Which Macbook is right for me?

I miss my 2010 mbp 13! I will be using student discount. Not sure which to pick up, either the 13" base (doubt i will see the .4GHz difference except in my pocket) or 15" base with AntiGlare. Its going to spend 90% of its time at home.

Daily
-syncing my iphone, itunes
-browsing web, mail, youtube
-watching movies (dvd, avi, mkv). Very important! Screen quality?

Weekly
-Storing pictures and music
-skype & digsby

Monthly
-burning a DVD
-playing Starcraft 2

Possibly installing Windows XP Professional, but i doubt that i would ever need windows in my life.

 

I would recommend the 15'' if it will spend 90% time at home and money doesn't matter.

My friend working in Google met the same problem as you and he went for the 15'' mbp. He told me it is a very smart choice comparing to the 13'' version. It's simply better performer.

It's for Office usage and Google covered the expense, of course.

 

I was in your situation last week and just went with the Core i7 13" MBP model. It is still dual-core but that processor is Intel's fastest dual-core processor out now and it even performs better than the entry level 2GHz quad-core Core i7 found in the 15" MBP model (except under extreme multi-tasking). I have not come across issues playing back DVDs, 1080p AVC MKV files through VLC, 720p mpeg-4 AVC files through iTunes/QuickTime, or divx/xvid AVI files through VLC as well. 1080p YouTube videos playback without issues, iTunes runs smoothly, and everything else you listed runs just fine.

I like the display quality on my 13" MacBook Pro though some people complain about the 1280X800 resolution (mainly because the 13" MacBook Air is at around 1440X900). I don't have any complaints and I actually like the glass coating as colors come across as more vibrant. I have always liked glossy displays though while others have hated them.

The only real issue you might have is with playing Starcraft 2, I think I remember reading somewhere that performance was alright but I can't find that link. The 15" would be better suited for that (though it will still likely run at a lower resolution at around 1280X800 instead of the 15"'s native resolution).

In the end, I went with the 13" model because I will not be gaming on it (that much, I have Portal and Call of Duty 4 on there just to kill time when need be as I have a PS3 and Xbox 360 at home), the dual-core Core i7 processor is more than I will ever need, and the 13" model is more portable than the 15" MBP. The size and weight differences may not sound like a lot but they are when you add a few college text books.

 

I would only get the the MBP 13" Base or the 15" High end model.

The high end MBP 13" doesn't seem worth the extra money, since its mainly just a CPU speed increase. The 15" High end model has a faster cpu and a better graphics card. You do get more space with the high end models, but harddrives are cheap and I'd get an aftermarket SSD anyway.

 

Its as simple as this —

A. If you want comfortable gaming on medium-high settings — go with top end 15 inch.
B. If you are ok with gaming on mostly low settings — get any macbook pro (surprisingly there is fairly minimal difference between low end 15 and 13 when it comes to graphic performance). Then just choose a form factor (13 or 15 inch) that is right for you.

As for CPU — you will hardly notice faster CPU doing your tasks so only get better CPU if you have money to invest into future so to say.

 

since the GPU is in the CPU.. it will be a bit faster in the upgraded CPU as well.

 

The CPU performance differences between the dual-core Core i5, dual-core Core i7, and even quad-core Core i7 (at 2GHz) processors really aren't that much on the surface. It isn't until you start heavily multi-tasking or using the processors in turbo boost mode that you might start to see something. Additionally, according to Intel's literature, the HD 3000 can turbo boost up to 1100MHz with the 2.3GHz Core i5 while it can go up to 1300MHz with the 2.7GHz Core i7. So the Core i7 MBP might have better graphical performance with the higher clock rate of the IGP along with the 4MB of L3 cache (that the HD 3000 can also use, the Core i5 has 3MB of L3 cache). Both have a TDP of 35 watts so both should produce around the same amount of heat.

Cnet's review of both 13" MBP models shows how close they come in terms of performance (even to the 2.2GHz quad-core Core i7 15" MacBook Pro) but they didn't take into account a few things. Whether it is worth the extra money or not is something that can be (and will be) heavily debated.

Personally, I went with the extra $300 ($1099 for the Core i5 and $1399 for the Core i7 through the education store) simply because, by the time I factored in a 500GB aftermarket hard drive (along with the appropriate screwdriver and my time for such an upgrade which includes installing OS X again), the price differences between the two weren't much. That and I wanted to "future proof" my purchase just a little more by going with the Core i7. Will I notice performance differences? I don't know. It is yet another aspect that you have to weigh when buying a new system.

 

Thank you everyone. Kornchild answered majority of my needs. I will pick up the 13" base model and save the extra cash for SSD upgrade or a PS3.

 

I just got the base model and to me the almost 30% price difference to jump to the I7 seemed unreasonable.

Also I got mine at a Microcenter which has them for retail at the above mentioned Ed. pricing,seemed like a good deal to me.

Ed