kweicht Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 I am going to be getting a Macbook Pro for school, but i dont know which one i should get. i will be using it for programing, email, internet, "media viewing", etc. But i dont k now what model MBP to get. i am typing on a 17" at the apple store now, and it seems massive and i love it, but im concerned that it'll be too big. but, after my developers discount, the price difference is only $200. that seems like a great deal. i will also be installing xp and/or vista so ya. waht are the pros adn cons of the different models? e.g. battery life, weight and size(in use, is it too heavy or big), etc. thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 I would get the 15" model if I were you. The 17" is too big and bulky for me. The 17" has a better battery life though. It has about 5.5 hours and the 15" has about 4.5 hours of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SockToy Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Get the 15" and buy a decent LCD for when you're not carrying it around. best of both worlds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kweicht Posted June 1, 2006 Author Share Posted June 1, 2006 I would get the 15" model if I were you. The 17" is too big and bulky for me. The 17" has a better battery life though. It has about 5.5 hours and the 15" has about 4.5 hours of life. i know thats waht apples site says, but is taht the real battery life compared to the 15"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 I'm not sure about the Macbook Pros, but my friend has a 17" Powerbook that lasts longer than my old 12" Powerbook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INFNITE Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 i know for a fact that the 15" has a battery life of approximately 3.5 hours. also, 15" and 17" has the same type of battery (Powerbook 15" had a different type of battery comparing to PB 17"), so it's possible that 15" has longer battery life than 17" due to the smaller screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lkr Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 don't get the 17". it is HUGE. i tried it at the Apple Store, and I couldn't fit it in my lap i could just tell. no, i didnt remove it from teh security Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrimes80 Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 battery life sucks on a Mac "notebook" END OF STORY You might get 4 hours doing basic stuff... I've never gotten more than 2-2.5 doing video/photo/audio editing and other assorts... 15" MBP here... These computers in my opinion are useless without an outlet... I've got a 17" PB I think it's really nice for my uses (just going from desk to desk) but are a bit of a pain to lug around and have on your lap so I don't really recommend a 17" just for battery life. If you need battery life... get a ThinkPad or whatever them long lasting PC portables are called... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 battery life sucks on a Mac "notebook" END OF STORY You might get 4 hours doing basic stuff... I've never gotten more than 2-2.5 doing video/photo/audio editing and other assorts... 15" MBP here... These computers in my opinion are useless without an outlet... I've got a 17" PB I think it's really nice for my uses (just going from desk to desk) but are a bit of a pain to lug around and have on your lap so I don't really recommend a 17" just for battery life. If you need battery life... get a ThinkPad or whatever them long lasting PC portables are called... That's odd. My I use Photoshop on my iBook on the plane and I still get like 5 hours of battery and around 7 if I'm just listening to music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRP Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Mac OS X is VERY good at power management. Better than Windows, and wayyyy better than Linux. I've left my Mac computers on for ridiculous amounts of time. A lot of it does depend on what you do with it, though. For example, you should turn Bluetooth and AirPort OFF OFF OFF if you aren't going to use them. Those suckers are only wasting power if you aren't. And, of course, don't do anything process-intensive if you need long battery life. Carrying around an extra battery is fine, too (although I miss the old dual-battery bays of the PBG3). Me? I already have a MacBook for portability. The next one I want is a 17" MBP just so I can walk around and have people go "dude, your screen is way too big" and I'll go "just like certain other things about me!" But if money is no object, I would recommend a choice based on what sounds like a pretty weird basis... Go for whatever you're willing to lug around. I have plenty of practice moving around heavy notebooks, but if you don't like the prospect of carrying around a heavy 17" monster, get the 15", definitely. It's lighter. And of course, there's the whole space issue, but from what I've seen, you really shouldn't use a laptop if a 17" one won't fit there anyway (exception maybe being an airplane, but... eh.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrimes80 Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 That's odd. My I use Photoshop on my iBook on the plane and I still get like 5 hours of battery and around 7 if I'm just listening to music. Holy hell... that's the first I've heard... but then again, I've never owned an iBook ...and photoshop was hardly what I meant; Final Cut, GarageBand etc (the constant encoding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippin Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 If you've got the money, go get the 17". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigboss Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 the 17 inch macbook has firewire 400/800, an 8x dl burner, and a wsxga (1680x1050) screen where as the 15 only has fw 400, a 4x burner, and a wxga display (1440x900). im not sure about the battery life being more but if you want more features and screen real estate, get the 17 inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouch Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 In my humble oppinion there is very little you can do these days with a laptop that won't drain the battery - if your surfing the web or sending emails then you need wifi, watching movies spins up the dvd drive, and anything creative usually means processor intensive. Macbooks are portable computers - not really laptops so battery life isn't a major issue - it's rare to need to use it away from base for more than a couple of hours anyway in my experience. I'd say go with the 15" - 17" is just too big to be easily transported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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