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MacBook pro 13 vs 15

  • 07-05-2012 12:41pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,042 ✭✭✭


    I am buying an Apple MacBook pro for college. I will be getting iWork so I will be primarily using the laptop for typing documents using iTunes surfing the Internet etc. I will not be using it for gaming. I have 2 options both from apple store ireland

    Option one
    New 13.3 inch MacBook pro
    500gb hardrive
    4gb ram
    Intel dual core Processor I5
    Intel HD graphics 3000
    Cost 1219 euro.

    Option two
    Refurb 15.4 inch MacBook pro
    500gb hardrive
    4gb ram
    Intel quad core processor I7
    Intel HD graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6490M
    Cost 1381 euro.

    Which would you go for. I am nervous about buying a refurb but can't afford the 1819 euro price tag of a new 15.4 inch pro. anyone had experience of them. Any comments advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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Comments

  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 10,988 Mod ✭✭✭✭yoyo




  • Registered Users Posts: 7,878 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    You should consider getting a macbook air if all you're doing is surfing and typing up documents. problem could be the battery life which is quite low (5 hours most for me properly using it) Definitely get the 15inch if you're going just for one of those two though, you don't need to spend the extra money IMO


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,042 ✭✭✭Bpmull


    This will be my first mac. I always wanted one so I have decided to take the plunge now and buy one.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Refurbs are fine. Most people report getting a perfect machine. There is the risk of getting a lemon, that's why they are discounted, but if that happens you just package it up and return it. Tbh there's just as much chance as getting faulty new machine.

    If it's going to be your primary machine, then I'd recommend the 15-inch. But since you you'll be dragging this around college, the 13-inch would be the better option.

    And you should consider the MacBook Air. They are extremely light and portable and they have an SSD, so they are very fast.

    And you might also want to wait. MacBooks are due an update soon and it will be a pretty significant one.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,878 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    New screens coming actually, hold out if I were you, I forgot about that!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,042 ✭✭✭Bpmull


    Is it true that the new upcoming model has no DVD drive at all.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Bpmull wrote: »
    Is it true that the new upcoming model has no DVD drive at all.

    We don't know, but that's the rumour. And chances are it's correct. Nobody really uses optical drive anymore.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    I don't agree about the Air not being suitable for college. I use mine for college and I find it great. How much space do you need for college documents? My drive isn't even half full and all my college related documents take up no more than a few gigs. The lack of Ethernet has never been a problem either but I guess it depends on the college.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    13" imo. I have only had 13" Macbooks (1 Macbook and 1 Macbook pro) and the size has never been a problem.

    Shift-it is a small app that allows for a finer tuned aero-snap type feature and you can switch spaces left and right very easily.

    I would not get an Air until it provides a bit more space and Ethernet. I would never get an Air anyway because I need 250GB. (I am not going to transfer on and off music and other items from an external drive just to have a smaller machine)

    For college I would go pro as you will often need to install windows and/or burn a CD.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,287 ✭✭✭padraig_f


    For the screen, go and look at them in PC World or somewhere if you can. For me it would be a no-brainer, for an extra €100 to get the bigger screen and faster CPU. Don't think you ever regret getting too big a screen. I'm typing this on a refurb 15", which I've had about 3 years with no problems, this is the standard experience.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    padraig_f wrote: »
    for an extra €100 to get the bigger screen and faster CPU.

    Say what?

    A 13" is 1219 or 1524 and a 15" is 1829 or 2235. So it is an extra 300 euro minimum between the models. Basically all you are getting is the bigger screen size unless you have a need for a quad core (or a more powerful chip in general) and an extra graphics card.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,287 ✭✭✭padraig_f


    Say what?

    A 13" is 1219 or 1524 and a 15" is 1829 or 2235. So it is an extra 300 euro minimum between the models.

    Say what? I thought the two options in the OP were:
    Cost 1219 euro.

    Cost 1318 euro.
    Basically all you are getting is the bigger screen size unless you have a need for a quad core (or a more powerful chip in general) and an extra graphics card.

    Sounds like quite a lot to me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,042 ✭✭✭Bpmull


    Sorry my mistake in the op it should be 1219 for the new 13.3 inch and 1381 euro for the 15.4 inch reburbised mac sorry for the confusion and thank you all for your advice so far Its a great help


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Will this be your primary machine, OP? Are you leaving home to go to college? If so, I'd probably say get the 15-inch MBP. But keep it mind it is quite a bit less portable than the 13-inch. I mean, I wouldn't be able to fit a 15-inch in my backpack. They are lovely machines though and if I was getting a new Mac tomorrow, it's a 15-inch MBP that I'd get. But again, you might want to wait and see what the new models are like.

    However, if you don't need Ethernet or an optical drive, you should seriously consider the Air over the Pro. I got 13-inch MBP originally for college and I regretted it because I had no need for the optical drive, nor the extra ports, nor the crappy slow hard drive. It was just extra weight to drag between lectures and back and forth to college everyday. It's bad enough dragging books around.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    padraig_f wrote: »
    Say what? I thought the two options in the OP
    Sounds like quite a lot to me.

    My bad, should have rechecked OP to see these were second hand. In this case go 15" if you do not mind the extra weight*.

    For that price the extras are quite a bit. I was working of Apple brand new prices where I do think the 15" is worth it.

    *There is quite a difference in weight and size.


  • Registered Users Posts: 689 ✭✭✭avalon68


    I have a 13 inch mbp - its a great machine but I regret not getting the 15 inch. I usually hook up an external monitor if I have a lot of work to get done. I find the tiny screen space a pain if I need more than one document open - but the 2nd screen is an adequate solution for me. Probably not ideal if you plan on working from the library/away from home a lot though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 486 ✭✭acous


    I wouldn't advise a macbook air for college

    I strongly disagree. You rarely need an optical drive and 128gigs is plenty for documents, music and a few movies. If you have a lot of HD movies or something you'd probably need an external hard drive, but having a second drive for backup is something I'd recommend anyway.
    avalon68 wrote: »
    I find the tiny screen space a pain if I need more than one document open

    To further pimp the Air :P, the 13" model has the same resolution as the entry level 15", and much higher resolution than the 13" Pro. Even the 11" air has a higher res screen than the 13" pro.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,878 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    Also the SSD as standard is really handy not having to spend a minute starting up and shutting down all the time. I get around 8 second boot up on my 11 inch i7 MBA.
    They're all great laptops so if you feel you need an optical drive and an ethernet port then go MBP but otherwise air is more than enough for what you need and it's light and fast.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    I am a corner case so hence me not recommending the Air. OP if you do not need to read/write CD/DVDs and do not need a lot of space then go with the Air.

    I never turn off my MBP (except to update) so boot up is rarely an issue for me personally.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,878 ✭✭✭frozenfrozen


    I am a corner case so hence me not recommending the Air. OP if you do not need to read/write CD/DVDs and do not need a lot of space then go with the Air.

    I never turn off my MBP (except to update) so boot up is rarely an issue for me personally.

    A mechanical HDD spinning while you're walking around could do some damage i'd say! be careful that it completely stops spinning!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    A mechanical HDD spinning while you're walking around could do some damage i'd say! be careful that it completely stops spinning!

    None of my HDD have broken yet. I obviously put it to sleep while moving it, but rarely shut it completely down.

    I have left it spinning while moving it while encoding video/audio and other longer things that i needed to leave the laptop running but needed to move around college and never had a problem although I agree I would avoid doing it unless I really had to.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    I have left it spinning while moving it while encoding video/audio and other longer things that i needed to leave the laptop running but needed to move around college and never had a problem although I agree I would avoid doing it unless I really had to.

    Really? Did you disable the motion sensor? Because otherwise the drive would have been constantly spinning up and down which would put a lot of stress on it. I'm surprised it didn't roast itself to death.

    In fact, I have a theory that people moving the machine before the drive has spun down is a major cause of hard drive failure in MacBooks. Apple's hibernation mode (which delayed how long the machine took go to sleep considerably) combined with the motion sensor probably killed a fair few drives. I'm always super careful about never moving the machine while the drive is spinning.

    So you have a helluva lot more faith in hard drives than I do. :D One of the main reason I'd recommend the Air because of how much more reliable SSDs are. At the very least you don't need to worry about heads crashing into the platter.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    Really? Did you disable the motion sensor? Because otherwise the drive would have been constantly spinning up and down which would put a lot of stress on it. I'm surprised it didn't roast itself to death.

    In fact, I have a theory that people moving the machine before the drive has spun down is a major cause of hard drive failure in MacBooks. Apple's hibernation mode (which delayed how long the machine took go to sleep considerably) combined with the motion sensor probably killed a fair few drives. I'm always super careful about never moving the machine while the drive is spinning.

    So you have a helluva lot more faith in hard drives than I do. :D One of the main reason I'd recommend the Air because of how much more reliable SSDs are. At the very least you don't need to worry about heads crashing into the platter.

    I used some app called Insomniax I think. I only did this twice as I was encoding video/audio once and downloading an extremely extremely large file another time.

    I carried it around in my bag in a case opened and the fan/back end pointing outwards and not inwards with the bag slightly open around college. You are right it was very dodgy as the machine was working very very hard and would be quite warm in general never mind the fact it was being moved and inside a bag…

    I have faith in HDDs in a sense but I also have everything immediately important backed up to Dropbox and various places.

    I certainly would never recommend doing it. But one thing Apple seem to have gotten right imo is there drives especially with the way their fans work and the motion sensor but still very very brittle drives by their very nature.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    It would must have destroyed your battery life.

    I have to say the only CPU intensive tasks I do on either of my Macs is watch YouTube videos. The advantage to this is that anytime I hear the fan running I know there's something wrong. :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,042 ✭✭✭Bpmull


    Thank you all so much for your help. If I buy a MacBook pro would it be worth paying an extra 203 euro to get a 128 gb ssd rather than the standard 500gb Drive another option is to get an 8gb ram also 203 euro but is it really necessary. Is the mac slow with the standard drive? As you are loosing alot of storage just to get the ssd. Anyone that has one with a standard drive do you find start up slow etc? Thanks again for your help.


  • Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 252 ✭✭viclemronny


    Get as little ram as possible and then get the upgrade yourself, it's much cheaper to buy the extra ram.

    Also, if you don't need a disc drive, consider getting the pro anyway and then you can buy your own SSD and swap that in for the regular 500 HDD. then pop out the disc drive and pop the HDD in there. There are small 'holders' (long day, you know the type of thing i mean) that will hold a hdd in the disc drive space.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    It would must have destroyed your battery life.

    I have to say the only CPU intensive tasks I do on either of my Macs is watch YouTube videos. The advantage to this is that anytime I hear the fan running I know there's something wrong. :D

    Do you mean not shutting down destroyed my battery life as opposed to the leaving it on in a bag to do processing did?

    My battery cycles are ridiculously high but then again my laptop is my TV, I uses it for college and now work along with music, videos etc

    Ah hearing the fan? I rarely notice anymore…. :)

    1.5 years and battery is at 85%


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Yeah, processing with the hard drive spinning. I assume you were plugging it in every chance you got.

    Re getting RAM yourself, yes, but keep in mind you can't do this with the Air. The RAM is built-in and you can't upgrade it. So don't under any circumstances get the 2GB model.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    Yeah, processing with the hard drive spinning. I assume you were plugging it in every chance you got.

    Re getting RAM yourself, yes, but keep in mind you can't do this with the Air. The RAM is built-in and you can't upgrade it. So don't under any circumstances get the 2GB model.

    Oh, well I only did it twice so it did not have any meaningful impact on the battery AFAIK. (the Macbook is still going strong on the same battery.)

    The Air can not be upgraded? Well I suppose 4GB is plenty for an Air considering you are unlikely to be using it for "heavy lifting".


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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,667 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    No, the RAM is soldered on to the logic board. I really don't think Apple should selling the 2GB model. It's alright now, but a couple of OS update later and it will be useless.


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