Mid 2009 Unibody Macbook Pro 17" vs 15"

I have been entertaining the idea of upgrading to a 17" MBP. Is the 17" really that better than a 15"? Is the 6MB cache really that big of a difference? I would have to put $900-$1000 to upgrade to the 17".

 

cpu difference is very,very small. So the question you should ask your self is weather do you need big screen or not?

 

I think the 6MB cache helps a "wee" but in multitasking and running virtualization.

Otherwise, a couple hundred MHz is nothing, and it does come down to the 1920x1200 screen and anti-glare option.

Personally, I think 1440x900 is too small for the 15" Pro, should at least be a 1680x1050 option.

 

I had this same dilema, but I realized that for the most part my Macbook Pro would be for work and traveling so I went with the 15 inch.

 

The only thing to consider is the screen size. I would have gotten the 15" but as mentioned the res is just not what it should be.

 

Do you want a huge, ginormous screen? Do you want to dwarf other laptops in the Cafe? Then get the 17"

Edit: Seriously, my mind isn't made up. I only got the 17 for the battery life at the time, but now the 15" have caught up on that and I think having something a little more compact would be nice on many occasions.

Ok one other consideration was that I believe the 17" will hold up better in very hot conditions as we have over here. Because it has more area to dissipate heat, and generally a bit more room all around. Doesn't matter though if you don't live in a tropical country.

 

Isnt the 17" currently not as updated as the new macbook pro 15"? I think the only difference is the sd card slot. Not sure tho.

 

No the 17inch has a little more features, the biggest thing is the screen, the cpu differences are almost nothing. 1920x1200 res is beautiful, and will give you tons of screen space. I like big laptops and the macbook 17inch is so thin its still very portable. The 17inch is only about an inch wider, and less than an inch in depth so its not actually as huge as you might think. 1440x900 is really low these days even for a 15incher, so if can afford it I'd def go with the 17inch.

 

Would the weight difference be very noticeable?

 

Its about a pound heavier. The 17inch is 6.6lbs its still very light. I think people care too much about how much their laptops weigh. I mean my 17inch clevo weighs 8.5lbs, and I myself weight 190 pounds I have no trouble lugging my body around.

 

I went from the 15" unibody to the 17" unibody. The size difference isn't huge, but it IS noticeable. The problem, though, isn't just the size of the actual laptop. You need to take into account that you'll need a larger bag to cart it around in. I notice the size and weight of the bag more than the laptop's additional bulk...

 

Yeah it really comes down to the screen. It's a big machine, so really you'd go 17" if you do a lot of PRO work on the road (photo shoots etc), or you are a casual user who uses their laptop on a desk most of the time.

For the casual commuter/computer user, lugging around a 17" would be a pain that's for sure. The weight and size would get annoying I bet. The 17" has a superior battery from all accounts, that's a very good bonus, but the other hardware differences aren't that much.

 

If only the 13" had a dedicated graphics card! Haha

 

The 15" is better for "mobility" compared to the 17". My 1st-gen 17" MBP was light for a 17" notebook, but it was still a lot heavier than a 13"-15" notebook.

If you want something that you can carry around freely, forget about the 17".

 

Meh... the main reason why people opt for the 15inch is the money. If you have the money the 17inch is a far, far better screen. 1920x1200 res is gorgeous, if your used to high res the 1440x900 won't look very good. The 17inch is very mobile, the only real restriction is confined space like airplanes an cars. In College I carried around my 17inch Hp and just put it right in my backbag no case. Now you might want to treat your mac a little differently but you are talking an inch wider, and inch in depth, and one pound, but you get a huge increase in screen quality. I'd definitely go for 17, even for portability. If you want extreme portability go for the 13inch.

 

Just ordered the 17" the 1920 by 1200 resolution and 3 usb ports as well as the 8hr battery life.

But will the 1920 by 1200 resolution cause me problems with games?

 

what games do you want to play?

and you always play @ low res.

 

Not true. A lot of people opt for the 15 inch because it's the sweet spot in terms of screen size and portability. It's not just because the 15 inch is cheaper at all - lots of people on these forums have plenty of money to burn on Apple stuff (not me, but many) and still choose the 15.

OP, you should take a look at the two side by side in the Apple store if at all possible. Like some other people have said, it's not an astounding difference between the two, but size-wise it *is* noticeable. For some, the higher screen resolution makes it worth it. I use a 15" and am completely satisfied - a 17 inch would be too cumbersome for me. You'll have to decide for yourself. The processor increase is not that big of a difference. I'd base my decision on screen size.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

Just Battlefield 2 at the moment.

Also i want to install Win7 and run it windowed in osX will i have any problems, what do you recommend.

Got lots of questions.

Thanks.

 

I really wish Apple would add the anti-glare option to the 15" MBP!!!!!

 

you wont have any problems playing it.

No,you want have any problems... however,always remember that you will lose some performance if you run win under WM

Feel free to post your question

 

i would go with the 15" because it's more portable.

 

Does the Macbook pro have a recovery partition in case i muck things up, or does it come with DVD`s to allow a full clean install.

Thanks.

 

the mac comes bloatware free. you'll get the laptop with the os installed and the basic mac programs found on the applications dvd. you get a single partition. what you can do is go to the disk utility and create a new partition and the set it as time machine partition.

 

I see the 15" has an SD card reader and the 17" has a ExpressCard/34 slot, is the 15" newer?

 

no,they just decided to keep express card on 17"

 

Is OS-X 64bit to see all 4gb of memory?

 

yes,it is...

 

I'm kind of leaning towards the 17" due to the high resolution. The Best Buy around me has a 2.4ghz Unibody MacBook Pro 15" for $1049. My son is buying that and I'll probably use that one a little to see which I prefer.

 

wow 1049 for a 15"umbp is pretty good price is that a refurb or open box deal ?

 

How do simulation games like FSX, Sims 3, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Silent Hunter III (came out in 2005) run on the 9600m? I'm interested in the 17" MBP and was wondering about that.

 

Open box deal. That is a great price, I almost couldn't believe it.

 

Uhh I can tell you FSX will run on lower settings, not well on higher res and settings.. The mac version of sims 3 has a lot of glitches, not sure if these have been fixed but it should run fine graphically wise. rc tycoon 3 will run very well, silent hunter 3 will run very well. 9600mgt will play most games 2-3 years old on high, newer games medium to low settings/res

 

^totally untrue! I run FSX with almost const 35 fps on my m4400 using qaudro drivers @ 1920x1200 with almost everything max!

 

all these games will run fine on windows bootcamp.

 

The resolution also isn't bad. 1440x900 on Mac and Windows appear to seem different. You should look at your sons MBP and install some games and see if it is to your liking.

 

I've never tried pushing mine to get the 8. I've gone 6+ with some browsing and movie watching. Its a good battery without question.

 

Is that a movie from a dvd or the hdd.

 

It was from the hdd.

What happened to your post about this?....I can't seem to find it and started thinking I had posted in the wrong thread.

 

What are the speakers on the 17" like, are they loud, what is the quality of the sound like.

Thanks.

 

I think people are generally surprised at the quality of the 17" speakers. And you can turn them up quite a bit. They're much better than the ones I had on my previous Sager. That said, they're still laptop speakers and for the most part I listen to music only with with external speakers plugged in or earphones. You should go to a store and listen to one.

 

The closest apple store is 153 miles away

 

What about the nearest store that carries Apple? Doesn't have to be the Apple store. You probably wouldn't be able to hear anything at an Apple store anyway When I was living in London last year, I used to go by the one on Regent Street after work from time to time...it was a madhouse.

 

You should be asking where your nearest Sager retailer is

 

The weight difference is noticeable, and more importantly the machine is just generally more unwieldy in general situations - and it is surprising how much more so it is in comparison to a 13/15-inch. Some people I'm sure use it as an everyday carry accepting the compromises, but for me it remains a machine to carry only when I actually need the screen space.

 

I deleted some posts in this thread. If there are private things you guys want to discuss, do it in private and not on the public forum - thanks. You can contact me if you have any issues with each other and I will try to help.

 

For me, I love the 17": the high res anti glare screen is beautiful, and I don't find it cumbersome to carry everywhere that I go. I frequently use it on my lap, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I would be disappointed with the smaller screen.

It's such a personal decision that I wish that you could try each, but of course, you can't and that's why you're asking. If you love the high res screen with all of the extra screen space and you want the anti glare screen, I'd suggest getting the 17 and just get used to the size. My work issued laptop is a 14" HP, and I don't like the small size at all. It's lighter and more portable, but I don't like working on the small screen.

 

I am one of those weirdos that do not like super high res things. i think 1440x900 is awesome. I have an old desktop Monitor, 20" that is 1680x1050, and thats about as high as I'd want to go. If they add optins to the 15 for higher res screens, thats ok, but I hope they dont just upgrade them with no options for smaller res screens.

 

I wonder when Apple will upgrade to a quad-processors?

 

I gotta say I do love 17" laptops, I don't think I'd go for anything less, possibly a 13" for mobility, but in all fairness I've used a maxed out Alienware M17 and my MBP 17" is a feather compared to it. I also an a demon for the highest resolution...slowly but surely destroying my eyesight

I would say so, SL is 64 bit, I would say the next line will include quads. Maybe the next line of 15" and 17" Pros will be first, just an idea though I'd say it's definitely being discussed. Searching around the net there are a lot of sites saying Apple are moving towards this.