Final laptop advice -- 13" vs 15" Mac Book Pro.

[mattbell]

I'm planning on getting a MacBook Pro to replace my aging laptop and perhaps my desktop as well.  (Covered earlier in this post)

I'm thinking that most (say, 80%) of my computing will still be done at home in front of my two huge monitors.  However, I'm sick of dragging my aging laptop along when I need to go somewhere else -- I want something good. 

I'm trying to decide between the 13" and the 15" Mac Book Pro.  I'm leaning toward the 13" as it's smaller and lighter, but the 15" has a good bit more screen real estate.  The 17" feels way too big and heavy.  Have any of you had regrets either way about the 13" or the 15" MBP?

---

Why it might be hard to replace my desktop:

- The MBP only supports one external monitor.  To support two, I'd have to buy an additional piece of hardware (almost $200), and even then the combined resolution of the two monitors (3360x1050) may be too high for the graphics card.  I could replace the two monitors with one ginormous one, but I think I'd have to go all the way up to 30" to get as much space as I have now.  Plus, I like having a "central" monitor and a "side" monitor.  I can have itunes, email, or some other occasionally used window on the side monitor while having my work on the central monitor. 

- I have a lot of software that I don't have the original CDs for.  There's probably a way of handling some of this gracefully... except that I'd be jumping from Leopard to Snow Leopard.

If I don't replace my desktop, I'll need to figure out how to effectively share large amounts of data across the two machines.  I haven't used DropBox and its ilk for things beyond a few tens of megabytes. 
 
--

Also, is there anyone at Apple who'd be willing to buy it on an employee discount for me?

Comments

[jhogan.livejournal.com]

Syncing is a bitch. Apparently it's a much more complicated problem than it seems. I've tried it so many times and, man, the maintenance required has never made it worth it.

I love having one computer, and I love having that be a laptop. Life is simple. My data and apps are always with me, all the time.

[zunger.livejournal.com]

I've owned both 13" and 15" MBP's, and I definitely prefer the 13". The difference in screen real estate wasn't really a big deal -- if 13" isn't enough to do something comfortably, my experience was that 15" wasn't either, and this really required the full desktop rig. The weight difference seemed much more noticeable.

Of course, YMMV.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

You've tried *both*... that's awesome. Your data is given lots of extra weight in my decision. :-)

[steuard.livejournal.com]

I don't have a lot of useful advice to add: I've been perfectly happy with my 15" PowerBook. I chose it in part because the wider screen seemed likely to be better for writing LaTeX (code window and viewing window next to each other). But when I went to my recent conference, I opted to bring along our Eee PC rather than my laptop: even that had the power I needed for light use, and it really does feel easier to deal with at the airport. So perhaps the 13" would be a good choice.

I've been planning to by a new MacBook Pro before too long, but all the rumor sites keep insisting that new models are bound to be released any day now. I'm guessing that Apple is waiting to give the iPad maximum exposure before they do anything that might draw attention away from it. I'm in no rush.

[avani.livejournal.com]

Between Peter's 13" air and my 15" MBP, I also don't notice the difference in screen real estate. What might be more important to you is that the upper 2 15" models offers a significantly better graphics card than the 13" and lower 15". If you're looking at driving big monitors or future games, I'd worry about that more. I've also used a 17" Powerbook, and I can say hands down that that thing is not worth the weight or hassle to try to shove it into a decent sized laptop bag.

[pjammer.livejournal.com]

I'd sit tight until they update the MBPro, it's due for a refresh any time now.

Even better than asking for an employee discount (which every apple employee is hit up for by all their friends), call in a favor and try to get in touch with a current Stanford student to get the Stanford discount (almost as good), and then SHIP it to a friend in Oregon (a state with zero sales tax resulting in a zero-tax transaction for you). FedEx it over to your home immediately, and net-net, you'll shave about $200 off the entire cost, round-trip .

That's what I did. I bought a box of chocolates for all parties involved (they were happy), I got a kickass top of the range computer (I'm happy), and the State of California is deprived of a boatload of taxes (which makes me VERY happy).

[catithat.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to get the ucsc student discount for you if you'd like. Lynn lives in oregon.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. I'm going to wait a month or so to see if the new model comes out, but I'll likely take you up on this.

[pjammer.livejournal.com]

If you want to buy me a box of chocolates for giving you this idea, gifts will be cheerfully accepted. ;)

Get on big one

[(Anonymous)]

And the the 15" 4 yer 2nd - it's plenty large 4 that purpose and u will have a decent sized display to look at when u r away... That's the way I roll and it really works well...

C u sat.

Jon fox

[radium.livejournal.com]

I power two monitors off my 17" MBP with a $75 Diamond USB-VGA adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-BVU195-Display-Adapter-included/dp/B002GHBW4S. Like JH above, I am averse to the cognitive burden of syncing... but I love my pixels -- and I've moved from 13" to 15" to 17" MacBooks Pro in my quest for more of them.

[uke.livejournal.com]

I have used recent versions of all three. My productivity (on all computer tasks) seems to be proportional to screen size in that range.

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

I used to exist on multi-monitor when I was desk based. My 15" MBP has been a most excellent all-in-one machine for me on the go. I don't have any experience with a 13", but I also feel I wouldn't want to go any smaller given all that I cram on a screen at once at times.

Then again.. I also used to think I couldn't live without multi-monitors.

[amoken.livejournal.com]

I went through the same decision several years ago, intending to get the smallest one I could stand. That turned out to be the 15". Not only did the 13" feel a little small in the event that I wanted to watch a movie, but the 15" allowed the minimum number of pixels for having two applications open side by side comfortably. I like being able to have a browser reference page open whilst doing something else, like coding or writing a document, without having to swap between them frequently so I can see the whole page. It is sometimes feasible to do this on a 13" screen, but you have to scrunchy the windows way more than I prefer.

[amoken.livejournal.com]

Oh also I am very happy with my 15" screen plus 23" external monitor. 1920x1200, 1440x900. In my case, 1440x2100 with some fudge room to the sides on the top part. I can have a movie filling the laptop screen below, while I code with a reference page open up above, and I can still view my chat windows and other small items I might like to monitor. Brilliant.

[greencorinna.livejournal.com]

I haven't used a 13" but I wish my 15" was lighter. It can get kinda sucky to carry it around all day.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks. BTW where does your awesome usericon come from?

[greencorinna.livejournal.com]

It was the cover of Tricycle Magazine a few years back...

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure that the high-end 15" had much higher specs than the high-end 13" when I was buying mine (it was basically the same as the 17" if I recall, but I might be wrong). That might be relevant.