13" screen too small?

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I'm thinking about buying a Macbook after Christmas (once the new software is released). I will be using the laptop as my main computer when I go to university, which would mean that I would use it for watching DVDs as well as the usual study-related and general internet/IM usage.

My one concern is that the 13" screen will be too small to watch DVDs on comfortably, and would prefer to have a 15" screen, but alas this is not available in macbook form.

What do you think - will 13" be too small to watch DVDs on comfortably, or do you think it will be alright?

Thanks,
Chris :D
 
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well I just watched a movie and honestly, when i'm in bed laying down and the laptop is on my lap, I cant really tell the diff between a 13 and a 15... :)

honestly, I prefer the 13 because its so nice and compact, yet not too small
 
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My 14 inch iBook seems good for DVDs and my daughter 12 inch iBook is good too. It's a matter of personal preference though.
 
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Nah, you can always hook up an external screen for your desk work, the rest of the time OS X makes working with little screen real estate a breeze (expose, spring-loaded folders etc)...

And you usually sit fairly close to a laptop, so it's fine for DVD's as well.
 
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Don't forget that the macbook screen is 16:10 aspect ratio, which means that 16:9 movies display much bigger than on a standard 4:3 or 5:4 ratio screen that's slightly bigger. In my opinion, the 13" widescreen is perfectly OK for watching movies on, and beats my 14" thinkpad standard aspect screen into a cocked hat :)
 
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For movies 13" should be fine I think. But when I had my 12" powerbook as my main computer, I very quickly wished I had gone with a bigger screen. I like having many things open and being able to see some part of just about everything. Chatting with 2 or 3 people, while having iTunes play something, and browsing 2 or 3 websites, the screen can fill up quickly. Expose does help a lot but personally I like having a lot of screen.
 
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ive got a 17" imac and a 13.3 inch macbook, and i dont have any issue with the macbook being to small. youd think after sitting in front of a widscreen 17" screen going to a 13" it would be small, but it doesnt bother me at all. go for it.
 
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AnatomyOfARyan said:
ive got a 17" imac and a 13.3 inch macbook, and i dont have any issue with the macbook being to small. youd think after sitting in front of a widscreen 17" screen going to a 13" it would be small, but it doesnt bother me at all. go for it.

yeah same here... I havea 21" widescreen, and going to the 13" macbook really makes a small diff... maybe its because ummm... I really dont know why lol

I do like having the extra space/resolution with the 21" though :)
 
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\Na, it's not small at all. I just came back from the Apple store and I used one. It is compact which would be good for a university student, also the display ratio is good.
 
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taseal said:
yeah same here... I havea 21" widescreen, and going to the 13" macbook really makes a small diff... maybe its because ummm... I really dont know why lol

I do like having the extra space/resolution with the 21" though :)

Same here, not much difference. I love the size, it's perfect. I just wish it weighed a pound or two less. What would machines be without qualms? :)
 
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I too love the size. Very compact and tiny but still big enough to watch a dvd from a few feet away comfortably.
 
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I'm having the same dilemma too... I want the pro because of the better processor offer and because of the 15.4" screen. whenever I played around with the 13" macbook in stores and at a friend's house it just seemed almost TOO tiny! I'll be going back to the store on Wednesday though, so maybe my mind will change if I observe it some more.
 
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chrisdb89 said:
I'm thinking about buying a Macbook after Christmas (once the new software is released)....
Thanks,
Chris :D
What new software is due out after Christmas?
 
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D3v1L80Y said:
What new software is due out after Christmas?


presumably Apple will be releasing or previewing OS 10.5.1 during the convention in San Fran from Aug 7th - 11th
 
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chrisdb89 said:
I'm thinking about buying a Macbook after Christmas (once the new software is released). I will be using the laptop as my main computer when I go to university, which would mean that I would use it for watching DVDs as well as the usual study-related and general internet/IM usage.

My one concern is that the 13" screen will be too small to watch DVDs on comfortably, and would prefer to have a 15" screen, but alas this is not available in macbook form.

What do you think - will 13" be too small to watch DVDs on comfortably, or do you think it will be alright?

Thanks,
Chris :D
I have only watched a few DVDs, but I never felt like it was too small. I would gladly trade the screen size for the better portability and smaller price tag of the macbook.
 
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If the MacBook was my only computer then I would have got a PRO with a 15 or 17inch screen for sure, but because I already have several desktop computers I bought the MacBook for its portability and small for factor. The 13 inch screen is about as small as I would want to go, The nice thing is its high res.
 
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Another question

Another question:

Do you think that 512MB of RAM will be enough for the usage that I'll be doing? ie. watching DVDs, word processing/spreadsheets for university work, internet/IM and itunes? I won't be doing any heavy graphics work, either.
 
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chrisdb89 said:
Another question:

Do you think that 512MB of RAM will be enough for the usage that I'll be doing? ie. watching DVDs, word processing/spreadsheets for university work, internet/IM and itunes? I won't be doing any heavy graphics work, either.

It won't be if you plan on doing these tasks at the same time. I recommend maxing it out. You can find great deals on memory is you search.
 
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ripfrankwhite said:
It won't be if you plan on doing these tasks at the same time. I recommend maxing it out. You can find great deals on memory is you search.
I do all of those things AND use Adobe CS2 and the same time on 512 MB of RAM and its fine. So, if I can do that AND run graphics apps with little to no slowdown or lag, you will be fine.
:black:
 
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I doubt I'll be doing them at the same time. Certainly not while watching DVDs at least. I think I'll end up going for the 1Gig of RAM.
 

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