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Which one would you choose?

Using notebook 8+ hours daily, what screen size would you buy?

  • 11"

    Votes: 4 2.1%

  • 13"

    Votes: 32 17.1%

  • 15"

    Votes: 106 56.7%

  • 17"

    Votes: 45 24.1%
  • Total voters
    187
entatlrg

entatlrg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
3,385
6
Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
What notebook screen size (not resolution) would you choose for these conditions -

- using 8+ hours a day, not hooked up to an external monitor.

- Price is not a concern, it's a well deserved business expense/tool.

- Will be the main computer, work and entertainment, heavy emails, vector drawing, writing, light photo and video editing, surfing ...

Would you buy a 13, 15 or 17" notebook?

Please vote in the Poll.
 
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If you are carrying it around a lot, I'd go with the 15". If it isn't moved a lot, the 17'. Ignoring resolution, bigger is better for 8 hours use per day.
 
price not a factor? won't leave house? ... i can't believe anyone would not vote 17!

... i can't justify the price difference myself these days, 15 vs 17, but i had a 17 powerbook for years and loved it. you will LOVE that HUGE screen. (some people don't like the high res though, makes things 'smaller'; though there are workarounds, and possibly Lion will fix this.)
 
I'm guessing you'd love the screen real estate of a 17" doing all that work. The footprint of the 17" seems like it would also be more stable on your lap while on a couch or in bed.
 
entatlrg said:
What notebook screen size (not resolution) would you choose for these conditions -

- using 8+ hours a day, not hooked up to an external monitor.

- Will be the main computer, work and entertainment, 50+ daily emails, iWorks, light photo and video editing, surfing, no gaming.

- Will go nearly everywhere, home, office, cottage, travel. Used on desk, heavily on couch, deck, kitchen, bed, cafe.

- Price is not a factor.

Would you buy a 13, 15 or 17" notebook?

Please vote in the Poll.
Click to expand...
I replaced / upgraded to new 15 & 17" recently. I too spend a lot of time working on my MBP's

Buy the 17" and you'll never regret it. I'm on my third and it's the best, lightest, most comfortable in the business.
 
17 inch definitely is the best. The weight is really not a concern, it's not that heavy by any means at all. Carrying it is nothing. If you have a bag/shoulder strap it's even less of a concern. Like was already stated, the size is only a benefit when working, as it's very stable, no matter where it's being used. Comfortably fits on the lap, desk, anywhere, really. Working on it that long, as well as using it for entertainment, you won't regret it! 15 inch would be... "okay" but I'd certainly steer clear of anything smaller for all of that... (unless price was a factor of course!) Hard to beat the screen real estate you get with it for all those tasks!
 
Ah, I'm weird. I picked 13". Cause honestly, screen real estate doesn't bug me that much on the 13" screen (though it is nicer to plug it into my 21").

I guess it would also depend on if I planned on moving around with it too. If I had to port it around every day, definitely the 13". Once a week, I might go with the 15" (might still stick with the 13" cause the biggest benefit of my laptop to me is that I can easily take it on me on vacation. The 13" just barely fits in my motorcycle tank bags and fits in my backpack easily as well as fits on the airplane seat tray easily). I just wouldn't pick the 17" cause it loses the point of being a laptop, just too big for easy portability (wouldn't fit in my backpack well, and I have a huge backpack, definitely wouldn't fit in my motorcycle bags).

If I didn't need to move it around except very rarely, I'd buy a desktop and an MBA :p.
 
I'm beginning to agree, for 8 hours a day using a 13" screen is on the small side.

A 27" ACD or external display doesn't do me any good since I don't work from a desk often.

If I want the largest screen away from a desk 17" is only way to go. It will be great around the office and den.

For light computing or when heading out I'll use my MacBook Air. That's a shame in a way, I love my MacBook Air ... if they made a 17" MacBook Air I'd be happy... I don't need mobile power, just the larger screen.

Looks like my setup is going to be changing, I may pick up the 17" tomorrow.
 
The new processors in the new 11 and 13" Airs have enough power for many 'all day' computing tasks. Lion offers full screen view.

May this will change some peoples minds about using something like the Air for 8 more more hours a day.
 
i have an mbp (13) and an ipad (9.7). i use the ipad (9.7) for most of my work (8+ hours a day) and the mbp for the stuff i cannot do with the ipad. frankly, the screen size difference doesn't bother me a bit, and i could work on anything from an iPod (3.7) to a 17". i think it depends more on WHAT you are doing than HOW LONG you are doing it.

fortunately, the processors in the airs and mbps are all pretty good, and ought to be able to handle whatever you do. given all of the moving about you plan to do, i'd get the 11" air.

but, now it looks like you already have that, so if we are just talking about home, then the 17" is the obvious answer. that is a powerful computer!
 
Well i do use my notebook for that long a day (I'm a nerd, sue me) and I love my 13 inch MBP. As a college student, I think the 15 would be too big for lecture halls and would take up too much space on the desk/table.

I also love the size and portability I have if I want to take the machine downstairs or something while eating dinner/hanging out at a friend's house.

It depends on what you're doing though. I do a bit of light gaming and photo editing and I don't need 15 inches of real estate to do that.
 
if you want power/screen real estate - 17"; if you want portability - 13"; if you want a compromise - 15"... thats what i did.
 
Still using the MacBook Air the most.

Haven't bought the 17" yet but have been thinking about it again. I spend so many hours a day working on a computer, I'd like to get away from being tied to desk yet have a large display.

Seems like the 17" is the answer. Tried a 15" but the gain in screen real estate wasn't that great, two open windows side by side are pretty cramped on the 15" ... even with the high-res upgrade.

The 17" screen is in your face and big, so tempting...
 
13"
I have used 15" laptops before, they are nice but honestly i prefer 13" just easier to bring around
 
15''. I find that it is a nice medium between a portable 13'' (I used a 13'' MacBook for two years) and a 17'' with a nice screen, but too heavy to carry around.
 
I find that a 15-inch screen is the perfect balance between screen estate and portability (although a 13-inch display isn't bad depending on the tasks that you're performing).
 
My vote is split between the 15" high res or the 17". It depends on on how much travel the machine will see. Very little travel I would say go with the 17", anything more than a little bit I would say go with the 15" high res.

I have the 15" high res my self and there is enough screen real estate to get most things done without wishing for more space.
 
will you have an outlet? That is an important factor also in terms of battery.
11" -Really portable but does not really seam important as you will be stationary and not moving it much
13"- Nice size in terms of power for your needs, and his portable when nessecairy
15" many like this and consider it the sweat spot
17" me and many others consider it too big

For me I would get the 13"
you may want to consider the 15"
 
I have the 13 and I do wish I had more pixels when I do photo editing, other than that it's great. Although you may feel cramped with the small screen (native res: 1280x800), it teaches you how to be resourceful with space. On the surface a pound or two may not seem like much, but daily strolls with the 17" in your backpack will give a chiropractor a new client. After all, Apple markets an entire line of computers on lightness and portability, which is roughly only a pound less than the 13-inch MBP.

That being said, if I were you I'd get the base-15. You claim that price is not an option, therefore the 33% ($600) difference between the base 13 and base 15 is not a barrier for you like most. Additionally, you seem to want to bring your MacBook everywhere, thus I would opt for the 15 over the 17.
 
entatlrg said:
Still using the MacBook Air the most.

Haven't bought the 17" yet but have been thinking about it again. I spend so many hours a day working on a computer, I'd like to get away from being tied to desk yet have a large display.

Seems like the 17" is the answer. Tried a 15" but the gain in screen real estate wasn't that great, two open windows side by side are pretty cramped on the 15" ... even with the high-res upgrade.

The 17" screen is in your face and big, so tempting...
Click to expand...

17 is too big to use on lap
 
tim100 said:
17 is too big to use on lap
Click to expand...

15" is too small to be used on the lap for 8 hours a day.

Where do you get the idea the 17" is too big, when you owned a 17" notebook was it an Apple or one of the Windows units? You have owned a 17" Apple Macbook Pro. Used one for an extensive amount of time, haven't you, or are you just expressing an opinion of others as the opinion of yourself?

If Apple made a laptop the same size as say a Hewlett Packard 17" Pavillion, it would have a 20" screen.

PHYSICAL SIZE: Apple 17" Macbook Pro = Any Other Brand 15"

When I bought my 17" MBP I wanted a nice carrying case. Not finding a 17" case I liked I found the 17" MBP actually fit extremely well in a 15" notebook case. Even fits in the 15" Notebook Pocket of my Camera Backpack.

One of the biggest drawback to the 17" MBP is the price, but many will use size as reason they do not own one.

Low End 15" $1799
Low End 17" $2499

$700 is a lot of money one could use in other ways. But as one who uses a notebook as his primary computer on his lap, and on his desk I can tell you $700 is a small premium to pay for what the 17" brings you.

NOTE: Initially I bought a 15" ( $2199 ) but returned it after realizing I made a mistake and bought the 17" ( $2799 ).
 
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