Which MBP should I get?

[Pepper Pot]

I go to college so portability is needed,

I mainly use my laptop for Photoshop, Facebook, and Listening to music.

so I'm wondering whether the;
13" 2.26ghz with 4GB RAM + 250GB HDD
or the
13" 2.53ghz with 4GB RAM + 250GB HDD

but I'm also considering whether the screen will be large enough for using Photoshop so maybe the low end 15" (but this may be a little out of budget for me :\)

The laptop I use atm is a Toshiba Equium A300D, running Vista, 2.00ghz, 2GB RAM, 200GB HDD - and I manage fine with it but I've always wanted a Mac.


your views are much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Hellhammer]

I think 2.26GHz is enough, just get 4GB of RAM and you'll be fine. Even 15" is small for Photoshop so I'd get an external monitor for that purpose and hook it to your MBP when needed

 

[acurafan]

i'd get the base MBP and get 3rd party memory and better hard drive myself; use their oem hard drive for backup, and the $$ saved get an external monitor like someone else mentioned.

 

[Raysito22]

I'd rather get the cheaper one and if you want your Photoshop work to improve, get an external LCD. Apart from the size, remember that colors in laptops LCD change depending on the viewer situation and how you tilt its LCD, which for me at least is a big problem.

 

[ipodftw]

i'd get the base MBP and get 3rd party memory and better hard drive myself; use their oem hard drive for backup, and the $$ saved get an external monitor like someone else mentioned.

I would completly agree with this,

dont buy extra ram from apple they overprice it!

 

[MacMini2009]

i'd get the base MBP and get 3rd party memory and better hard drive myself; use their oem hard drive for backup, and the $$ saved get an external monitor like someone else mentioned.

I would completly agree with this,

dont buy extra ram from apple they overprice it!

I disagree. If you buy the 13in Macbook Pro with a student discount, it is only $90 for the 4GB RAM upgrade (4GB is going for $80-$100 with 3rd party sellers) and only $45 for the 250GB hard drive upgrade. So if you buy the base 2.26GHz Macbook Pro, it is worth it to get the upgrades directly from Apple.

 

[Pepper Pot]

The LCD screen would be a good idea, but I really need to use the laptop on the go, I guess what I really need to know is; is the screen on the 13" big enough to work on Photoshop? I use a 15" laptop atm and I find it a good size but I don't know whether losing those 2" would actually make a big difference?

is it really worth all that extra money for the 15"?

thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

The LCD screen would be a good idea, but I really need to use the laptop on the go, I guess what I really need to know is; is the screen on the 13" big enough to work on Photoshop? I use a 15" laptop atm and I find it a good size but I don't know whether losing those 2" would actually make a big difference?

is it really worth all that extra money for the 15"?

thanks

Depends on the images you work on. If they are big, then you may not be able to see how good they really are but 15" isn't that much bigger though

 

[azentropy]

While the 15" is 2" bigger, duh, it really doesn't give you that much resolution difference. 1440x900 vs. 1280x800

IMO you would be better saving the cost and getting a 13" and then if you need/want to later get an external display.

As far of the difference in the 13" models the processor isn't going to make much difference. I'd upgrade my self 3rd party, and then put the original drive in a USB case for Time Machine backup. But in the long run you really don't save too much money, you just end up getting more but the added hassle.

 

[Raysito22]

You need to work with Photoshop on the go? If so, then maybe the "little" 2 extra inches might be worth the money. Anyway, same limitations there, Photoshop and laptops usually mean uncontrollable colors, and so, random results. I guess you already know that limitation, so now, and given the need to work on the go, it's your choice wether those inches are worth that much money or not. I'd take a look at the 13" MBP by myself to see if it looks that small or not, and then compare it to the 15" one. It's easier to decide by comparing usually.

Guess it helps, good luck.

 

[thecheda]

Worth It

15 is worth it. I haven't regretted it since.