My 15" to 13" story

I had an i7 high res antiglare 15" since the day they were in stores. I really like the machine and not having glare is awesome, but I ended up selling the machine that cost me $2300 after edu discount and tax because I don't need or use the power that that machine is capable of. I never game on computers, and if I do encodes (mostly for iPhone format), C2D suffices.

Sold my i7 for the same price I got it at (minus shipping costs), and got a 13".

Here's why I love the switch:

-feels less bloated
-lighter
-not awkward to wield one handed
-not as hot
-battery life is much improved (having 330m kick in when it shouldn't sucks -- there's that gfx app to force it into Intel mode but Intel HD is a joke -- try playing any video full screen with that forced on, it looks so fuzzy. Also Intel HD sucks at even minimizing windows imo).
-330m munches up battery life
-I have $1200 + in net from this selling and buying game for when I go abroad in the Fall and for peripherals/accessories. Considering getting an SSD at some point in time, but this Seagate 5400rpm drive is doing the job fine for now.
-even though matte is better imo in terms of versatility (don't need to be picky about light sources), side by side colors are more saturated with gloss and the black border completes the look better. They both have their pros and cons though.
-base 13" is best deal for unibodies -- there's not really a difference in quality control between any of the size models and still getting it for a relatively low price.

I believe that that is all. And this thing will be great for lugging around and not worrying about as much as the $2300 computer I previously had.

 

i'm a mac convert waiting to happen.
sold my asus netbook back in january and almost bought the 13" mbp last month.
however, I'm waiting for the back to school apple promo to kick in by memorial day (just a guess, i have no inside info...lol) so I can get in on an ipod touch as well.
if that does not materialize, that's ok, I will just buy the mbp.
can't wait!

 

@gordita: Same here ! I had the previous unibody MBP 13, but I sold it after a month due to some circumstances....

Now I am waiting for back to school promo so that I can get an iPod touch too .

@ topic: well, i7 gives you a lot of power if you need it, but you cant beat the 13" portability ! I will also be purchasing 13" since I need something light to carry around

 

If I had not been able to get my hands on the last gen 15in for $800 I'd have a PC right now. The prices are SO stupid. I like Mac's but the prices are retarded. Unless they release a nice 13in ULV i5 soon, and not at a stupid price, I'm going PC when this MBP starts to go.

 

@evnhvn.....do you ever use bootcamp? how does bootcamp compare from your 15 inch to 13"? heat differences? thanks!

 

The 13" is nicer for me too for many of the reasons you stated... this is an awesome little machine. I upgraded from a slightly older 15" MBP.

 

I have a year old 15" Macbook Pro and also plan on getting a new 13" Macbook Pro. My battery life sucks and laptop can get warm at times especially playing youtube videos.

 

the base mbp is $1700 now. its not that expensive when you look closely. Aluminum body, hi quality display, backlit keyboard, 6hrs solid battery runtime, dedicated gpu.

@stylinexpat: Your battery life will increase but dont expect you machine to run cooler. flash is the problem on it. It causes the cpu to peak.

 

I bought my 15" MBP last year and mostly keep the dedicated graphics turned off. I wanted the larger screen for light photo and video editing but easily could have gotten away with the 13" MB unibody. That being said, I don't find the 15" to be awkward to hold one handed, overly heavy or bloated. I think just about any 15" notebook would feel that way when compared to the 13"MBP.

 

Fixed that for you.

Yeah the same specs in the HP ENVY14 for $999, and has options for better CPU, and it has a much better GPU for much less. Its also rated at 7Hr's and a 14hr with extended battery.

When you "look closely" the new MBP price is even worse.

 

do we have full specs for the envy yet.. what is really in the "starting price" for sure... and how much changes cost?

and that isn't a full fix.. you need to add 15" in there too... cuz thats not the base MBP price.

 

Yes, that is the base ENVY14 specs, 1600x900res, 5650 GPU, 7200RPM HDD, 4GB of ram. OK it's a 14.5in LCD, want to be picky over 1/2in, that all comes down to optinion, to some bigger is worse (like me)? The only question is if the i3 or i5 will be in the base model. Even if it's the i3, there is no way the i5 upgrade will be $800, the i7 probably will not even be a $550 option (unless they offer the 820QM).

Also here is a nice chart with the benchmarks of the new 15in MBP and the ENVY14: http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7131/laptopchart.png

 

was looking for a page with full specs and more details, not just GPU ram screen res and such... but very detailed...

 

For me its the opposite. I didnt have the 13" with the 320GT but I had the previous generation 13" with the nvidia 9400m gt.

I found that it was too small for me (felt like a toy rather than a real laptop) while being not that much lighter than the 15" mbp (especially the 13" screen size was too small, I was beginning to get neck cramps from using it after the first 5 minutes! 15" was perfect). Also the 15" had the perfect amount of battery life (just a little bit lower than the 17" while much longer battery life than the 13").

Anyway, I can tell the HUGE difference using an i7 vs. a core 2 duo. I just stuck an intel SSD in it (had it in the 13" mbp as well too) but the overall speed from the i7 feels phenomenally faster!

I feel like I have a first gen 2.66GHz Quad Mac Pro again!

I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want with this 17" i7 without ANY HICCUPS.

As for the battery life, even on the 330m gt (because I use vmwarefusion which turns it on when I'm out and about on battery) I can still manage 8-9 hours of continuous battery life (on 1 notch brightness).

When I'm not using vmware fusion however and just surfing the net on my 17" i7 mbp, I got 11 hours and 25 minutes!!

I remember on the 13" previous gen mbp (with the nvidia 9400m gt card) the most battery life I squeezed out from it was 6.5-7 hours. I dont know how it can claim the 10 hour battery life but I have a feeling that its more like 8 hours, which is not bad at all still considering it is using an 320m gt.

 

You went a more extreme move from 13" to 17" rather than 15" to 13"

But glad it worked out well for you in the end I'm still considering throwing an SSD in here, but I'm not sure if it's where I should be spending my money right now. Although it's always been pretty tempting.

 

That's the problem with reported manufacturing costs, they only look at part and assembly costs. There is so much more involved such as advertising, R&D, shipping and taxes due to being manufactured oversees.

Maybe I'm wrong but the Envy looks like a bunch of separate pieces put together as compared to the unibody MBP design. It may be a fine PC but its no MBP, for sure.

 

Your post is just stupid, and pure fanboy:

1. Implying SL's performance is above that in windows. For the fact it's DESIGNED to its hardware I would hope OS X has an edge on the same hardware

2. Implying that NO ONE can have an aluminum notebook without "copying Apple" is just ignorance. I personally prefer the plastic cases, I find my self worrying less about every tiny scratch or nick.

3. They have no choice but to up the battery life. It's their only chance to try and justify the low hardware power you get for the money. Except ACER, and ASUS also have many 8+ hour options with better hardware performance.

4. "native ddr3 4gb ram, med-high end cpu config, nvidia graphics, led backlit with screen options " yeah way to name features of MANY other companies, not just Apple. Also what would non-native DDR3 be?

5. The trackpad was only an issue on the 15in and was fixed with driver updates. Also I don't really see the point of a glass trackpad other than trying to find another reason to raise the price.

6. The point of a laptop is for mobile computing, and for some the more power the better, the point of it is for it to be USEFUL, not PRETTY. You paying double the cost against say a Sony CS that has same CPU, faster GPU, and bluray, or as I said the ENVY14. you are paying another 900 for OS X and your glass trackpad. And don't tell me its for quality, I can show you s pile of dead MBP and Mac Pros at my job, they do NOT survive in an office environment like an HP or Lenovo do.



The only chance that a person has to justifying an Apple to me at these prices is that they have tools that ONLY work on OS X, or the cost to repurchase Windows licenses offsets the cost. If you like OS X fine, but DONT try to tell me that they actually justify the price. because they don't.


***typed up on a last gen MBP***

 

It's $200. If you like a Mac better that's nothing.

- you get better construction - unibody aluminum is the best chassis right now
- you get OSX and iLife

One nice dinner is the difference between the MBP and Envy. Or if you are a student, two weeks of KD instead or McDonald's.

 

No one has to justify how they spend their money to you. You want an HP so go get one. Seriously ?

 

lol... I never knew there was some great truth to be justified that is the same for everyone no matter what.... how awesome.

the exact same set of data can be given to two different people, and both people come up with different results, and both of them can be right.

 

I'm confused. Your posting history on the Envy line is conflicting with what you are saying.

on 3/19/2010 you didn't like the Envy 15

on 3/20/2010

on 4/2/2010

on 4/25/2010

Looking at you post history, you seem to be very conflicted in what you actually want in a system. Power, portability, size and brand are all over the place. You even posted a thread asking if you are too picky (I'd say yes ).

I'm not trying to start a fight, just pointing out why I don't value your opinion when it comes to the Envy. Please don't call people fanboi either as that discredits you as well.

 

And my posts in this thread were about the ENVY14, not the 15. The 13 and 15 had different trackpads, I believe the 14 might also, and either way after I returned mine they updated the drive which many say fixed it. The only reason I returned the ENVY15 was the touchpad.

I only ended up with the MBP as I got it for $800 in new condition and came with Apple care. I'm still looking for good alternatives.

 

Well if it was actual glass we should be able to pour drinks into it and sip on 'em.

 

While your posts are about the Envy 14 you had high praise for the Envy 15 before owning one. The Envy 14 isn't even out yet but you think it kills the MBP. You said your Envy 15 just didn't feel right, which sounds like more than just a touchpad issue. Plus you mentioned other complaints about the system.

I'm actually surprised that you bought a MBP seeing how you think they are a joke.

Like I said, I just don't see your views on the Envy or even really a Mac as valuable based on what you've said in the past.