My aged but trusty 15” 1 gig Titanium laptop had it’s hinges broken recently during an unfortunate encounter involving wife, toddler and dog

I’m in the midst of a do-it-yourself repair job but this has prompted me to realize it’s time to buy a new laptop.

I’m having a hard time deciding between the 15 and 17” laptops. I’ll use it for a secondary computer at home - for trading, home photo/video editing, web surfing as well as for my primary trading platform when travelling.

The 17” HD resolution and screen real estate is appealing - especially for trading, but the size for traveling concerns me.  Also - how much of an improvement is the backlit LCD screen that’s available only on the 15”?

Opinions of any AFBers with experience with these two machines or not very much appreciated.

Get the best of both worlds… 15” MB Pro with an additional external 23” Cinema Display for home use.

(posted via iPhone) 

I say go for the 15”. Some co-workers have the 17” as their primary machine but say it’s too big for airplane travel. The 15” is perfect as a second comp, and you won’t have to get a new bag! Unless you plan to do HD video editing, the bigger screen is just ostentacious!
(yes, iPhone )

[quote author=“rezonate”]I say go for the 15”. Some co-workers have the 17” as their primary machine but say it’s too big for airplane travel. The 15” is perfect as a second comp, and you won’t have to get a new bag! Unless you plan to do HD video editing, the bigger screen is just ostentacious!
(yes, iPhone )

If you plan to do HD editing, you need the biggest machine possible with as much memory as you can.  I just imported a 45 minute HD video into my G5 Tower and it took 19 Gigs and on hour to convert to quicktime while creating another 17 gigs.

One can never have enough power and memory for video and pictures.  Laptops are for traveling so get the smallest you can.  My dad just got a 15” and it is awesome.  It kicks butt over my PowerBook G4.

I’m joining the 15” chorus.

I have the same TiBook as you and plan to buy the new 15” when mine finally expires.

I just picked up my wife’s 15” 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro with the matte screen from the local Apple Store. It took almost two weeks to become available. Not only do we on AFB seem to think this model is a winner, but the general market is saying the same thing. Sales must be spectacular.

I like Tommo’s comment about hooking up an Apple Cinema display if you need a large screen. I bought a BT keyboard and Mighty Mouse to go with the MBP to have the option to use it as a desktop. I might get a Cinema display, when those get a refresh.

I also bought an Airport Extreme to meet my wife’s requirement to use her new MBP while sitting on the living room couch. I’ll be ordering – off the Internet – a USB external drive to attach to the Airport Extreme through a USB hub. This will be our primary backup device.

What a sweet set up, if I do say so myself!

I have a 17” MBP CD machine. It is nice, but if you don’t travel business or first class, you really can’t use it on an aircraft.

Thanks for all the advice.  I will also be buying a new laptop and was trying to make up my mind between the two models.  I had come to the conclusion that 15” was the right one, for all the reasons given by other members.

What is interesting is that you can buy from MacMall with Parallels and Windows pre-installed.  This is a sweet deal since the Windows is an OEM version and therefore much cheaper.

I do have a question.  Do I get Leopard free when it comes out or do I have to be closer to the release date?

[quote author=“Col. Pennick”]Thanks for all the advice.  I will also be buying a new laptop and was trying to make up my mind between the two models.  I had come to the conclusion that 15” was the right one, for all the reasons given by other members.

What is interesting is that you can buy from MacMall with Parallels and Windows pre-installed.  This is a sweet deal since the Windows is an OEM version and therefore much cheaper.

I do have a question.  Do I get Leopard free when it comes out or do I have to be closer to the release date?

I think you will have to buy it after it is announced and before it actually ships.  So in other words you would be buying your computer with Leopard sometime in Oct.

Wow -Thanks for all the input!. Some good points raised. I was actually planning on getting an external monitor to hook up for my trading setup whether I get the 17” or 15”.  I have my mini hooked up to a 37” 1080p LCD monitor now and that works great but I’m still running out of screen space on days I’m home trading.

It sure seems like the 15” is the way to go - I had been leaning that way already.

Next question - glossy or matte screen?  I’ve always had matte screens on laptops but when I last checked them out at the Apple store, the glossy does seem to produce richer colors. Anyone have a glossy screen Macbook Pro?  Any regrets?  Is glare when used outside more of an issue with the glossy screen?

Thanks again for all the advice! 

One more vote for the 15”. I used to have a 15” for work and I think even it is marginally too big for someone who moves it around a lot. I used to own a 12” PowerBook and would jump on a 12” or 13” MBP if it existed. That’s one of the reasons (another being price) that I bought a 13” MacBook for my own use. I would love it if a higher-resolution display option were available at the same physical size, but alas there is not and the extra space the 15” takes up wasn’t worth it for me. I have my MacBook connected to a 24” Dell display (1920x1200) when at home.

[quote author=“mtdoc”]Next question - glossy or matte screen?  I’ve always had matte screens on laptops but when I last checked them out at the Apple store, the glossy does seem to produce richer colors. Anyone have a glossy screen Macbook Pro?  Any regrets?  Is glare when used outside more of an issue with the glossy screen?

I like the look of my MacBook’s glossy screen for the very reason that colors appear richer. However, colors also seem less true to the original source. That’s why I wait and do any photo color correction on my calibrated Dell display, only doing basic things like sorting, rating, and cropping my photos on the laptop screen.

[quote author=“mtdoc”]Wow -Thanks for all the input!. Some good points raised. I was actually planning on getting an external monitor to hook up for my trading setup whether I get the 17” or 15”.  I have my mini hooked up to a 37” 1080p LCD monitor now and that works great but I’m still running out of screen space on days I’m home trading.

It sure seems like the 15” is the way to go - I had been leaning that way already.

Next question - glossy or matte screen?  I’ve always had matte screens on laptops but when I last checked them out at the Apple store, the glossy does seem to produce richer colors. Anyone have a glossy screen Macbook Pro?  Any regrets?  Is glare when used outside more of an issue with the glossy screen?

Thanks again for all the advice! 

When I decided on the matte screen, I was with my wife and son at one of the local Apple Stores comparing two 15 inch MBPs side by side with the same photo images on each screen—one matte and the other glossy. The glossy screen definitely had a glare problem and all of us liked the matte screen better. This was about two weeks ago, at which time we could have walked out of the store with the glossy screen model, as they were in stock—barely. But we waited all this time for delivery to get what we really wanted, the matte screen version. I suggest going to an Apple store to do the side by side comparison.

Planning to buy a 15’’ Macpro in the next couple of days…my first one (I know it is a shame that I waited so long…)
So I would like to know as well: glossy or matte…for use outside?

For use outside, I’d definitely take matte: daylight really reflects on the glossy screen (you can read the sign behind you in the screen). Besides, if your eyes aren’t in very good condition, the glossy can be hard to read.

I’m late to the party, but I bought a 15” MBP in April 2006 (matte screen) and simultaneously junked my tower PC to my greatest delight
I think you’ll be happier with a matte screen, glossy screen has some downside in certain situation which happen rather often, while matte screens don’t have any weaknesses IMO

My kids like the glossy screen because it’s awesome for movie playback. I’m still not sold on it for everyday work.