The golden question, 13" or 15" laptop?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Okay I'm in a strange position I guess. Right now I have a powerful PC that I can sell for ~$400(i bought it for this price with extreme sales). I just ordered the 13" Macbook pro and I have been second guessing myself because of the extra 2" and power upgrade. I would second guess myself if i ordered the 15" because of portability. I'm thinking about getting the 15" now and selling my PC which would be the same price. I'm contemplating doing this because my PC now needs a new graphic card, monitor and hard drive. Which would cost $300-400. No thank you. Oh and I was thinking, maybe having two computers might be a a little bit of a hassle?</p>

<p>Here is what I'm going to do on the computer. </p>

<p>I'm a business student who will be carrying my computer around campus and stuff so I definitely want portability. Is the 15" macbook pro portable? I do a little bit of gaming but have been moving away from that so I probably won't play in college. I just can't predict the future for my needs so I don't want to go ahead and get the 15" and regret lugging around the smaller counterpart. Is the extra screen worth it? I'll be watching some movies.</p>

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<p>Any 15’’ Laptop in general is portable. Its really up to you how to want to transport it. I personally have 3 computers and a tablet coming soon.
High end AMD rig
Sony VAIO 15’’ @6lbs
Acer 11.3’’ Netboot @2-3lbs</p>

<p>15’’ is a standard for laptops now a days. Its a good investment IMHO. If you were to by a PC laptop then repairing parts are mostly available unlike a macbook, especially the new ones now. Once that retina screen breaks its a gonner. </p>

<p>I used to own a Dell E1505 15’’ @7lbs that sucker was heavy, my sony is a pound less but its still heavy with books and such in my Jansport backpack. Though I do that any day that carry a laptop bag (not my style).</p>

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<p>You’ll also want to take into account the desks you’ll be encountering at school.</p>

<p>I’ve had my fair share of those stadium style seats with tiny desks that 15" laptops don’t fit well on at all, so I went for a 13" MBA. MBAs (or other ultrabooks) fit nicely on those types of desks.</p>

<p>My setup is a custom built desktop in my room, and the MBA for when I’m not in my room.</p>

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Yesterday in class I noticed the girl sitting next to me using the 15" MBP on those same kinds of seats. It looked like it was edge to edge on the desk portion with no extra rom at all, and a little might have been hanging off the bottom towards her. It didn’t look completely comfortable, but she was able to do whatever it is she was doing I guess.</p>

<p>I would agree that a 15" is portable, as in mobile, but not universally versatile in typical college uses. 13-14" seem preferrable.</p>

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<p>There’s variance in stadium style seating, though. In the economics/law buildings here, the desks are spacious, and I fit my old 15" fine.</p>

<p>In the physics/mathematics buildings, I had about 1/4 of my laptop hanging off on either side, with only the middle part being supported lol.</p>

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<p>I have a 15" and it fits everywhere I go and have absolutely no problems with it. Yes, you may get a 2" less room on desks, and it will be a bit heavier, but you won’t even notice it. Then again, everyone who has a 13" will notice how much your’s is bigger and better :)</p>

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<p>Every time I’ve used a 15" it was too big for the desks. I’m going with a 13" this time around.</p>

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<p>i havent had any problems qith my 15 so far.</p>

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<p>Get the 13" and purchase a real monitor separately. 15"/17" laptops are a compromise between portability and comfort.</p>

<p>Why have neither when you can have both?</p>