Wondering about some possible issues for trading in my 17" MBP for a 15.4" MBP...

I got the 17" MBP for college. Then I played around with it for a couple of days, then a few days later I started carrying it around with a few textbooks and stuff in a backpack to see how it felt. I didn't notice that it was too heavy to carry, nor did it seem to be a problem to have it on my lap or anything.

But when I posted some threads on various forums to ask for more opinions (plus reading this thread on another forum about getting the 17" MBP for college, which is the same situation I'm in) I started to hear one thing that bothered me--that even though the 17" MBP is light enough to carry around on a regular basis, especially if you're a pretty strong guy (as I am) and get a good backpack (as I intend to do), that the footprint simply takes up too much room. I don't intend to use the laptop in class, but that would still be a big issue if I was in say, the school library (or even a cramped dorm room) and my laptop simply took up too much room on the desk. So tomorrow I'm going to go to the Apple Store and open up a bunch of windows on the 15.4" running at the same resolution, and see if I think that everything appears to small. If I decide that if everything doesn't appear that much smaller, I'm going to return the 17" (yes, I'm aware of the restocking fee) and get the 15.4" instead. (My number one reason for not getting the 13.3" is that I do not want a glossy screen. At all.) And after making the switch to OS X I really like it and wouldn't get a Windows laptop.

Thing is, I've already gotten the computer set up to my liking...I have Firefox set up how I want, I have all my AIM buddies renamed in iChat so that it displays their real names, I've got all my music ripped onto my hard drive, I've already synced my iPod with my computer, I've got a bunch of stuff entered into iCal, etc etc.

So here's the issue: what are my options? If I got a 15.4" with the same exact specs as the 17" I have now, could I request that they swap the hard drive from the 17" into the 15.4" so that I didn't have to start from scratch? And even if they say yes, will it affect my system's performance in any way at all?

If that's not an option, or if that would result in a long time without the copmuter, let's say I wiped all my music off my iPod, set it to disk use, and backed up the entire harddrive to my iPod (my MBP's HDD only uses 42 GB right now and I have the 60 GB video iPod so I have enough space for this)--when I got the 15.4", would it work like normal if I then copied the contents of my current HDD onto the new HDD from the iPod backup?

Also, I have some other questions:

1) The 15.4" has the same exact keyboard as the 17", right? I really like the keyboard on the 17" and I don't think I'd like how the keys are spaced on the 13.3", so it's important to me that the keyboard be the same.

2) The 15.4" has the same exact speakers as the 17", right? I actually think the speakers on the 17" sound pretty good and I'd hate to sacrifice audio quality in getting the 15.4" over the 17"...I mean if this was the only difference I'd make the sacrifice but it really WOULD be a shame.

3) Unfortunately the 15.4" burns CDs and DVDs slower but I can live with that, but would I ever find myself wishing I had a dual layer burner? (Or is this one of those things that if you have to ask, you don't need it?)

4) One less USB 2.0 port isn't a big deal, but will I ever wish I had that Firewire 800 port? And am I going to ever encounter anything that will ONLY use Firewire 800 and not support Firewire 400?

5) Whether they physically swap the hard drives or I have to clone it via the iPod, will there be any issues with my iPod thinking that the 15.4" is a different computer?

6) If I don't find the 17" to get too hot, will the 15.4" be comparable?

So really that's it I think...I really like the 17" but if it's just not going to be practical I can see why it'd be best to get the 15.4". I did split the cost of the computer with my dad, but he was willing to let me try out the 17" and that he'd pay the restocking fee if I decided to give it back for the 15.4". I'm starting to realize that yeah, the 17" might be a bit too big to put down on a table at the library and not hog half the table to myself with just the laptop, but I want to make sure that the 15.4" will be a comprable experience and especially that I don't have to re-do ripping my music, setting up iChat, etc.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Ok.

1. The keyboard should be exactly the same.
2. not sure, but again, should be the same
3. Probably not. You never really know, but I highly doubt it, and you could always buy an external later. I burn a lot of DVD's and every one of them is single layer.
4. No. FireWire 800 will never be required. It would be nice in some situations, but overall FireWire 400 will be enough.
5. If you return it to an Apple Store, the will help you hook up the old 17" with the new one via FireWire and let you copy over anything you want. They will probably even do it for you if you want them to. You may have to leave it there for a few hours or a day, but they will definitely take care of it. This is one of those things that make Apple worth it.
6. At this point I wouldn't worry. Kindly ask for the newest serial number they have in stock. It should be around week 23 or 24. So the serial should read W8623 for example. Where the W8 means designated the factory, the 6 means the year and the 23 is the week.

HTH and good luck!

 

Yeah, what cashmonee said.

haha.

Yes, most likely apple will do the transfer for you, actually they could probably do it in just 10 minutes, all it consist of is connected the two computers together and hitting a couple buttons, all your information will be transferred to the new laptop.

Ah...yes the simplicity of OS X.

 

That's a tough decision to make to switch froma 17" to a 15". So you mention that you don't even want to take a look at the MB because of the glossy screen? You say that you're going to use the machine indoors (dorm, library, classroom) then why would a glossy screen even be an issue? I noticed there was a lot (that is an understatement) of people complaining about the glossy MB screen when first released. But I've seen a lot of those same people come back now and say the screen is not an issue at all. So you might not want to exclude the machine because of some fear that in reality is a non-issue. I have owned a few 15" and also a MB. My next machine is probably going to be a new MBP with a glossy screen.

Also, I have some other questions:

1) The keyboards are exactly the same between the two MBPs. The spacing on the keys on the MB are about the same as the MBPs. Your eyes are playing a trick on you. So any issues you have with the MB keyboard while typing is due to the gray matter between your ears.

2) I believe the speakers are the same. They sound fairly good and have a bit of bass. Pretty loud as well.

3) I don't know of many people that use DL. Unless you need to store a lot of data on a single disc go with single layer discs. You can buy several single layer discs for the cost of one DL.

4) It's hard to tell what future devices are out there that may benefit from FW800. Most people are happy with USB2 which can be quite a bit slower than FW400 in certain tasks. If you were to have several external drives running at the same time I guess FW400 would get bogged down as opposed to FW800, but is that a situation you're going to have? Most likely not. Do keep in mind that the MBPs have an express card slot that allows you to connect external devices. So you can connect external drives via PCI-Express via the express card slot in addition to the FW400.

5) If you connect the two machines via FW you can transfer all your data over. You need to deauthorize your 17" then authorize your 15" after you transfer the data. Then connect your iPod. It will see the same collection and authorization so it should work OK.

6) The two machines seem to run the same temps. Since the firmware upgrades for the two machines the operating temps have dropped (since the fan runs all the time). Definitely get the latest build. Be nice and ask the genius to get the latest machine for you and explain to them how to interpret the serial number. If you don't get something from the past couple of weeks 23, 24, 25, 26 then go someplace else if possible. Sometimes stores have stock several weeks old and they tend to move out the oldest stuff first. I picked up a MB the other day that was five weeks old!

 

Alright, so that's pretty reasurring, thanks everyone. Just four last things:

1) Obviously the biggest concern would be moving over all my music files, but noone really answered this: would they be able to just clone the entire hard drive and make it like I never switched computers at all? It's not *necessary* but it'd be really nice.

2) Well I've been told that, if you were to put it in TV terms, a glossy screen would not have a properly calibrated image, and a matte screen is properly calibrated--is there any truth to this?

3) I've heard that you need a dedicated video card to be able to properly handle HD video...is this something specific to Wintels, and not a concern on laptops? Because I *might* take a look at the 13" if that were the case...I mean obviously the weight difference is pretty much nothing, 5.1 lbs versus 5.5 lbs for the 15.4", so the only benefit at that point is a smaller footprint...though I'm guessing the speakers aren't the same, and the only reason I'm going so nuts over the speakers is because I'm going to college, am not bringing my stereo that I have in my room (the setup cost me around $750, so I don't want it stolen and I also don't want to show up on the first day with people thinking I'm showing off) and don't wanna buy some small PC speakers, so having good laptop speakers is a bonus.

4) Assuming they can just clone the harddrievs to either teh 15.4" or the 13", it's not gonna negatively affect the performance on the new machine is it?

 

AFAIK they won't properly clone the entire HD, rather they will run Apple Migration Assistant to exchange most personal data. Some customization may be lost I guess, specially with non-apple programs. iPod/iTunes music is not to worry, you just deauthorize the old machine after transferring the files.
FW800 is used in high end video-recorders/camcorders, if you are asking you won't be using most probably. DL DVD recorders are nice, and it is a shame Apple only includes it on the 17". But again unless you already use them, you can live with single layer.
Now, I am not so sure if I would exchange a 17" for a 15,4". Some people say the 17" are cooler (bigger area for heat dissipation). If you say lugging it around doesn't bother you... have you really noticed it is awkward to use?

 

Not to mention DL DVD discs are EXPENSIVE these days, last I checked they wanted 16 bucks for 3 discs.