[Stout]

Hey everyone, time to use the cliche phrase, "Long time listener, first time caller." Or something like that. I've been browsing these forums for months now, gathering and weighing your very helpful information. I've still got some questions that I'd really like your opinion on, since I value it so.

Okay, here are my details. I'm going off to college soon, and want a mac notebook, preferably a MBP since I am a power user. I will be working heavily with graphic design and art in Photoshop, web design/web development, some video composition and DVD authoring, with a touch of leisurely gaming. I will be intending on taking it to almost all of my classes with me to type up notes on, since my fingers fly much faster on a keyboard than with a pen. My question is, what should I get?

I've been thinking about a 17" MBP with high-res glossy display, 160GB HD at 7200rpm, and 4GB of RAM. Now I've never owned a laptop/notebook before, so as far as portability goes, I have little to no experience. I was planning on getting a backpack specially designed for a laptop and was wondering if a 17" notebook would be a big hassle to carry around with me all the time, compared to say... a 15" ? Keep in mind it'll probably be in a backpack during transit. I guess what I'm looking for here is really just some solid advice on what to do. I'm sure I'll be very pleased with whatever mac I get, but I don't want to have any regrets. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to hearing from ya'll.


P.S. If any of you have some suggestions on a really good backpack for a mac laptop and school books, I'd be very appreciative. I looked through that bag thread, and still am not sure.

[Sage]

17" is most likely too large – lecture halls usually have fairly narrow seats, plus in a discussion section you won’t be able to comfortably fit it on your desk.

Don’t worry too much about your backpack – any backpack with a large enough laptop “pocket” will do.

BTW, if you’re a science/math major, don’t count on needing a laptop (except for maybe some CS courses). If you’re a humanities/social sciences major, then, I wouldn’t know.

[Remxed]

i just got a 15 in mbp 2.5 ghz and 2 gigs of ram. It was around $2400 after student discount and taxes.

Anything more i think is way too expensive and excessive.

[SierraDragon]

After many 15" Apple laptops and a lot of time on campuses I now have a 17" C2D MBP and find I don't really notice the extra two pounds or the more cumbersome transportability, but the extra pixels and screen real estate of the 17" are a huge benefit for graphics apps like Aperture and the Adobe Creative Suites. I cannot overstate the importance of the added screen real estate for graphics work.

The issue of small lecture hall desktops is a very valid observation. If you are one of those folks who routinely types notes in class (a few fast typists are very effective at it) you might be happier with the 15 inch, then adding a second display set up at your permanent study location.

In the graphics area you definitely want a maxxed MBP, not a Macbook, and if you go with 15" size I think you will want a second display (which is the way most pros work anyway; images on one display and palettes on the other). You do want 4 GB RAM and I strongly recommend a portable FW800 external hard drive for backup and for Photoshop scratch.

As to transporting a laptop on campus I prefer stealth mode. E.g. buy a hard sleeve and just toss the laptop in any nondescript backpack.

Note that for "...working heavily with graphic design and art in Photoshop, web design/web development, some video composition and DVD authoring..." there is no laptop made that would be "excessive."

-Allen Wicks

[ghporter]

If you have the money, get the top of the line 15" model. It's portable, highly viewable, and as powerful as the 17" model, but lighter. A classmate has the 17" Core Duo version, and I have the 15" Core Duo; we sit next to each other, and aside from her screen being bigger, there's no performance or visual difference that's apparent in class.

You WILL want to max out the RAM if you're doing a lot of work with Photoshop and DVD/video work, but get third party RAM to max yourself out-Apple is too pricey! And maybe you'll want the biggest hard drive they offer as well-external drives are a good idea for storage of BIG stuff like intermediate files for video work. But performance wise, that high-end 15" MacBook Pro is THE way to go for a college student, however you trick it out.

[Remxed]

and just to add to ghporter,

if you need the extra resolution, consider an external display.

[EndlessMac]

Being a college student myself I'm pretty much in the situation you are talking about and I'm also in the digital graphic arts field. Your experience maybe different from mine but since you are asking let me share my experiences with you.

You have to keep in mind that the weight of your laptop will be in addition to your books and anything else you carry around in your backpack. My 15" laptop is actually pretty heavy once I add all my other school items especially if you have classes all day. For me the extra weight of the 17" would not be worth it. The weight of the 15" is tolerable but I would prefer it to be lighter. A laptop really shouldn't be your primary screen if you are doing digital graphics. You use it because you have no other option outside of your house. I would rather invest in a good large external monitor. I do all my final editing on my external and not my laptop.

Almost everyone at my college has a laptop and depending your school the size can definitely be a problem when sitting at a desk or lecture hall. The cheap desk they use in college is much smaller than what I had in high school. Keep in mind that I've been to 4 different colleges so I think your experience will be the same as mine. In lecture halls the laptop will go on your lap or on top of the extremely small thing they call a pull out desk top. Think of cramped movie theater seats and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.

A 15" would be a safer way to go to accommodate the various situations you'll face in college. I also think the 15" is the ideal size for a laptop but that could just be me.

[Sage]

Originally Posted by EndlessMac 

n lecture halls the laptop will go on your lap or on top of the extremely small thing they call a pull out desk top.

I call it a “pencil holder”, because that‘s about all it’ll accommodate comfortably. Chemistry exams are always fun – calculator on your crotch, cheat sheet on your left leg, and on the desk a shuffle between the exam, scratch paper, and scantron.

[EndlessMac]

Originally Posted by Sage 

I call it a “pencil holder”, because that‘s about all it’ll accommodate comfortably. Chemistry exams are always fun – calculator on your crotch, cheat sheet on your left leg, and on the desk a shuffle between the exam, scratch paper, and scantron.

Lol, that's hilarious. A pencil holder would be a good and accurate name. Who built these college desks...dwarfs? They are not made for humans that's for sure.

[Stout]

Man, now I'm even more unsure after reading all of your posts, but thank you for responding, and keep them coming.

As far as 15" vs 17" the difference is 1.3 inches in width, .8 inches in length, and 1.4lbs in weight. Are these specs THAT much of a difference on a small college desk, or as far as portability goes? Should I sacrifice all of that valuable screen space (I'm talking the high-res display) for a few inches and pounds? I've never owned a laptop, so I can't really judge how much of a difference it makes. Thoughts?

[ghporter]

That 1.4 pounds of weight WILL make a difference when you have to go from the Science building at one end of the campus to the Business building at the other end. TRUST ME ON THIS! And have you actually put anything on one of those stupid "writing desk" things? I have seen ONE style that has more than the amount of space needed for a legal pad-only one! Most of them are apparently aimed at 10th grade girls instead of college students. I'm 6'2" tall and not skinny-those things are NOT usable for much. My classmate with the 17" MBP that I mentioned above can put her machine on the desk-but it actually hangs over front and back as well as the sides of the writing surface. The less space you need to take up the better.

In general 17" screen users don't have that much more usable screen space, they just have smaller fonts. I have never had a moment's worry about screen space, and I have to do stuff like examining lab specimens and the like on my screen. In my opinion, the 17" display is way more than you need, and the whole computer is significantly bigger, so there's more bulk and weight to lug around. I have more classmates with MacBooks than with MBPs for this reason.

[EndlessMac]

Originally Posted by Stout 

As far as 15" vs 17" the difference is 1.3 inches in width, .8 inches in length, and 1.4lbs in weight. Are these specs THAT much of a difference on a small college desk, or as far as portability goes? Should I sacrifice all of that valuable screen space (I'm talking the high-res display) for a few inches and pounds? I've never owned a laptop, so I can't really judge how much of a difference it makes. Thoughts?

If you have an Apple store close by then the best thing to do is go check out both in person. I know that I could not personally live with a 17" laptop unless it's used mostly as a desktop. If you have read some of the other threads in this forum, it seems that quite a few people actually want a smaller and lighter MBP...you could be different though. My ideal laptop would be a lighter 15".

[thefourthtenor]

I actually had this same issue. I went from a 15inch to a 17inch High-Res back to a 15inch. The small font began to get on my nerves and it just wasnt comfortable viewing for me anymore. Great, the real estate was awesome... but instead, with the money I got back from the transition back to 15inch, I purchased a 23inch Cinema Display and am enjoying the real estate on that baby as well as on my 15inch with the help of my bluetooth mouse and keyboard. In addition to this, the 23inch is running on 1900 x 1200 resolution and doesnt strain my eyes.

I miss being able to bring such a big screen around, however, its just so ridiculously wide. As much as the real estate was handy, it was more impractical than anything.

[Stout]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I'm still trying to decide here. I'm currently used to working on a 17" iMac with a resolution of 1440x900 (the same resolution of 15" MBPs), and I'm endlessly moving screens, scaling, and scrolling while trying to code the html and css of a website while previewing it in another window and referencing my template in another window, so I'm rather hesitant to pass up the opportunity to get a 17" screen with a resolution of 1920x1200, oh the screen real-estate! I'm definitely swayed by all of your comments though... and trying to figure out if the extra resolution is worth the extra hassle, or just how much hassle that would be. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.