How portable is the MPB 15"?

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phobic

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I currently have one of the now extinct 13" Macbook aluminum models but I'm considering selling it for one of the MPB 15". I really do love the size of my current MB but how much bigger in physical size is the MBP 15" for every day use? I"ve been looking all over for pics comparing the two but I'm not really finding exactly what I'm looking for.

Anyone happen to upgrade from the 13" to the 15" recently?
 
I went from a 13" White MacBook to a 15" MacBook Pro.

It's a little bit heavier, but still very portable. I have no issue with it when I travel.
 
I have one of the old Core Duo MBP 15"... it's quite portable for me.

bear in mind that the laptop I had before that was an old HP 17" Pentium 4. :)
 
I've got a uMBP and thought about getting the uMB for easier portability. The MB is smaller and weighs only about 1 pound less than the MBP. However, the trade-off in screen size/resolution and GPU wasn't worth giving up my MBP. The MBP is pretty easy to haul around, anyway.
 
I originally ordered the 15", cancelled it and went with the 13". The price difference between the base 13" and the mid-range 15" (with the 9600M GPU) is ~$800, and you gain 300MHz, 2GB of RAM, jump from a 160GB to 320GB 5400rpm hard drive, and of course the GPU. The GPU is worthless unless you're gaming, and you can buy 4GB of RAM and a 320GB 7200rpm HDD for $140. So for ~$1240 + tax, you can get a MBP that is arguably more powerful than the mid-range 15" (on account of the faster hard drive), quite a bit more portable, and you'll save $600.

For reference, the 13" is about 1.5" shorter in width, 1" shorter in depth and 1lb lighter.
 
uMBP is light enough for me to lug around.

auric is more or less right about the ram + hdd, but one thing i can't justify giving up is the screen real estate.
 
+1 about the RAM and HD. I bought a 4GB kit and 320GB 7200RPM HD from Newegg for $110 shipped compared to well over $600 from Apple.

On the price of the uMB and uMBP, check eBay before buying from Apple. I bought my brand new, sealed uMBP for $1650 shipped + $155 Applecare warranty. It would've cost $2350 + tax to get both from Apple.
 
Well I just posted up my current MB on the FS forums (probably at a price that's way too cheap) but I could really utilize the SD slot. The $800 is pretty significant though and I'm still on the fence about wanting another 13" (which I really love) and going for the 15" with the dedicated graphics card (that I may or may not use -- I really don't game on the go much anymore).

As always though I plan on doing upgrades myself.
 
bloo said:
auric is more or less right about the ram + hdd, but one thing i can't justify giving up is the screen real estate.
Click to expand...

I was concerned about that a bit, but 1280x800 vs 1440x900 isn't a huge difference. I try to avoid pixel-peeping on my laptop anyway; I have a desktop for that.
 
Well went ahead and sprung on the 13" MBP. Couldn't justify the extra $800 although the GPU was tempting. I was able to get a 500GB 7200 RPM drive and 4GB crucial RAM for about $120 so with my EPP discount I got a fairly nice machine for less than $1399. Not bad I guess. Will be better when I sell this MB I have now. :D
 
Auric said:
I was concerned about that a bit, but 1280x800 vs 1440x900 isn't a huge difference. I try to avoid pixel-peeping on my laptop anyway; I have a desktop for that.
Click to expand...
The MBP's 15.4" 1440x900 has considerably more real estate than the MB's 13.3" 1280x800. It's a big difference. It'd be less so if the LCDs were the same size.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
The MBP's 15.4" 1440x900 has considerably more real estate than the MB's 13.3" 1280x800. It's a big difference. It'd be less so if the LCDs were the same size.
Click to expand...

The real estate difference would be the same, it's just that the text might be harder to read. As it stands, they both have roughly the same pixel density, so at least quality won't suffer. Personally, I plan to relegate Photoshop and other workspace-intensive apps to my desktop and use my MBP mostly for Lightroom, media and web surfing when I travel. Given that, I place more value on the portability.
 
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