Upgrading from 4 year old 13inch macbook

[davidjacobs21]

So lately our 4 year old macbook is getting extremely slow, things are freezing a lot and i think its just starting to die. We are thinking of upgrading to a macbook pro, either 13inch or 15 inch.

I like the size of the 13inch, but some of the upgrades in the specs on the 15 inch look really nice.

We mostly use the comp for web browsing, email, music, a lot of photos, movies, word, and some games.

Do you think we would be fine with the 13inch, or does the upgrades in the 15 inch make a big difference. I see the processor, hard drive speeds, and graphics are all better, but can the 13 inch get up to par with the 15inch with some upgrades.

Any help would be very appreiciated

Thanks

 

[TRUCRACKER]

The 13" would handle all of that fine but if you don't travel much go with the 15" for the extra power.

 

[dukebound85]

I have had a 2006 mb, a 2010 mb and a current 15 mbp i7

Honestly, for general web use, etc, the mb and mbp are both great.

I do like the 15inch screen but at the same time I really like the 13 in as it makes it more portable. The backlit keys are nice though

What I will say is that the uni mbps seem to dent easily. I have 2 dents in mine from normal usage in just not even a week of having it

 

[davidjacobs21]

well for portability we have an ipad. So it really just comes down to having a great performance

 

[mikeo007]

You mention games, 13" is fine for older games, circa warcraft 3 era.

I can play Fallout 3 on med-low settings and Arkham Asylum on med-low, but anything higher ends up chugging pretty bad. 15" MBP has a bit better GPU, but still not enough to play newer games at high settings.

Everything else you mentioned could be accomplished on any modern computer without issues.

 

[davidjacobs21]

I know you can upgrade the ram on the 13inch. how does doing that compare to having a better prcoessor on the 15 inch

 

[milbournosphere]

I know you can upgrade the ram on the 13inch. how does doing that compare to having a better prcoessor on the 15 inch

I don't really know if there's an argument there...the i5 is much faster and will be much more future-proof than the core2duo in the 13" mbp. If this is to be your only machine, I'd say get the 15" box, and upgrade the ram after you've saved up a little money. You'll be much happier with the 15" screen in the long run, and the i5 chip will last longer. If you really have cash to burn, get the 15" i7; the graphics hard has more ram, and the i7 chip supports hyperthreading.

 

[briansolomon]

If you have an iPad for portability why not consider an iMac?

 

[davidjacobs21]

If you have an iPad for portability why not consider an iMac?

Because my wife and I like being able to be on a computer in the room with our tv. The only place I could put an imac would be in a the 3rd bedroom.
I think the 15iinch may be the way to go becasue of the processor if i want to use this comp for a long time. If the core duo processor is already dated now, what will be in 3-4 years down the line