Should I purchase the 15.4'' or 17'' Macbook pro?

Question

I've been researching for a while and came to the conclusion that I wanted a Macbook pro for school. However, I'm stuck between spending the extra $800 on the larger screen or sticking to 15.4 and using the saved money on future applications such as Final Cut, Photoshop, etc. The other issue is that I'm using the pro for film editing, video creation, and other multimedia.

So which should I buy, the one that saves money for the applications or the one that gives me an extra 1.6'' screen to use the applications at their fullest?

Answer 1

Why does it cost $800 more. There has to be other features on the bigger one other than the screen!

But if you are looking at the size, I've had a 17" screen for a few months and love it, but if you are going to be lugging it around with you everywhere, go with the smaller screen. The bigger one is heavy...great if you are staying in one spot though. I pondered the same question as you and feel I made a good choice. The HP was only like $150 more for a bigger screen.

Answer 2

Spend the $800 on a second display you can use at your desk.  The 17" is a big boy to lug around and does not fit in most common laptop bags very well.  You can run up to a 2560 x 1600 second display with a 15" MacBook Pro, so get your extra screen real estate with the second display rather than a tiny bit more built into the MacBook itself.  You should be able to get a 23" HD display for that $800.  Even Apple's 23" is $900 MSRP.

I have a 15" MacBook Pro and when I'm at my desk, my primary display is the 20" and my laptop display is #2 when I'm plugged in.  You can do this in the Display preferences by arranging the monitors next to each other and dragging the menu bar onto the larger one.  The Mac will remember this setting every time you plug in and revert back to the built-in display when you are not.  Unless you are planning on doing a lot of editing on the road, I'd choose the 15".

Answer 3

i just got a 17 in pc and it is not the best size to get. save your money for applications because you will need it later down the road, another option is to get an extended warenty. just to lest you know photo booth is the best application if you are really board.

good luck

Answer 4

honestly, the 15.4 is fine. 17 acutally seems too big if youve ever seen it b4

Answer 5

stick with 15.4 because ur going to wanna get the software

Answer 6

There are a few things to consider here. The 17" has a larger screen, but you can also upgrade to a high-definition LED display, which has a resolution of 1920 x1200, meaning you can watch 1080 HD video at full resolution. The normal display in the 17" is 1680 x1050, and the 15" is 1440 x 900.  The 17" also has a 50 GB larger hard drive and an extra USB port.

Basically, if you don't plan on watching HD video on it and don't care about the difference in screen size then there's really no reason to get the 17".