[jamil5454]

Well, I've got some cash saved up and have decided to get a shiny new MBP as my only computer. I'm tired of switching between my MacBook and PC desktop when I want to relax with a game or work on a site in Coda. This semester will be pretty busy and I'm trying to simplify my life a little. It will be used mainly for computer engineering work (Multisim/Visual Studio) and web development.

The machine will sit on my desk most of the time, but occasionally I'll need to take it to campus or coffee shops to finish assignments/studying. It will also be coming with me on a few conferences this semester so plane travel is something to keep in mind. I plan on keeping it for at least 2 or 3 years, hopefully more.

Questions:
1. Should I pony up for the 17" with the high-res screen or settle for the 15" with a little more mobility? I used a 1680x1050 LCD previously but could always use more pixels.

2. Is the 7200rpm 160GB much faster than the 250GB 4200 rpm? I'm leaning towards the 160GB since I don't collect many movies or music and if I need more space I can always hook up an external, which I'll probably do for backup purposes anyway.

3. Is 256MB enough for the 30" display? What if I wanted to run in dual-mode... is 128MB enough for the 30"? I may get one if the Cinema Displays ever get updated.

4. How sturdy is the frame? Do I need to worry about picking it up with one hand and baby it when I transport it anywhere? One of the reason I liked the MacBook was its durable polycarbonate case.

I'll probably think of a few more in the life of this thread... I just don't want to get the 15" and realize after a few weeks I should've gone the 17" route, even though the price of the 17" is a bit of a stretch.

[besson3c]

Personally, I wouldn't pony up for anything. I don't see why you need a new computer to do web development on. I don't see what is insufficient with a Macbook? I make do just fine with a Powerbook.

Sorry, just offering my two cents, hoping it is welcome

[tinkered]

1. If your eyes are good enough to use a hi-rez 17" screen you will be glad you have it. I wish they offered the hi-rez when I got my MBP.
2. I would check out http://www.barefeats.com/rosa06.html
3. Yes, you could run a 30" display with only 128 MB and it will work fine for everything but gaming. I would not recomend gaming at native resolution on a 30" display no matter the VRAM, not to mention that 30" displays have really slow reponce times.
4. The frame is sturdy. I carry mine with one had all the time. When I travel I just use a padded sleeve, not some fancy case. The case does dent more easily then one would like, so don't drop it or drop things on it. Then again, the plastic on most laptops cracks when the MBP dents badly.


Finally, I choose the 17" MBP after carrying around a 15" PB for years. I find that i go mobile with my 17" MBP just as often as I did with the 15" PB. That said I go mobil with my ultra-portible dell d420 even more often, then again the d420 is smaller than any mac laptop. The only time the larger size bothers me is when I am on a plane and tray space is a premium.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by jamil5454 

1. Should I pony up for the 17" with the high-res screen or settle for the 15" with a little more mobility? I used a 1680x1050 LCD previously but could always use more pixels.

Since you say you'll be using it at the desk most of the time, I'd rather put the money into a large external display than go for a less portable MBP. But that's my personal preference. You should take a look at an actual 17" MBP and see for yourself. If find it very big and not very portable, but I know others don't share that opinion. Of course if you can't afford a large external display and you need screen space 17" is the only way to go.

2. Is the 7200rpm 160GB much faster than the 250GB 4200 rpm? I'm leaning towards the 160GB since I don't collect many movies or music and if I need more space I can always hook up an external, which I'll probably do for backup purposes anyway.

If you don't need the extra space, I'd go for the 160 GB disk. While it is true that a larger disk can be as fast as a disk with a higher RPM rating (due to the increased density), benchmarks have shown that even a 5400 RPM 250 GB drive had problems holding up against a 160 GB 7200 RPM drive.

3. Is 256MB enough for the 30" display? What if I wanted to run in dual-mode... is 128MB enough for the 30"? I may get one if the Cinema Displays ever get updated.

256 is fine even if you're going to use a 30" in spanning mode. In closed-lid mode 128 MB will be ok too, but if you use spanning with a 30" some situations might not be perfectly smooth (like using Exposé with a lot of open windows).

4. How sturdy is the frame? Do I need to worry about picking it up with one hand and baby it when I transport it anywhere? One of the reason I liked the MacBook was its durable polycarbonate case.

I pick my MBPs up with one hand all the time. I don't find the MBP case weaker than the MB's. It might be more susceptible to dents, but OTOH it doesn't crack like the MB case. Don't drop a MBP or slam it against walls/doors, etc. and you'll be fine. I use a simple neoprene sleeve and mine have no scratches or dents at all. And I carry them around daily.

[ghporter]

A classmate has a 17" MBP. Beside my 15" model, hers is both huge and harder to manage - moving it around is a problem for her sometimes. I agree that if you need a big screen that getting a really big monitor is a better idea than getting a bigger laptop that's more trouble to move around. And yes, the case of the MBP is quite sturdy-I've had a number of plastic-cased laptops in the past, and they all flex, creak, and so on. The MBP, on the other hand, seems solid and robust. Like Simon, I use a neoprene sleeve-an Incase sleeve to be precise-and I have no scratches, dents, etc.

[MacHeadChef]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

A classmate has a 17" MBP. Beside my 15" model, hers is both huge and harder to manage - moving it around is a problem for her sometimes. I agree that if you need a big screen that getting a really big monitor is a better idea than getting a bigger laptop that's more trouble to move around. And yes, the case of the MBP is quite sturdy-I've had a number of plastic-cased laptops in the past, and they all flex, creak, and so on. The MBP, on the other hand, seems solid and robust. Like Simon, I use a neoprene sleeve-an Incase sleeve to be precise-and I have no scratches, dents, etc.

I have the new MBP 17" High Def and it's really not that big and it's not that heavy at all. I saw the MBP 15" and to me it's look kind of small in size.

[jamil5454]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

Personally, I wouldn't pony up for anything. I don't see why you need a new computer to do web development on. I don't see what is insufficient with a Macbook? I make do just fine with a Powerbook.

Sorry, just offering my two cents, hoping it is welcome

That would have been the reasonable thing to do, but since I've already sold my MacBook there's no turning back. Also, I want to look at least a little professional at the conferences I'll be heading to; I'll need to show a few things off on my laptop. A better reason would be that I just moved into a condo with a smallish bedroom and don't want to try and cram two workspaces in here. I guess the only thing I needed my $1500 PC for was a game here and there and some CAD modeling. With the consoles getting much of the AAA PC titles I decided to consolidate and just stick with one machine. I never realized it, but I think I can admit I'm just a tad emotional about my computers... like every Mac geek should be

Is the battery life on the 15" greater or less than, on average, the 17"? Also, is the 8600M in the 17" clocked higher than the 8600M in the 15"? I knew this was often the case in the past but haven't been keeping up on my tech news. I'll visit the Apple Store today to handle the machines first-hand but I think I'm going to settle on the upper-end 15". If I need more pixels I could get one of those fancy Dell "92% of NTSC color space" displays.

Thanks for all the feedback.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by jamil5454 

Is the battery life on the 15" greater or less than, on average, the 17"?

The 17" has a larger capacity battery (68 Wh vs. 60 Wh on the 15"), but it also uses more power. In my experience battery life tends to be similar with maybe a slight advantage on the 15".

Also, is the 8600M in the 17" clocked higher than the 8600M in the 15"?

Yes. However, in the benchmarks Barefeats did, the maximum performance difference they saw was 11%.

[MacosNerd]

Here's my $.02.
I went from a MacBook to a MacBook Pro. You'll notice a nice performance jump in the switch, especially on applications that rely on the GPU, such as aperture (or some games). The larger screen (15" vs. 13") really comes in handly. I found trying to do DW or PS on the MB to be too difficult because of the screen and the performance. its workable but I wasn't happy

Originally Posted by jamil5454 

1. Should I pony up for the 17" with the high-res screen or settle for the 15" with a little more mobility? I used a 1680x1050 LCD previously but could always use more pixels.

If the computer is primarily going to be on your desk and you'll not have it hooked up to a monitor then the 17" makes more sense.

2. Is the 7200rpm 160GB much faster than the 250GB 4200 rpm? I'm leaning towards the 160GB since I don't collect many movies or music and if I need more space I can always hook up an external, which I'll probably do for backup purposes anyway.

The slowest drive I'd get is the 5400rpm drive. You will notice the speed difference. Get the cheapest drive and then either install a faster drive yourself if you're handy or get an authorized apple dealer to do it. Most will

3. Is 256MB enough for the 30" display? What if I wanted to run in dual-mode... is 128MB enough for the 30"? I may get one if the Cinema Displays ever get updated.

Can the MBP even handle the 30" it Requires graphics card with dual-link DVI and I don't think that type of card is in the MBP. I'm unsure of this so see what the others say about it.

4. How sturdy is the frame? Do I need to worry about picking it up with one hand and baby it when I transport it anywhere? One of the reason I liked the MacBook was its durable polycarbonate case.

Well Aluminum is an easily deformed metal and you'll see plenty of posts here and other places of people dropping it a short distance only to have a bad dent. Its much more susceptible to problems then the MacBook.

Bottom line get the 15" if you're hooking up a monitor, don't get the 4200rpm drive at worst you can always get a fast firewire drive to complement the internal drive.

[jamil5454]

Well the deal here is that I'm approved for 6 months no interest so I can muster the expense of the 17". However, I think it might be a bit too large for my tastes, so I'm on my way to the apple store to check.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by MacosNerd 

Can the MBP even handle the 30" it Requires graphics card with dual-link DVI and I don't think that type of card is in the MBP.

But of course it is! Every MacBook Pro can handle the 30" resolution of 2560x1600. Even the last generation 15" and 17" PBs came with DDL capable DVI ports.

[PaperNotes]

Originally Posted by Simon 

The 17" has a larger capacity battery (68 Wh vs. 60 Wh on the 15"), but it also uses more power. In my experience battery life tends to be similar with maybe a slight advantage on the 15".



Yes. However, in the benchmarks Barefeats did, the maximum performance difference they saw was 11%.

XP and Vista drivers are much better than OS X's so gaming is all good.

[jamil5454]

Well I just got back from the Apple Store with a loaded shiny new 17"! It came with the high-res display and 7200rpm drive already put in so I decided to just go ahead and get it. I haven't even opened it yet. Any final words of wisdom? I'm going to be selling pretty much everything I don't need on craigslist for the next few months...

[SVass]

Run Repair Permissions and Software Update at least twice after you get the new computer before you use it for anything real! Then if it is still working, you can put your stuff on it. sam

[Simon]

Originally Posted by jamil5454 

Well I just got back from the Apple Store with a loaded shiny new 17"! It came with the high-res display and 7200rpm drive already put in so I decided to just go ahead and get it.

Ah, there's nothing like instant gratification.

Congrats on your new MBP! Hope you like it.

[MacosNerd]

Personally I reformat and reload OSX. I then choose only the components I want, such as printer drivers, no office trial etc.

[shabbasuraj]

17" yay!!!!!!!!!!!!