15" or 17", that is the question.

Hello everyone,

Recently I decided that I desperately wanted to get a MacBook Pro. The reasons for this are rather numerous; I fell in love with OS X last year when my mother purchased a new iMac, and decided I definitely wanted to get a Mac for myself some day. I also desperately need to replace this rotting old heap of a PC which I've had for the last six years (and which now takes up to five minutes just to launch Firefox after being turned on), and lastly, I needed a laptop for work.

For a while I was planning to get myself a good-quality desktop gaming PC, possibly a mid-range Alienware, then a cheap laptop, and then possibly an iMac or a Mac Mini further down the line. I then realised that I was being an idiot, and that instead of paying all that money for three seperate pieces of hardware, I could just buy a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro and fulfil all three of my requirements in one deliciously elegant package.

Since then, I've been absolutely determined to get one, and spend disturbingly long periods of the day drooling over pictures, reading reviews (all of which have generally been overwhelmingly positive), and generally trying to suck up all the information I possibly could on my new love. The wait for the refresh was agonizing, but when the upgrades were announced, I knew I could finally start the ball rolling on buying the thing.

I visited an Apple Store a few weeks ago and decided that I'm definitely going for the glossy screen, since I think it looks much nicer than the matte, and even in the shockingly bright environment of the Apple Store, the reflections never bothered me.

The one final dilemma I face before taking the plunge is deciding whether to go for the 15" model or the 17" one. Now, I know you're all just going to say it's a matter of personal taste, and you'd be right, but I was just hoping you could answer a few questions to help me make up my mind. Any assistance would be most gratefully recieved

The biggest disappointment about the update for me was that LED lighting in the 17" MBP was only available if you also chose the hi-res option. Until then, I'd had my heart set on the standard-resolution 17" model. What, you might ask, do I have against a higher resolution screen? Well, I'm a gamer. While I'm far from hardcore, there's no way I could live without my PC games, and one of the main things that convinced me that an MBP was the right way to go was watching videos on YouTube of it playing games at maximum quality, which my current machine struggles to run at all, and running them at blissfully smooth framerates. Boot Camp truly is a blessing for gamers.

So, with that in mind, I'd imagine that the hi-res option woult be something of a hindrance to performance while gaming, since running in 1920x1200 must be considerably more demanding on the GPU than running the same game in 1680x1050 (assuming the game even supports such high resolutions).

So, what's the best option here? Other than running games under Boot Camp (which is probably the only thing I'll use Windows XP for), I'll basically just be using it for general web browsing, podcast production, light video editing and a bit of Photoshop work every so often.

Size is obviously another factor to take into consideration. I probably won't be using it on my lap very often (generally I'll either be using it at home or at work, so 90% of the time it's in use, it'll be sitting on a desk and plugged into the mains), but portability is still a factor, and the 17" model is on the rather large side. On the other hand, the extra USB port on the 17" would definitely be useful.

If anybody has any advice on this, I'd very much appreciate it. Here are my most pressing questions:

- How noticeable is the extra brightness of the LED screen, anyway? Is it worth it?

- How much of a performance hit will I see as a result of running games at the higher resolutions of the 17" model?

- Does the 15" screen feel cramped at all? Is the 17" model difficult to transport? As a matter of practicality, what size would you recommend?

- Are the reports of the 15" model running slightly slower as a result of being underclocked due to heat issues in the smaller case true? Is there any performance difference between the two whatsoever?

- Are the speakers on the 17" model really louder than on the 15"?

My, so many questions

Thanks in advance for any help and advice you can offer this Mac owner in waiting

 

The extra brightness is slightly noticeable. I have a glossy screen and my coworker has the new LED backlit matte screen. Both 15". Not a big difference at all.

You will have a huge performance hit. Especially if you want to try running something like Crysis. That rips up the most powerful SLI desktop systems, so you would have a rough time running that at a high resolution with eye candy on. But, laptops just aren't build for gaming IMHO...

No, the 15" is not cramped. Not at all. The 17" just feels HUGE and very unwieldy to me. It's something you will keep on your desktop. I much prefer the 15" over 17".

I do not believe the video cards are under clocked on the 15" anymore. They never were on the 17". The old CD version of the MBP (the one I own) has a heavily under clocked card, but it also runs hotter than the newer MBP.

Not sure about speakers. They're not loud on the 15", but sound good. I've heard the 17" has louder speakers, just never really compared.

 

About the 17" resolution. I am pretty sure you can change the resolution of your screen to 1680x1050 if you really wanted to. And in games that are demanding, you are able to change the resolution in game, you can usually find this in settings. And the LED backlight IS WORTH IT! It is more power efficient and is brighter as well as turns on to its fullest brightness instantly.

As a matter of practicality, I would recommend you go for the 15" screen. I don't know about you, but I know that I would feel that the 17" would be WAAAY to big just because 1) I have a 14.1" screen right now and 2) The 17" wouldn't fit in my backpack. It is more a matter of getting used to, but I see the MBP 15" as being somewhat big, and if it is smaller it is definitely much easier to transport.

I believe the speakers in the 17" are a bit better than the 15" MBP because there are 2 more of them. I am not sure about the rest of your questions. Hope that helped.

 

the 17" is lightest 17" notebook,it is just 5,6 pound,and it is more powerful then 15 one,so go for it!

 

Yes, the lightest, but it's 6.8 lbs, not 5.6. The 15" is 5.4 lbs.

 

ah sorry,my fault!

 

If you plan to be portable I would not advise the 17". You'll get a lot more enjoyment out of brining along the 15.4" model vs loading up the 17" to take with you. And I've seen comparisons between the LED and non-LED MBP's and the LED screens are definitely worth it. They're brighter and have better contrast.

 

I have the same dilemma. I thought long and hard about it.... Instead of dropping close to 3 grand on the 17 incher(tax, and led display bumps it up)...I can get a 15.4 inch MBP for around 1800(student discount) and spend the bread that I saved on a pretty 23 inch cinema display :-D

 

For me it was an easy choice, the 15". I travel alot so I have to carry it around with me everywhere I go. I love the gaming power and all the new features and the screen is the best ive ever seen on a laptop. I chose the matte screen and it is awesome.

so 1 vote for the 15!