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Which should I buy? 17" or 15" Macbook Pro?

M

matt141993

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 9, 2009
3
0
Hi, I have finally decided to buy a Macbook Pro, but I have no idea which one t get at the moment I have 3 options (maybe 4 if I get enough money :)). i can either buy a 15" with standard configuration, a 17" with standard configuration or a 15" with 2.8ghz speed or maybe a 17" with 2.93ghz speed if I have enough money.

The problem is I have no idea which one to get. I would be using this for surfing the net, emails, writing documents, quite photo editing/graphic design (not professionally) and maybe a bit of web design, I WONT be using this for gaming. I also want this to last me most of the 5 year lifespan so I can use it when i go to college in 2 years. I have an iMac at home, but I want this to be my primary computer but at the moment we have to use those Asus EEEPCs at school so until I go to College i wont be using it for work.

What I think is the best idea is to get the 15" with the 2.8ghz, but, if I get that it is actually more expensive than the 17" with standard configuration. The problem with the 17" inch is that I have heard that the screen is awkward for traveling on planes and coaches etc. Then i thought maybe I could save €300 and buy the 15" standard config because maybe I dont need the extra speed for what I will be doing. I kind of like the idea of the 17" screen but because I live in Ireland I cant go in to an apple store and look at the size of the two :mad:

Hope you guys can help!

Sorry if it is kind of long :p
 
matt141993 said:
Hi, I have finally decided to buy a Macbook Pro, but I have no idea which one t get at the moment I have 3 options (maybe 4 if I get enough money :)). i can either buy a 15" with standard configuration, a 17" with standard configuration or a 15" with 2.8ghz speed or maybe a 17" with 2.93ghz speed if I have enough money.

The problem is I have no idea which one to get. I would be using this for surfing the net, emails, writing documents, quite photo editing/graphic design (not professionally) and maybe a bit of web design, I WONT be using this for gaming. I also want this to last me most of the 5 year lifespan so I can use it when i go to college in 2 years. I have an iMac at home, but I want this to be my primary computer but at the moment we have to use those Asus EEEPCs at school so until I go to College i wont be using it for work.


What I think is the best idea is to get the 15" with the 2.8ghz, but, if I get that it is actually more expensive than the 17" with standard configuration. The problem with the 17" inch is that I have heard that the screen is awkward for traveling on planes and coaches etc. Then i thought maybe I could save €300 and buy the 15" standard config because maybe I dont need the extra speed for what I will be doing. I kind of like the idea of the 17" screen but because I live in Ireland I cant go in to an apple store and look at the size of the two :mad:

Hope you guys can help!

Sorry if it is kind of long :p
Click to expand...

my 17" is a hoss. the only reason i picked it up was for the HD screen.
if opt'd to choose again...i would probably have gone with the 15" because it is THAT MUCH more portable.

there are plenty of threads explaining more detail on why...

but it all goes down to personal preference.
 
liquidtrend said:
my 17" is a hoss. the only reason i picked it up was for the HD screen.
if opt'd to choose again...i would probably have gone with the 15" because it is THAT MUCH more portable.

there are plenty of threads explaining more detail on why...

but it all goes down to personal preference.
Click to expand...

The 17" is only a tiny bit bigger than the 15" and only a slightly bit heavyer (1.1lb) so its just as portable as the 15"

If you compare them in store, you'll notice most of the 17" extra screen size is taken out of the bezel that the 15" has rather than actuall increase in overall body size.

It really depends how much money you have, but as your only doing a bit of web design and low end graphic design I would get the 15" as its unlikely you'll need the extra quality and resolution the 17" provides (although the screen has around 80% more pixels and is true HD compared to the 15" which is nowhere close.)

You could always pop into an Apple reseller store to compare them? Im sure Ireland has quite a few.
 
I went from a 15" to 17" and back to a 15"

if you plan on taking it anywhere then I would go with the 15, in fact I would just go for the 15" I came back to one and I don't think I will ever go back to 17" it was just so big! I loved it at first, but over time it will start to show its problems.

lets say you take it to school, not only do you have to lug aound this big case, OK its a macbook so it mihgt not be that heavy, but its still big with a big case. Then you go to class and set it on the table leaving no room for anything ells, since the huge freaking laptop just took up 90% of what ever room was on the table!

little things like that WILL get to you after some time.
 
I personally went with 15" as I need portability. However, due to the screen on my MBP being rather constraining, I have a 24" LED ACD to complement it at home.
 
I have both the 15" and the 17" of the Alu range plus the MacBook White. There are some differences I like from both aluminium MacBooksPro's. As everyone has strongly pointed out the 15" is much more mobile especially because of the smaller footprint and reduction in weight. However, my new high-resolution of the 17" is way better for professional work but moving this thing around feels a little weighty, even though the footprint is only slightly bigger, it does feel bulkier.

Then again, when your camera equipment and glass weights almost 30Kg,
I doubt the extra 500 grams will much difference... Just less check-in luggage.
 
I would recommend the 15" for the reasons many other posters have suggested, namely portability. With the 15", you get all of the good qualities of the MBP, performance, power and that excellent screen. I have one and I'm very happy with it.

The big difference between the 15" and 17" - in other words, the advantage of the larger screen of the 17", - does not, to my mind, justify the inconvenience of carrying a larger and heavier computer, and the ongoing minor inconveniences of finding comfortable space for it when travelling.

Cheers and good luck
 
I went with the 17" just because of the screen and the processor/RAM (although the 15" will probably get 8GB capability with Snow Leopard anyway.) I have carried both the unibody 15" and the legacy 17" and I think the difference is very subtle. It's not THAT much more of a pain to carry unless you like weigh 100 pounds and are a wimp ;) Either that or your constantly practicing parkour with your MBP. (Which I do not suggest lol)

Bottom line, not that big a deal.
 
personally, the only thing right now that I have going for the 17" is the pixel density. If they upped teh 15" to 1680x1050, then I'd say go for the 15" all the way. Oh, and 8GB RAM limit
 
Since you aren't using it professionally, then go for the 15" MBP.

I was a 15" --> 17" user and I will NEVER go back to the 15" since it just wasn't as fast, it didn't run as cool, and the screen wasn't as top notch. Not bashing the 15" per se, but I noticed how much easier it was to get things done on a larger, higher resolution display.

As others have said, the size and weight are negligible. The 15" MBP is just as heavy as the 17" IMHO since I can't discern a pound when lugging around 10 or 11 lbs. The power you get from that extra pound is well worth it. Not to mention that I have flown plenty of destinations with the 17" MBP and used it on buses, planes, coffee shops, etc with not problems at all. Sure, a Macbook would have just been smaller, but having the resolution of a 23" screen in my pocket for video editing was much preferred.
 
Hi everyone, Thank you for all the quick replies! I think I am going to go for the 17" as it seems the only reasons not to get it are because it is bigger and because I wouldnt actually NEED it so, I reckon that if I can get that extra €200 it is a no-brainer to get the 17".

Thanks again for all the advice! and if anyone has any other reasons not to get the 15 inch, then post away!
 
kastenbrust said:
Called an external battery.

Anyway Apple are usually pretty accurate with their battery time estimates,
Click to expand...

Yeah right... if your not doing anything processor intensive on the machine.

Ok... Get this. I run Adobe CS4 Master's Collection on my system, there's Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Lightroom open, occasionally FCS2 aswell. Looking at the Battery tells me there's over four hours of power... usually, within two hours of image manipulation the battery is already hitting 20%. Some how, I don't think there's another two hours of juice in that 20% do you?

If Apple's predictions are correct, why am i carting around three spare cells? And a airline charger plus the regular charger?
 
Digital Skunk said:
Only recently, like just with the last generation, mainly because they used to always give false estimates. I remember them saying that the iBook G4 got 4 hours even with WiFi turned on. I got close to 2.5 hrs.
Click to expand...
My iBook is 4 years old this year and gets 3.5 hours. Apple's battery times are fairly conservative.

I vote 15" with an external monitor, that is what I am going to do.
 
hmmm, 17 inch for college? good luck carrying that around. I would of got the 15 inch, its so much more portable, comfortable and lighter. Whatever, its too late now.
 
It's called a bag. If you can't carry 7 lbs plus books around with you each day there is something wrong with you.

Stick with the 17" you won't regret it.
 
1) the 17" represents better value, at only $200 more, and you get higher clock speeds, higher real clock speeds due to better cooling, and a better battery

2) it weighs less than a bag of sugar more, and if you can't take 1lb extra weight you need to see a doctor or get some nuts, and its basically no bigger in terms of size so people complaining its bulky thats frankly b**ls**t

3) 17" of high definition is s**y

is s**y a rude word in the US because i dont want to get told off on here again :p
 
Well, it seems as though everyone likes the model that they already paid for better... I bought the mid-level 15 inch MacBook Pro unibody, and I'm happy with it. Very happy. I have Windows Vista (32 bit) on it, but the 4 GB of RA does not fully register with the computer, and is a bit of a waste, as the only thing I use that comes close to the 4 GB is the PhotoShop application. Everything else is just gaming.
 
kastenbrust said:
1) the 17" represents better value, at only $200 more, and you get higher clock speeds, higher real clock speeds due to better cooling, and a better battery

2) it weighs less than a bag of sugar more, and if you can't take 1lb extra weight you need to see a doctor or get some nuts, and its basically no bigger in terms of size so people complaining its bulky thats frankly b**ls**t

3) 17" of high definition is s**y

is s**y a rude word in the US because i dont want to get told off on here again :p
Click to expand...

No, sexy is a perfectly fine word over here in the US. But it is a rule that you have to use it to describe a computer at least once a year, which you have done.

And you are right about the weight. Some of the skinniest women cutters i know have 17" MBPs in their purses and they don't complain at all.

Seriously
 
I've been thinking about the same thing. I don't know if I want a 15" or a 17", although the 17" aren;t actually available yet, as everyone has seen, and I don't know when they will be.

I guess one thing is that the 15" is actually 15.4", so it's a 1.8" difference. I've been contemplating getting a 15" and the 24" external display, which would be about the same price as the 17". Why wouldn't anyone do that I guess, it's even more screen room. I just don't know. I'm also contemplating a refurb last gen 17" model, that would be available now, rather than who knows when with the new model.
 
Anonymouslives said:
I've been thinking about the same thing. I don't know if I want a 15" or a 17", although the 17" aren;t actually available yet, as everyone has seen, and I don't know when they will be.

I guess one thing is that the 15" is actually 15.4", so it's a 1.8" difference. I've been contemplating getting a 15" and the 24" external display, which would be about the same price as the 17". Why wouldn't anyone do that I guess, it's even more screen room. I just don't know. I'm also contemplating a refurb last gen 17" model, that would be available now, rather than who knows when with the new model.
Click to expand...

I would get the newer model ONLY because you get a better GFX card and the possibility of 8GB of RAM down the road.

I would still get the 17" because you basically get the resolution of a 24" in a 17" body that you can carry around with you, and that 1.8" makes a big difference. If anything, I'd get the 17" and (someone else's matte) 24" LED later on down the road.
 
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