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Your opinions on the Macbook Pro?

15" vs. 13"

When I bought my first MBP in February, I bought the 13" cause of cost. I kept it for about a week and ended up returning solely due to screen size. Went back and got the 15". Best decision I could've made. A couple of weeks later the introduced the new MBPs and i went back and exchanged the 2010 15" for the 2011 15". Hope that helps.
 
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Not really a "few" more bucks. More like $600 more. Haha.
 
If you can't afford it, get a PC... macs are expensive

You are not going to be doing much gaming on the 13" It will probably play WoW and SCII just fine, but I wouldn't expect to get playable frame rates in newer action games and FPS's

Definitely either get the base 13" or go for the 15" though. You aren't really going to notice any real world performance differences between the two 13" models so there is no point in buying the more expensive one.

IMO... if you already have the HP, why not use that as your gaming rig? I don't really see many instances where you need to be gaming on the go so leave the HP in your dorm and buy a mac for your school needs.
 
Chiuy said:
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Not really a "few" more bucks. More like $600 more. Haha.
Click to expand...

True. I know it's a big purchase ( just made it myself) It's a real kick in the bank account initially but it's an investment that will last years. That's how it look at it. But in the end, it's your money
 
Speaking as somebody who has the 2.3GHz 13" i5 (for work) and the 2.3GHz 15" i7 (home), both are great machines. Both are very nippy and I certainly don't feel held back by the 13" model at work. However, for any heavy CPU work (3D rendering, video editing, etc), the 15" is definitely going to stand you in good stead, as the quad core will chew through it. But if you're prepared to wait for the task to finish, go with the 13".

The dedicated GPU will also be an improvement for playing games, as the Intel HD 3000 is good, but not as good as the Radeon GPUs in the 15" models. I also find the extra screen resolution to be worth it as well, although I have more of a jump between the 13" and the 15", as the 15" is the AG model (so 1280x800 v 1680x1050).
 
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Haha. The desktop needs to stay at home cause my mom will be using it. Otherwise I wouldn't be having this problem. Lol.
Thx guys.
 
I'd go 15" or even last year's 15". Better GPU and option for hi-res screens.
 
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Actually the Apple 15inch is out of the picture. $1700 is just too pricey and is like a laptop willing to be stolen if I leave it somewhere by accident.

It's either Apple 13inch i5 or i7
Or HP Beats Audio Envy.
More opinions guys? Thanks.

(I'm mostly be using to do light gaming like SCII and WoW on low setting as long as it doesn't lag. I'll be using laptop mostly Photoshop and simple video editing.)
 
well they are pretty similar computers... guess it comes down to your wants.

If you want a better GPU for gaming on the laptop, get the HP.

If you want to use OSX instead, go with the MBP.
 
fat jez said:
Does the Envy not come with a 1.7GHz CPU as standard? Think I'd take the 2.3GHz in the 15" MBP over that!
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it has the quad core i7-740QM

although it is a quad core, it's a clarksfield processor, not sandy bridge, released about a year ago.
 
Will you need to run Windows for any special apps? Like I do for Quicken on my MBP. Possibly because the Windows I installed was 64 bit, but with 4GB of RAM it was unsatisfactory. 8GB is fine.

I'm using VMWare Fusion, not boot camp, since rebooting like boot camp requires is unsatisfactory for me.
 
I would not buy the envy with a quad core.

The old i7 quad core processors do not have any integrated graphics which will force the computer to run the dedicated card. Much more power usage.

I will be surprised if it got half the battery life of the 15 inch MBP.

I would look at another manufacturer if you want a quad core CPU. Get sandy bridge.
 
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Thanks. The Envy is a Quad i7 second Gen at 2.9ghz with turbo boost.
Battery life is an issue. It says 5-6 hrs, but it could be at all low battery setting.

I think I'm edging back toward the 13 inch i7. Gaming is not a priority and it's better if the laptop couldn't play games then I'll focus more on my studys.
But I do need like Photoshop CS5 and Premiere. Does it run smooth?
The extra $300 on the i7 may not worth it but its the only way to get a bit more speed which could come handle a bit, and the 15 inch is off my budget.
And I hear MacBook last twice as long as PC laptop. I don't want my essay or whatever report be gone if my computer starts failing. Like my Toshiba, lost my entire summer homework cause my laptop failed. (was 3 years old)
 
I have the 13" MBP / 8GB RAM. I love it for what I do. But, for what you want to do, I'd be looking at the 15" in order to get quad core and more screen real estate.

Then again, why not get an 11" MBA for toting around and put your PC in your room, or something like that? I am not sure I see much point in carrying around all of that power if you have that PC, unless you plan on doing your work outside your room in the library or elsewhere on campus. Whatever you pick, make sure it fits with how you really work, and not some kind of ideal setting used by someone else. Here is what I do.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/12564519/

As for losing your work, that is your fault :)

You'll want to save your work periodically, make sure you are using some kind of external backup (Time Machine with the Mac is nice), and also take advantage of the cloud backup services (I recommend Sugarsync). If you are doing all of this, at worst you will lose a couple of minutes of work.
 
"Your opinions on the Macbook Pro?"

The Macbook Pro is the most important, most valuable personal accessory ever made.
 
Again if you thinking 13 MBP, go with the i5. I don't see why you should pay $300 just to get the i7. For your needs i don't think you would notice the difference anyways.
 
Chiuy said:
And I hear MacBook last twice as long as PC laptop. I don't want my essay or whatever report be gone if my computer starts failing. Like my Toshiba, lost my entire summer homework cause my laptop failed. (was 3 years old)
Click to expand...

Where you are getting that information? Apple reliability is in line with Dell and Lenovo. Dell and Lenovo's statistics include a bunch of sub-$500 machines which most would think are more prone to failure, so when you start comparing $1,500 machines...

Learn to backup. OS X do make it relatively easy with Time Machine, but Acronis TrueImage for Windows is a good bit of software as well.
 
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What information? That was Based on my experience.
 
Chiuy said:
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What information? That was Based on my experience.
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it's not like macs are made out of "special" computer parts that makes them last longer. They are just as prone to HDD failures, GPU problems, motherboard (logic board) issues, etc. All computers are assembled from parts and you can get the same graphics cards, processors, hard drives, ram, etc. that you find in macs in a pc so why would macs last twice as long as pc's?
 
Chiuy said:
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Thanks. The Envy is a Quad i7 second Gen at 2.9ghz with turbo boost.
Battery life is an issue. It says 5-6 hrs, but it could be at all low battery setting.

I think I'm edging back toward the 13 inch i7. Gaming is not a priority and it's better if the laptop couldn't play games then I'll focus more on my studys.
But I do need like Photoshop CS5 and Premiere. Does it run smooth?
The extra $300 on the i7 may not worth it but its the only way to get a bit more speed which could come handle a bit, and the 15 inch is off my budget.
And I hear MacBook last twice as long as PC laptop. I don't want my essay or whatever report be gone if my computer starts failing. Like my Toshiba, lost my entire summer homework cause my laptop failed. (was 3 years old)
Click to expand...
Half that battery life at the very least, 5-6hours is attainable with the computer idle, that's it.
 
Have you thought about the 13" air?

Its great for school, super light, and yet still strong. Plus, you the refresh of the MBA with thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge will be out in hopefully a few weeks. (I hope it comes with the backlit keyboard)
 
I've decided guys. I'm going to get the Macbook Pro 13inch i7. Even though the $300 ain't worth it, but I also need the extra memory storage. And yeah...

Can't hurt to try the MacBook, if I don't like it, well, I got 14 days to try it.
Cause I want to focus more on studying than playing games and it looks like the MacBook will help me get my stuff done and organized.
I especially need that lovely 7 hour battery life since I plan to be at the library.
And so on...

So yeah... waiting for back to school sale, and I'll tell you guys how it goes.
Going to be a first time Mac buyer. =D
And I would like to thank everyone for all their opinions.
 
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