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Why did you or would you buy a 15" MacBook Pro?

entatlrg

entatlrg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
3,385
6
Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
I'm curious to hear the reasons ....

Why not the new Rev B MacBook Air ... it's surprisingly fast, or the 17" MBP or MacBook or a desktop/iMac/MacPro?

15" MBP seems really popular right now.
 
simple answer for me

In my case, size does matter, so 17 is too big and too heavy.
Speed does matter and so does RAM for me, so the Air is out of the question and if I spec the macbook out fully it's still only a 13" screen, coming back to size does matter :)

Working in the blurry area in IT where project management, technical consulting and testing melts together requires me to run all kinds of software and test Virtual Machines etc. so Horsepower and ram is needed.

Hence: 15" Macbook pro, late 2008...

ok, maybe that answer wasn't the simplest :)

//V
 
^Those are very good reasons.

I'm more of an average user so I probably don't need all the power that it has (check my sig for details). But I'd like to be able to do anything at the drop of a hat and not have to say "I can't; I don't have enough memory" that's probably my favorite quality.

I always prefer pro anyway since it's a better machine, the Air is about half the computer I need, and I like the 15 inch screen. It's not huge like the 17 but it's not small like the MacBook, it's just right. When I can't decide I usually go for the middle option.

Plus they're awesome. How can you argue with that?:cool:
 
i do audio & music.
i dont need the biggest screen, i need a good cpu/ram combo.
 
Simple,

my 15" Macbook Pro is my desktop replacement. It is the only computer I use at home. I run it closed with an external monitor like a desktop computer most of the time but still need the option of portability.

The MBA may be a fine computer, but it would be very inadequate for being a desktop replacement. When I bought my MBP, the macbook was not as good as it is now either, pre-unibody, so it didn't have a dedicated graphics chip which was a killer for me then.

15" is also a good sized screen, no too big as to be inconvenient but not so small that I can't fit two programs' windows onscreen at once.
:cool:
 
I chose the 15" Pro because of the screen size and quality, mainly.

Dual graphics cards give me the 'I can do anything' feeling.

FireWire and ExpressCard 34.

It's my desktop replacement, but I don't use it with an external screen as often as I could. I love the internal. With the right calibration, it's amazing.

It's the same size as most of my textbooks, so I don't find it a portability problem like the 17" could be.

It felt more solidly constructed than the 13".

The integrated speakers are a bonus.

To me, it looks more 'proportional' than the 13" does.


I love my MacBook Pro.
 
entatlrg said:
Why not the new Rev B MacBook Air ... it's surprisingly fast, or the 17" MBP or MacBook or a desktop/iMac/MacPro?
Click to expand...

I could have gotten a MacBook instead of MBP, and in hindsight I probably would have saved some $$.

I wanted a laptop because I have some need for mobility, not a lot but some, and it doesn't make sense for me economically to have a desktop and a laptop. So that means I need to choose between apple's laptop line.

MBA, great looking computer, but your paying a premium for the look and its underpowered and under configured compared to the MacBook. That is I'm paying more for less.

MB/MBP 15" I struggled on this one, going back and forth between the two and the two major components the MBP has over the MB won me over, first and foremost was the GPU, giving me a discreet GPU was something that was important because I use Aperture which is quite demanding on the GPU. I found out after the fact that Aperture performance on the 9400m is great so I really didn't "need" the 9600m but its good for future use. The second thing is I read how the MBP's screen is more vibrant and less washed out then the MB, particularly at angles. I thought I'd be frustrated by this more then anything so that pushed me into the MBP. Firewire was also a consideration but not a huge draw.

The 17" wasn't really a serious contender because of the size, its just too unwieldy for my needs. When I travel, I fly most time with my young kids and trying to lug that around with the gear for my kids isn't feasible. Besides since the majority of time the laptop sits on my desk connected to a monitor, the advantage of the 17"MBP is mitigated.

All in all, I think the 15"MBP fit my needs the most, giving me a right mixture of a workable formfactor, performance and price.
 
I used a 13inch Macbook for about 2 1/2 years. I really liked it. It was my first Mac, it handled Photoshop CS3 and CS4 with no problem. Lightroom ran very well as did Aperture. It was not the fastest but it was enough for me to use and be happy. The problem for me was the screen size. I have a 20inch iMac at home. So the lower res really bothered me. It was time for an upgrade. When the new Macbooks came out, I really wanted one, but because I transfer large RAW files (camera files) the loss of firewire was a big deal for me. I could do it with USB, but it takes a hour to download 300 pictures at 10mb plus per picture. So I bit the bullet and got a 15.4 Unibody. At the time the 17's were not Unibody and the cost was out of my range. I don't think the 17's are that much bigger for carrying but the 15.4 just seemed right. I got the base line 2.4 with 2gb and have upgraded to 4gb. This thing is smoking fast. I also got an Express Card to CF reader and let me tell you how fast that things downloads my pictures. It blows firewire 400 away. Truth is I wish I would have gotten a 15inch pro from the start but at the time I could not afford it.

Hope that helps...
 
the reason why i bought the macbook pro was I wanted a macbook with a good video card. That way i could run programs like adobe affter effects and final cut pro. Not saying that they wont work on a macbook, but they dont work as good. I use pro software all the time. I almost bought the macbook though, especially when apple gave it a larger video card.
 
I bought the 15" MacBook Pro because it was powerful, decently lightweight, had a matte screen and a good graphics card. I do use my MacBook Air a great deal more often though. If I was buying a computer again I would not get a new 15" MacBook Pro because they do not offer a matte screen option. I would instead opt for a Mac Pro and continue to use my MacBook Air for portability. My powerful computer always needs to have a matte screen.
 
Because the Macbook Air wasn't invented when I got my 15" MBP ;)

Had I had a choice, I would have gotten the 15" MBP simply because I needed firewire and wanted a backlit keyboard.
 
Owned a 17" before. Very nice computer, but at time it was too big--screen was nice, but computer didn't fit on some tables. It required a big backpack or otherwise heavy weight. Unwiedly at time. I wasn't going to get a MacBook since there is no FW and I'm a heavy FW user, so I guess Apple forced me to get the 15".
 
kdum8 said:
Simple,

my 15" Macbook Pro is my desktop replacement. It is the only computer I use at home. I run it closed with an external monitor like a desktop computer most of the time but still need the option of portability.

The MBA may be a fine computer, but it would be very inadequate for being a desktop replacement. When I bought my MBP, the macbook was not as good as it is now either, pre-unibody, so it didn't have a dedicated graphics chip which was a killer for me then.

15" is also a good sized screen, no too big as to be inconvenient but not so small that I can't fit two programs' windows onscreen at once.
:cool:
Click to expand...

yup, the reason is exactly the same.. at home, I use it with external monitor and keyboard.. and when i'm on the road I could take my work with me and not forgetting to copy files to my laptop if I were using desktop and laptop combo
 
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I was sick of having a small (14" PC) laptop. Believe it or not the 15" is really so much nicer. The 17" is really too big since I am always traveling with it.
 
Its easier to tell why i didn't buy the other computers

macbook-too small and bad screen, no FW.

macbook air-not enough power, not enough ports.

macbook pro 17-too big.

The only one left - macbook pro 15

:)
 
Skika said:
Its easier to tell why i didn't buy the other computers

macbook-too small and bad screen, no FW.

macbook air-not enough power, not enough ports.

macbook pro 17-too big.

The only one left - macbook pro 15

:)
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better myself.

MBA, no ports? Why whats the point lol
 
Skika said:
Its easier to tell why i didn't buy the other computers

macbook-too small and bad screen, no FW.

macbook air-not enough power, not enough ports.

macbook pro 17-too big.

The only one left - macbook pro 15

:)
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with you.
 
1. because it works for me
2. because it is small enough
3. because it is trendier to go minimalist and i am all about going minimalist AND trendy. yeah.
 
Not going to into detail but...

1) I spend a lot of time away from my desktop machine. My parents recently got divorced and my mom got the family's lakehouse in Michigan and bought a house right down the road here in suburbia Indianapolis. As you can imagine, my time is spent all over the place during different times of the year. My mom bought me my Penryn MacBook Pro as a birthday gift/computer for me to use in July 2008. Sold it and upgraded to my Unibody MBP last October.

2) I do a large amount of photography and work with Photoshop and Illustrator. It's very nice having a mobile machine that can keep up.

3) Portability is important, the 17" is a bit large. If the Unibody 17" would have been around when I first got my MBP then maybe it would have been nice but only because of the battery life. Then again, I'm very happy with what I currently have.

So I guess I did go into detail a bit.
 
entatlrg said:
To go from a iMac and MBA will be difficult, but the trade off of having ONE computer at all times may be worth it in some important ways?
Click to expand...

I can see where it'd be nice to only have one machine and not have to worry about having certain files on one Mac and not the other computer, but more is almost always better.
I'd take a 24" iMac and a MacBook Air in a heartbeat in exchange for my MBP and dual screen PC.
 
entatlrg said:
To go from a iMac and MBA will be difficult, but the trade off of having ONE computer at all times may be worth it in some important ways?
Click to expand...

I was in the same situation as you are two months ago. I had the 1st gen MBA and the previous gen 24" iMac. I used to carry the MBA to work everyday and use the iMac at home. However I found the iMac to be kind of slow and because I also game under bootcamp the video card in iMac was quite lacking. Finally I sold my iMac, passed down the MBA to my gf and bought a 15" MBP. Now this is my main computer for both work and home. I just installed Windows 7 RC on it using bootcamp and the gaming performance actually increases. Couldn't be happier.
 
uiop. said:
I can see where it'd be nice to only have one machine and not have to worry about having certain files on one Mac and not the other computer, but more is almost always better.
I'd take a 24" iMac and a MacBook Air in a heartbeat in exchange for my MBP and dual screen PC.
Click to expand...

Who wouldn't, it's a PC? :D:apple:
 
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