in 10 seconds, any app on the dock opens in less then 2 "bounces" I could not image 1 reason I would want to replace my MBP
 
I think it's the fact his number keys don't work! I wouldn't bother with 16GB ram, it sounds like major overkill for what you're doing. I'd get the base 15". 256gb is loads. If you need huge amounts of disk space for films then I'd get a small profile external drive.
 
eperrine said:
Hi there ^-^

Tomorrow I have to buy a new Macbook Pro for Uni and I don't know which one to buy. Currently on a run down two thousand and eleven macbook pro thirteen inch (have you noticed that the number keys obviously dont work :p)

Top of the end retina MBP thirteen inch, or base retina fifteen inch?

I want the fastest, more powerful option of the two. The thirteen inch has more flash storage than the base fifteen; does that matter?

I use my macbook for a lot of internet browsing, light gaming, a lot of netflix watching, a lot of tab opening. I am attracted to the fifteen because I'd love a bit of a screen increase.

although I don't want to painfully wait for shipping and delivery, do you think it would be worth doubling the ram of the base fifteen? Would I have to upgrade anything else to match the new ram, to avoid bottlenecking etc?

I cannot afford the top fifteen macbook unfortunately.

What do you advise? Thanks
Click to expand...

if it's gonna be your main computer, go with the 15 inch.
 
eperrine said:
I use my macbook for a lot of internet browsing, light gaming, a lot of netflix watching, a lot of tab opening. I am attracted to the fifteen because I'd love a bit of a screen increase.
Click to expand...

Honestly, either will suit your needs just fine since you won't be taxing the system that much. Those are fairly normal uses and will be handled very well by either machine.

But i guess for your preference, just go for the 15 inch. Comes with the Iris Pro, so that will handle games a bit better, and you will be getting a bigger screen for watching netflix.

If only you said that you did things like video editing and such, or something that demanded more out of the mac, i would have pointed at the 15 inch hands down :p
 
eperrine said:
Hi there ^-^

Tomorrow I have to buy a new Macbook Pro for Uni and I don't know which one to buy. Currently on a run down two thousand and eleven macbook pro thirteen inch (have you noticed that the number keys obviously dont work :p)

Top of the end retina MBP thirteen inch, or base retina fifteen inch?

I want the fastest, more powerful option of the two. The thirteen inch has more flash storage than the base fifteen; does that matter?

I use my macbook for a lot of internet browsing, light gaming, a lot of netflix watching, a lot of tab opening. I am attracted to the fifteen because I'd love a bit of a screen increase.

although I don't want to painfully wait for shipping and delivery, do you think it would be worth doubling the ram of the base fifteen? Would I have to upgrade anything else to match the new ram, to avoid bottlenecking etc?

I cannot afford the top fifteen macbook unfortunately.

What do you advise? Thanks
Click to expand...

Buy a MBA or the low end rMBP, you don't need the power of the 15''. Invest in a nice external monitor for whenever you'd like a lot of screen space.
 
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