Worth it?

O.K., I am in a bit of a predicament. I am about to get a Macbook for college, and I want to know if the 15" pro will be worth paying the extra $700-1200. The regular, 13" Macbook suits my needs just fine, but I really would like a bigger screen, so I want to know if starting at $1999 would be better than starting at $999. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to use applications like Garage Band, iLife, and iWork. I'm not exactly sure if the extra power would be needed for those.

Unless you plan on playing video games or using very video-intense applications like Final Cut, there's really no need to buy a MacBook Pro over a MacBook. You could buy a decent external 20+-inch widescreen display for less than the price difference if the screen size is your only concern.

Discerptor said:

Unless you plan on playing video games or using very video-intense applications like Final Cut, there's really no need to buy a MacBook Pro over a MacBook. You could buy a decent external 20+-inch widescreen display for less than the price difference if the screen size is your only concern.

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Agreed. The 13" will be easier to carry back & forth around classes and for desk work you'll want a larger screen anyway. Buy a decent 20" or 23" display for less than the price difference between the two and max out the RAM on the MB.

Unless you're wanting a bigger screen that can go anywhere. Then I'd say get a refurbished mid-2008 mbp. I couldn't tell you the price difference but buying refurb and buying slightly older model with both save you some $$$.
Just a suggestion.

My suggestion is 13" because its perfect when you are in school. My laptop so far is also a notebook type, that can be easily carried in my bag and hangout with my friends. Go for 13" man, it is quite suitable for you.

Well, I'm not meaning to sound like a jerk, but I buy everything new, not used. I have just had some crappy experiences with used stuff. Game discs, mp3 players, PSPs, etc. I buy everything new and untouched (except for the people that assembled it of course). But I want a bigger screen to take everywhere. I will hopefully get my EMT card after school if I pass the test, so I'll be able to make enough money to pay the difference anyway.

Refurbished Macs from Apple are a good deal though and certainly worthy of your consideration. They carry the same warranty as new and are still eligible for the Apple Care extended warranty up to three years. The only difference is the packaging they come in. And since an Apple tech has ensured that the machine is like-new, you can be confident that the machine is in as good of shape as a new one.