MBP - 15" or 17"?
Coming from an 11"Dell, a 13"MB seemed a bit large, but as I find myself programming more and more, I do like having the extra screen space. When I decided to move to a Macbook Pro, I didn't even consider a 17" as if 13" is big, it seemed a little crazy, but after chatting to a few people, I'm wondering if a 17" MBP would make any sense . . .
On the one hand I'm guessing it'd be pretty tough to open up when flying economy, but even though I travel a lot I don't spend all that many hours in airplanes. I do like the idea of the bigger screen real estate for all the times when I'm in a hotel room or coffee shop trying to get work done without an external LCD. I've also heard really good things about the 17" from people who HAVE chosen to buy it.
Any thoughts?
@Scott
Welcome buddy! Glad to see you will hopefully soon be doing development on a Mac. :)
If this is a desktop replacement then get the larger screen.
More importantly, look at native resolution specs and figure out how much more you will see on the screen with the 17" and if that is feasible. i.e. If the 1440 by 900 of the 15" will show all apps that you want to at one time then is the 1680 by 1050 of the 17" worth it?
Either way, go for the 2.5 or 2.6GHz processors, they have twice the L2 cache of the 2.4. I underestimated how important L2 cache is on an old laptop.
If at all possible I'd suggest getting to an Apple store to compare them.
I have played around with a 17" DELL and it was just to giant and unwieldy for me. The 15" is still cramped on planes but it's usable where as the 17" just wasn't for me.
Just my 2 cents. have fun.
http://www.microexpress.net/proddetail.asp?categor...
It's pretty impressive, I customized with some pretty high-end specs and was able to come up with a powerful laptop for $1,651. To get something similar with a Macbook Pro would have cost about $2,900 because they rip you off by charging $400 for an extra 2GB of memory. I wanted a MaBbook Pro but now I'm not so sure, looks like I can get something pretty good for a fraction of the price, and since I'm not gung-ho on Mac OS it's a good option for me. Just thought I'd mention this in case somebody's in the hunt for a laptop and finds it interesting.
Whatever Apple computer you buy, never buy additional RAM from apple, it's just too expensive. You can get 4 GB RAM for less than USD 100,- from a 3rd party. (BTW the RAM from Micro Express is too expensive, too. ;))
@Mike Benner
In Peter's previous post you said the 15" MBP supported 1650x1080 resolution.... I couldn't find that anywhere, am I just missing something? (That would be just perfect for me... my old HP Notebook has that resolution, I just love it.)
Chris
The follow-on question: matte or glossy screen? I love the glossy look in ideal conditions, but am nervous about buying one if there's a glare/reflection issue. Anyone have any thoughts or experience they care to share?
I can't find it now myself (could have sworn it was on the Apple site), I guess like Jeff posted it never got the upgrade. Now I can stop being angry at myself for being impatient.
@Mike, You're not the first person to say that. I know Simeon Bateman is looking to upgrade to a 17".
@Javier, Lots of people say that too. The only thing I notice is that the 17" isn't THAT much bigger, but there is a huge amount of extra screen real estate which would be good for all of the times I'm in a hotel room trying to get work done and don't have an external display with me . . .
@Jake, Interesting. I'll definitely be using spaces for breaking out coding from communications, etc. Most of the people I speak to with experience of both 15" and 17" traded up and were very happy, so it's interesting to hear a counter argument from someone who went the other way.
@Kris, it is definitely a desktop replacement, and I love the idea of the hi-res 17" at it offers 1920 x 1200 which is pretty insane - especially when I AM at work - I could get a monster display and that would be LOTs of screen real estate!!!
@Rick, If I had the 17" hi-res I might run a lower resolution when traveling, or you can just size up the fonts . . . Good point re: hands on trial. Played with both in Regent Street (London) yesterday and now I'm back in NYC I'll play with both in an Apple store in the city. Want to try to take a 17" and put it on my lap . . .
@Jeff, Makes sense. The Apple 17" seems to be smaller/lighter than most of the PC's, but you're right - it would be big. I was using my MacBook on the subway this morning just before rush hour and I'm not sure that would have worked with a 17" (given the seating, I'm not sure it would work even with the 15"). However, my solution would be to get a 17" and an eee. Do blogging and the like on the eee on the subway and only use the 17" when I'm settled somewhere with some room. That could work, but I really want to see whether I can use it on my lap or not for airports and the like.
@Thomas, Thanks for the info, but I'm settled on a Mac :->
@Jeff, bear in mind the 2Gb addressable limit and the inability to change batteries. You're going to need an external battery if you ever work for more than 2-3 hours and if you ever need more RAM you're SOL. I'd not really consider an AIR as a programmer - productivity is more important than weight/size.
@Rob, Speak to Simeon Bateman about the 17". He certainly got me thinking seriously about going for the bigger size. As for screens I have heard MANY people say good things about the glossy on the MBP's being way better than they expected, but find a friend with one, go outside or somewhere sunny and see what you think. There are potential risks with glare, so I'm torn between the two.
@All, thanks for all the input!!!
Yeah, I know they always overcharge for upgrades, but I sometimes for convenience sake you can go with it if it's not exaggerated. Furthermore, if they charge $400 for 2GB RAM, it makes me wonder what else they're overcharging for. Because when you compare the price between the MicroExpress computer and the Apple one it's a huge difference. Granted, there are differences, just not sure that difference is worth $1,000
I know the limits of the Air. This is why I was initially against it. But carrying my 17" around for 4 days at a Python developer's conference made me appreciate it a bit more. I probably won't go for it at this time since I do need something more capable. But like Apple has said, it makes for a perfect travel laptop. Too bad I can't afford to have a "travel" laptop. It was interesting to see at least 10 at the Python conference. And I must have seen at least 50 of the EEE PC's there as well. With over 1000 people in attendance at the conference, its still a very small percentage. I am interested in the rumors of a new EEE PC this summer with a 9" screen and a resolution of 1024x768 however. If the price is the same, I could be all over that one.
Problem with a travel laptop is now you have two laptops and of course the file you want at any given time is on the other!!! I am considering one of the current generations of eee's just for typing up notes and blog entries, but I know what you're talking about.
I'm having exactly the same problem trying to find the right balance. What I really need is a 2lb eee that folds open to have anything from a 7" to 32" screen and has quad dual cores, 4Gb of RAM and ports that materialize when you need them. Until that is developed, it is hard to choose the right trade offs . . .
And suddenly you've begun to state requirements the way your customers do... :-)
I don't do a lot of work on airplanes, so like you said it might be a bit wide. However, based on my last flight (I didn't take the laptop) I would guess it still fits on the tray. I do walk quite a ways while carrying it, and except once when I had a sore shoulder and the shoulder strap on my bag was missing, the extra weight hasn't bothered me all that much. (In fact, for a couple of months I also carried around my old IBM laptop in the same bag.)
If you set your windows up right, it's almost like having 2 monitors.
I wouldn't purchase anything smaller for my needs. I just wish the extra RAM at the time wasn't $600. I could use the extra 2GB myself, and it's just expensive enough where I don't want to mess up the warranty and install it myself. I'll consider that when it expires I suppose.
I don't know about the smaller ones, but my 17" with the high resolution runs super hot. It would be uncomfortable except in winter, outdoors, and up north (or south, if you're in the southern hemisphere).
Why stop there? Make them 64 bit and go into the terabytes!
can someone pass the Kool-aid please?
@Rob, you owe it to yourself to check it out in person. Sim Bateman turned me onto this and I thought he was nuts. I still think he is nuts, but he was right about the 17" :-> If you us it a lot on buses, airplanes, etc I don't think you'll like it. But if you travel a lot, you may find that most of the work you do is in the hotel room at night and in the morning before sessions. In that case, the extra size and weight rocks as it gives you the screen real estate required to be productive. I'll post a follow up after using it for a bit, but I think this is gonna rock . . .
Adding/exchanging the RAM does not void your notebook warranty at all... unless you put in incompatible RAM or accidently damage something.
I found that many ppl. keep the Apple RAM though. They put it back in if they need to send in the notebook for repair. From a forum at macrumors.com: "Apple has a habit of blaming issues on 3rd party ram." ;-)
Chris
Using Apple RAM doesn't help me though. I avoided the upgrade in the first place because I know 2 GB extra of RAM is not even close to $600 that Apple was charging.
I did not mean to actually use Apple RAM. I found that ppl. upgrade their MBs/MPs with aftermarket RAM and just keep the old Apple RAM in a safe place. In case they need to send the notebook in for repair, they replace the aftermarket RAM with the original RAM again...
Chris
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageI...
http://www.hardwarezone.com.au/news/view.php?cid=6...
http://cultofmac.com/nvidia-chip-instability-sprea...