Apr 15

I'm about to throw down a big chunk of change on a beautiful, shiny, new Macbook Pro. However, I have not decided which one would be the smartest purchase...for me. I decided to do some investigating. Right off the bat I'm going to eliminate the 17-inch off the list, just because $2300 is out of the question. The battle: 13-inch vs. 15-inch.

 

Most of the anticipation for the laptops was for the new Core i5 and i7 processors. The 13-inch slightly increased from a 2.2GHz chip Core 2 Duo to a 2.66GHz Intel Core Duo CPU (and that's the model with the highest specs). The 15-inch comes with the 2.4GHz Core i5 processor. This, apparently, is 20-30% faster; a downside for the 13-inch.

 

As far as memory goes, it's pretty much equal, both having 4GB of RAM, so I'm not too concerned with that. Plus, that's more than enough for me. 

 

Another thing to consider is the size/weight of the laptop. Currently I have the "ancient" 15-inch G4 Powerbook. Although I've never had a problem with the 15-inch, I do have some experience with the 13-inch as well, living with roommates who purchased the Macbook. I must say I don't mind the smaller size...easier to carry around, easier to travel with, etc.

 

And yes, the less expensive, the better. It's a large investment as is, so is it worth spending extra for the 15-inch? It probably is worth the additional cash...you can't deny that it is bigger, better and faster. The question I should really be asking is not "which is the better computer?" but "would the 13-inch be a poor choice?" I'm in a little bit of a dilemma and I thought blogging about the topic would help. Turns out I keep on leaning towards the 15-inch, which is not what I wanted the outcome to be. All I do know...is that I'm excited.