17 mbp or 15 with high res screen???

hey guys i currently have a 13 inch macbook pro which i have had a few problems with which were in another thread. but on saturday its going back to the apple store and i am going to get myself an upgrade but im stuck with which to go for. i know i want another macbook because i'm allways moving about. but does anyone know if there is a much between a 17 inch mbp or a 15 with a high res display? i mean i know what the difference is pixel wise but never seen em together in the flesh to know the real difference. processing power isn't massively important to me as this 13 inch one copes well its purely the display here. because for my degree i do lots of programming, image processing and web development which can become very screen hungry. i also do the odd bit of freelance web design work for friends and the odd person who asks so the screen size is rather nessacerry. but if the 15 inch could be gotten away with i would rather that as then i wouldnt have such a mamoth laptop the rest of the time i dont need one . Tried the whole external display thing with this one and its just been nothing but problems if anyone has seen my previous thread lol.
any comments and opinions would be great

A 17" MBP is a fairly large and bulky machine to carry around. IMO, the 15" model is best because of performance and size|weight. Also, take into account the difference in price between the two.

Don't know what issues you had using an external monitor but I've been using one with my 13" MacBook for 3 years and for me it's ideal because it gives me the portability I need. And the 13" subs as a great desktop when using it at home or in the office.

chscag said:

Don't know what issues you had using an external monitor .

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long story short. brand new monitor and brand new macbook plugged it in and any resolution above 1024 x 768 on the external display gave the equivalent of red snow all over my screen getting worse as the res goes up. 1080 you can barely see the image on the screen. this is a monitor which is used for my ps3 at 1080 p fine. and tried two other laptops through the dvi and works fine. after buying two adapters, 5 dvi leads and still getting the problem i just gave in lol. tried the macbook on other monitors appeared to be ok but then had the same problem on other monitors lol

Djroonsteruk said:

hey guys i currently have a 13 inch macbook pro which i have had a few problems with which were in another thread. but on saturday its going back to the apple store and i am going to get myself an upgrade but im stuck with which to go for. i know i want another macbook because i'm allways moving about. but does anyone know if there is a much between a 17 inch mbp or a 15 with a high res display? i mean i know what the difference is pixel wise but never seen em together in the flesh to know the real difference. processing power isn't massively important to me as this 13 inch one copes well its purely the display here. because for my degree i do lots of programming, image processing and web development which can become very screen hungry. i also do the odd bit of freelance web design work for friends and the odd person who asks so the screen size is rather nessacerry. but if the 15 inch could be gotten away with i would rather that as then i wouldnt have such a mamoth laptop the rest of the time i dont need one . Tried the whole external display thing with this one and its just been nothing but problems if anyone has seen my previous thread lol.
any comments and opinions would be great

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The difference between the two is basically you get more pixels per square inch on a high res model...meaning your text will show up smaller, while being able to display more stuff on one screen. The apple store sometimes has high-res models to look at. I personally do see the advantage...the 15" with the regular resolution is the best choice in my opinion.

Djroonsteruk said:

long story short. brand new monitor and brand new macbook plugged it in and any resolution above 1024 x 768 on the external display gave the equivalent of red snow all over my screen getting worse as the res goes up. 1080 you can barely see the image on the screen. this is a monitor which is used for my ps3 at 1080 p fine. and tried two other laptops through the dvi and works fine. after buying two adapters, 5 dvi leads and still getting the problem i just gave in lol. tried the macbook on other monitors appeared to be ok but then had the same problem on other monitors lol

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I got my 15" uMBP connected to my 32" toshiba 1080p...and it looks gorgeous! What kind of display port-hdmi adapter do you have, and where are you getting all of them from??

I have the 15" i7 with the High-Res display... I couldn't be happier. I too debated about getting the 17" for the screen real estate, but as was noted above... it is bulky, those 2" diagonally make a really big difference to me. I went with the 15" and would do it again and again.

idrinorbarsaku said:

I got my 15" uMBP connected to my 32" toshiba 1080p...and it looks gorgeous! What kind of display port-hdmi adapter do you have, and where are you getting all of them from??

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i got 2 mini display port to dvi adapters from the apple store. they both have exactly the same problem so i think my port is faulty. Not only do i get this red fuzz, the image becomes really unstable and if i move my macbook even an inch while plugged into the display the picture is lost. but as soon as you turn down the resolution the problems gone and the image is rock solid. but at that point ive got a resolution lower than the laptops native only streached accross a 23" screen. so it kinda defeates the object of a bigger screen.

and it makes it hard because bulk realy isnt a problem with me because where ever i take it i'm only 10 minuet walk from my car to a solid surface to put it on. and at uni my lecture hall is about 5 second walk from my other rooms . but yeah i see the point about the more managable package.

And i know you get more pixels i've just never seen em side by side to see how much more you get to the eye. But ive definatly ruled out the 13 inch for the next one. no choice of matte screens is killing me as i suffer from migraines and trying to focus through the shiny glass all the time makes for a lot of migraines lol.

thans for te help guys i think im leaning towards the 15 now because i can see a big laptop getting anoying after a while.

Djroonsteruk said:

i got 2 mini display port to dvi adapters from the apple store. they both have exactly the same problem so i think my port is faulty. Not only do i get this red fuzz, the image becomes really unstable and if i move my macbook even an inch while plugged into the display the picture is lost. but as soon as you turn down the resolution the problems gone and the image is rock solid. but at that point ive got a resolution lower than the laptops native only streached accross a 23" screen. so it kinda defeates the object of a bigger screen.

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Have you taken it to the apple store to check it out?

any resolution above 1024 x 768 on the external display gave the equivalent of red snow

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Though, from this last comment, that's a typical sign of a compatibility problem. Same thing happens when I plug in my g5 into my tv. If the display port was faulty, no resolution would work. Have them check it out. They have their own displays to test it with, even with your own connections compared to theirs.

Adapting to a DVI-i/d connection is a touchy thing to deal with...signal degradation, transfer way compatibility, frequency rates, dual/single link cables, DRM issues...lot's of things can get in your way. Are you sure your cables are dual link dvi? That seems to be the largest problem with most users who have this problem.

I also have a projector that has a dvi connection. Normal resolution doesn't work at all(splits the image between red/blue static) at all running from an hdmi to dvi or display port to dvi. But it works perfectly fine with component at the max resolution.

I wish you luck! I was going to write something else, but I just got yelled at in class....so boring in here!

idrinorbarsaku said:

Have you taken it to the apple store to check it out?


Though, from this last comment, that's a typical sign of a compatibility problem. Same thing happens when I plug in my g5 into my tv. If the display port was faulty, no resolution would work. Have them check it out. They have their own displays to test it with, even with your own connections compared to theirs.

Adapting to a DVI-i/d connection is a touchy thing to deal with...signal degradation, transfer way compatibility, frequency rates, dual/single link cables, DRM issues...lot's of things can get in your way. Are you sure your cables are dual link dvi? That seems to be the largest problem with most users who have this problem.

I also have a projector that has a dvi connection. Normal resolution doesn't work at all(splits the image between red/blue static) at all running from an hdmi to dvi or display port to dvi. But it works perfectly fine with component at the max resolution.

I wish you luck! I was going to write something else, but I just got yelled at in class....so boring in here!

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yes they are dual link and the thing that makes me think its the port is that moving the mackbook (and i mean like shuffling it an inch or too, not even picking it up.) with it plugged into the monitor makes the signal drop and also i thought the cable was bust because if i wiggled the cable The very first time i plugged it into the monitor sometimes the static went away. sometimes i can plug it in and the pictures perfect but one slight movement of the laptop or anything and it blacks out and then comes back with the red fuzz. the adapters work fine in my friends macbook.
And yeah it is going to the store on saturday and i think i'm gonna be trying to get a refund on it to buy a 17" one

Djroonsteruk said:

And yeah it is going to the store on saturday and i think i'm gonna be trying to get a refund on it to buy a 17" one

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Good luck with that!! That would be a nice upgrade

would definatly be especially if i got the anti glare screen cause i suffer with migrains a lot and the glossy is terrable for settin em off lol

Have apple been known to offer refunds or credit against new machines with a return ? not sure as this was my first mac so havent dealt with them much.

Apple has recently instituted a new return policy here in the US where they no longer charge a restocking fee. I'm sure, however, that the return would have to be in "new" condition and with the original packing, etc. Since you live in the UK you should check with your local Apple store as the return policy there may be different.

well i went to the apple store the other day and made my mind up. went online and ordered a macbook pro 17 with antiglare, 2.9 c2d and 8 gb of ram its an awesome machine .

I'd like to ask you...


Do you do a lot of work in very highly-lit areas?

Outdoors in the sunlight, lots of windows facing you, etc?


The reason I'm asking, although you already made your purchase, is because in my opinion, the anti-glare display suffers some on color quality. I had to think about it for a while as well on my 17" MBP before I finally decided to go with just the high-res display. I don't go in highly-lit areas much, if at all, so I deemed it unnecessary to get the anti-glare.


I was just curious if maybe you took this into account when purchasing

Either way, you'll be happy with your decision on the 17". I am always for the bigger screen sizes...I'm pretty sure I'd still buy a 20" Macbook Pro if they made one!

ThePope43 said:

I'd like to ask you...


Do you do a lot of work in very highly-lit areas?

Outdoors in the sunlight, lots of windows facing you, etc?


The reason I'm asking, although you already made your purchase, is because in my opinion, the anti-glare display suffers some on color quality. I had to think about it for a while as well on my 17" MBP before I finally decided to go with just the high-res display. I don't go in highly-lit areas much, if at all, so I deemed it unnecessary to get the anti-glare.


I was just curious if maybe you took this into account when purchasing

Either way, you'll be happy with your decision on the 17". I am always for the bigger screen sizes...I'm pretty sure I'd still buy a 20" Macbook Pro if they made one!

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not really because after using my 13 inch mbp with the glossy as the only option one thing i noticed is that i started getting a lot more migraines than i used to and this was because i was having to focus through an extra layer of glass to veiw the screen, this made working on it for long time periods difficult and couldnt use the screen to its best because of it. however the matte screen is a different matter i can see everything clearly and can work on it for hours without feeling even half the eye strain i did on the old one (the extra screen size helps too).
i allso think the glass dulls the screen and takes the edge off of lines. on the anti glare everything is really nice and crisp, and easy on the eye.
i never work outside, but i found even just sat in a room with lights on was enough to make the screen very hard to use, even if you wernt directly in line with the light. I also quite like the look of the bezel too. The silver edge looks a bit more striking to me and defines the edges of the screen better wich makes it easier for me to concentrate on.
its mainly my eyes and migrains which are to blame for my bad experience with glossy screens but am sure many people love the way they are.
and as far as colours go i'd say anti glare has better colours the only thing the anti glare falls short in comparison to the glossy is in black levels. everything else is a lot better to me. contrast is better, colours look better, whites are a lot better by a long shot white on glossy screens made me quint because it seemed too bright and over powering but on here its nice and soft.
just go with whatever looks good to you. you can always take it back if you change your mind before the 30 or so days is up .

Good luck! Kudos on the purchase as well