15 or 17" that is the question

[kkelly122]

alright so its my first post on here and im stuck between the question of getting the 15" or the 17" mbp. i want to do some video editiing but nothing professional and doing some photoshop. i am also going to be putting bootcamp on it with windows (not sure xp or vista). if you guys had any suggestions please feel free to say them. thanks

 

[core20]

you can do that on both 15 and 17, it depends more on the internal components than the screen, but I personally love the 17" and can not see myself now using anything less. The 15" is more portable obviously, but I can sacrifice, because the portability difference was not significant enough for me. I highly recommend the 17"

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[Aaagogo]

try to go into a applestore and play around with both sizes, then you will have a better feel of what youprefer.

 

[Alexis]

What's the down side of the bigger screen, apart from the money? 17" is always going to better than 15.

 

[Prise]

When I bought my MacBook Pro, I had gone through the same analysis comparing and contrasting a 15" vs. the 17". Eventually, my decision rested on the 15" based on my assumption of increased portability, lighter weight, and cost.

After several months, I wish I had gotten the 17" model. In the end, the rational reasons for my choosing the 15" inch weren't very important. The portability factor for me was my biggest error. In a laptop bag filled with documents, the extra few ounces and added inch or two of bulk from the 17" would have been rendered a completely moot point.

I find myself often wishing I had a larger screen.

Best of luck!

 

[MattGiaco]

My experience was just the opposite. I started off with a 20" iMac and a MacBook and ended up consolodating into a 15" MBP. The screen is more than adequate -- and in fact, the native resolution of the 15" display is the same as the 17" display on my old notebook.

 

[walkerj]

Well, some of us with regular old Macbooks get by just fine with 13.3". After all, if 13 inches isn't enough to please...

Anyway, I post this as someone who likes to use the biggest monitor available at the highest resolution. My 20" external CRT is usually dark and I mostly use the internal 13.3" LCD.

We have a 17" MBP at the office, and I've played with it a bit. It's nice to have the large LCD, but it is a really large computer. Perhaps I'm biased to the ultra-portable Macbook, but I'd have a tough time hauling that aluminium beast around with me.

 

[kkelly122]

thanks guys for trying to help me out. im gonna go to the apple store soon. i just want to consider that im going to be carrying it around at college next year so portability is sort of an issue. i think i just have to go to the store and check them out.

 

[andrebnu]

I had the same doubt while I were chosing what to buy for my first mac. I do edit photos in Photoshop, so monitor quality and size matters.

I've decided that the 17" wouldn't leave me with something that I would call portable. So my decision? I've bought a 15" MacBook Pro AND a 20" LCD monitor. I've paid something around US$ 250,00 in my monitor...less expensive than having the same configuration for my MBP with a 17" lcd.

Think about it.